Insight into retail operations looking at innovative technology solutions, retail systems, logistics and fulfilment, payment solutions and more.
Sainsbury’s is trialling what it says is the UK’s first 30-minute click and collect service. The launch comes as the country’s grocers work towards ever faster and more convenient fulfilment in a highly competitive market. Shoppers can order their groceries via the Android version Chop Chop app and pick it (more…)
Convenient delivery options are top of the list for leading retailers looking to improve the service they offer their customers. Here are some of the latest ways that IRUK Top500 retailers have acted to improve their fulfillment services – which are likely to have a knock-on effect on services across (more…)
Retailers in the UK are determined to keep investing in in-store technology, such as mobile assisted selling and self-service kiosks, to improve the customer experience – but most agree they’re not doing enough to replicate the experience of online shopping.
With only 4 months to go, this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday are set to be even bigger following the positive eCommerce figures seen last year, with retailers such as Joseph & Joseph, Jack Wills and The Works reporting huge increases in sales.
Two in five retailers around the world have had a data breach in the last year – and most consider themselves to be vulnerable to such threats in the future, according to a new study. In all, 43% of retailers said they had experienced a breach over the preceding 12 (more…)
The importance to fast-fashion retailers of ensuring delivery and collection options meet the needs of their customers is underlined by announcements from Boohoo.com, Missguided and Amazon.com in the US this week. Both Boohoo.com and Missguided have put in place new options to improve their service. And doing so is arguably (more…)
A new Amazon development centre set to open in Cambridge in the autumn will house scientists with expertise in areas from machine learning to data, speech and software. Teams working on devices such as Kindle, Fire tablet, Fire TV Stick, Echo, Echo Dot and the new Echo Look, as well (more…)
MediaMarkt is deploying innovative light-based technology in its flagship store in the centre of Eindhoven to guide smartphone-wielding shoppers to the groceries they need. The retailer has introduced a Store Guide smartphone app, developed by novomind, to its new-look store in the Dutch city. That app works with an LED (more…)
Holland & Barrett has completed its roll out of technology designed to improve the customer shopping experience. The health and wellbeing specialist, a Leading retailer in IRUK Top500 research, now has Lexmark’s Publishing Platform for Retail in all its UK and Ireland stores. The system draws on stock availability to (more…)
Next-day delivery remains the favoured option for more than half (52%) of UK shoppers, but nearly one in five UK multichannel retailers does not offer it, according to new research. A study by Ampersand analysed the delivery promises of 185 leading UK retailers and found that 18% do not offer (more…)
Terry Murphy, director of the John Lewis National Distribution Centre (NDC), described the retailer’s approach to Black Friday at IRX 2017. Here are his key points. The changing shape of Black Friday, and peak trading Black Friday became an event for John Lewis, an Elite retailer in IRUK Top500 research, (more…)
Nottinghamshire market town Mansfield has become the first centre to upgrade to Rewarding Visits technology, which will see its shopping areas transformed into ‘digital high streets’.
European retailer Otto is using machine learning to ensure it and its partner retailers hold the level of stock that it predicts its customers will want to buy. Otto , a Leading retailer in IREU Top500 research, sells more than 2.2m items from 6,000 brands via otto.de. These include products (more…)
Tesco shoppers who order before 9am can now pick up their groceries from midday onwards. This extends an existing service that sees customers order by 1pm for pick up from 4pm, and will be available from more than 300 sites across the UK, Monday to Saturday. The move comes as (more…)
John Lewis is adopting new technology to manage its supply chain for omnichannel retailing. The retailer, an Elite trader in IRUK Top500 research, is to develop a direct supplier channel built on Virtualstock’s The Edge Platform. The system will connect suppliers directly with central John Lewis systems, enabling real-time inventory (more…)
Almost a third of all online orders placed with UK retailers in January were for international delivery, new figures suggest. The IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index for January found that while online retail orders rose by 11.3% in January, 32% of all orders were heading out of the UK. Of (more…)
Amazon , the UK’s largest online retailer, says it will take on 5,000 new staff as it expands in areas from its development centres and fashion photography studio through to its fulfillment centres. By the end of the year it expects to employ more than 24,000 people across the UK, (more…)
Schuh is using ‘pay on delivery’ technology to make it easier for shoppers paying using their mobile phone. When customers at Schuh, a Leading retailer in IRUK Top500 research, check out online, they will now be able to use Klarna technology to opt to pay on delivery. That means they (more…)
News of an interesting new delivery solution comes to us from the online takeaway sector, from hungryhouse. It’s an interesting solution that could have applications for retailers beyond the online sector. Hungryhouse has teamed up with a third-party fleet to offer extra capacity to its takeaway customers. When restaurants need (more…)
There’s mounting evidence that the popularity of click and collect grew strongly in the run-up to Christmas. John Lewis has said that 52% of online orders were picked up via click and collect this Christmas, with use of the delivery method up by 14.5% compared to last year. Some 18.5% (more…)