Editorials, opinion, analysis, guest writers, industry comment and more
Email marketing is having a resurgence. Businesses report that conversion rates and ROI are up, and email is increasingly becoming the heart of digital marketing strategies by integrating with other channels in the marketing stack. According to the DMA [Direct Marketing Association National Email Client Report 2015], email ROI has (more…)
The multi-billion dollar Uber and Airbnb entities are running the always-in-the-headlines, oh-so-sexy shared economy we’re seeing today, and they have tapped into a secret, scrumptious sauce that has consumers renting out their living rooms and sharing rides around town, producing revenues worthy of the Three Comma Club. But that secret (more…)
The scourge of abandoned carts continues to plague the ecommerce industry, spanning both desktop and mobile platforms. While typical in-store sales conversions tend to hang around 30%, some research suggests that only 3% of online shoppers actually complete a purchase. What can a concerned online shop keeper do? As it (more…)
Developing a brand identity for a retailer has historically been seen as a marketing role. Marketing creates brand values, a name, logo and a style guide. But today, a brand is so much more. It’s about customer experience — and for modern consumers that’s increasingly driven by technology. Retail technology (more…)
Internet retailers must always have an eye on their future customer; who are they and how will their online shopping habits differ? What do retailers need to do to attract, retain and motivate them? According to the recent MetaPack Delivering Consumer Choice: 2015 State of eCommerce Delivery research, millennials are (more…)
What would an Apple iRing mean for retailers? For, having successfully updated its Apple Watch, the tech giant went on to apply for a patent for a “smart ring,” according to the US Patent and Trademark Office. YouGov estimates that there will be 6.1m wearable device owners in the UK (more…)
Reports from the Office of National Statistics have positioned the UK as riding the ecommerce wave. Although we’ve seen an increase in ecommerce across Europe, the UK has proved most successful with 79% of Brits ordering online in 2014. This is a significant increase on last 10 years ago, rising (more…)
The appeal of online subscription boxes has taken off in the UK, with more than two million Britons visiting the sites each quarter, new research suggests. Visits to subscription box sites, such as Graze , Loot Box and Gousto, have risen by 155% over the last year, the Connexity Hitwise (more…)
Retailers today are facing a magnitude of issues and challenges in the digital landscape where accelerating pace of change is the only constant. There needs to be an evolution in the business approach to stay relevant. The time has come for businesses to switch to a ‘customer first’ approach and (more…)
The vast majority of small businesses selling on eBay sold their goods abroad last year, the marketplace has revealed. Some 409 small businesses trading via the eBay platform were questioned for the eBay Small Business Exports Index, which found 93% fulfilled overseas orders in 2015, exporting to an average of (more…)
We’re marching steadily, and increasingly rapidly, towards a world where the Internet of Things (IoT) is built into each aspect of everyday life and data defines the business winners from the losers. I’ve been working with The Future Laboratory recently on its Tech Futures report and as it stands devices (more…)
Generation loyalty won’t buy anything from a retailer without a discount or benefit. The evolution of retail rewards has grown from an occasional 10% voucher code, collecting points with the advent of Sainsbury’s Nectar and Tesco Clubcard to receiving repeated discounts on favourite products, as seen recently with Waitrose’s personalised (more…)
Physical and online stores are not enough. Although we might be stating the obvious, we’re still not seeing enough examples of organisations looking beyond the high street and online to show that this simple advice is sinking in. The consumer has changed. No longer is the popular adage “the customer (more…)
If Christmas trading taught us one thing this year, it’s how indispensable mobile has become to shoppers. Results from the likes of John Lewis and boohoo verified that mobile can significantly amplify peak trading results – for multichannel retailers and pureplay etailers alike. Retail app use increased by 81% in (more…)
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is cracking down on fraudulent user generated content, and the brands withholding genuine reviews. Warning shots have been fired and brands are running for cover, but who’s next on the exposé list? Make sure it’s not you. In February, the Competition and Markets Authority (more…)
The InternetRetailing team give their thoughts on the Amazon Morrisons grocery tie-up. (more…)
Ecommerce is a growth industry, surging forward at a dramatic pace. Recent statistics released by the Centre for Retail Research in the UK indicate that the online sale of goods and services grew by 15.8% to £44.97 bn in 2014, and was expected to grow by a further 16.2% in (more…)
The digital commerce revolution in retail will mean there are fewer, but better, jobs in the industry in years to come, a new British Retail Consortium report suggests. By 2025 there could be 900,000 fewer jobs in the industry, suggests the BRC report, Retail 2020: Fewer but better jobs. Currently, (more…)
Appetite among consumers for shopping online has exploded in the last few years. While in most cases sales in bricks and mortar have stagnated or even declined, the rise of online retail seems inexorable. One important aspect of on online retail is personalisation – the idea that retailers can offer (more…)
Retailers plan to open more stores in 2016, despite the growth of online shopping, a new study has found. Eight in 10 (83%) of more than 150 international retail brands questioned in property company CBRE’s seventh annual How active are retailers globally? said their plans to open more stores would (more…)
