In today’s Internet Retailing newsletter, the focus is firmly on the kind of investment it takes to make omnichannel retail work. But as well as sharing our ideas, we’d also like to hear your ideas on this theme. We have a limited number of access-all-areas tickets to the Internet Retailing Conference 2013 to give away – place your bid for a free full delegate pass by leaving a comment here, tweeting us at @etail, or emailing chloe at internetretailing.net with your answers to this question: What’s the new normal in digital retail?
In today’s newsletter, we report on how retailers from Laura Ashley to House of Fraser and Waitrose are investing in their operations, even at the expense of growing profits today, in order to make sure of profits tomorrow. As House of Fraser chief executive John King said as he delivered the department store group’s first-half results, while spending on the infrastructure of omnichannel may mean profits are held back in the short term, “we expect this investment will deliver growth for the future”. That’s a thought that most retailers will want to bear in mind even as they are daunted by the resources, both of time and money, that the journey towards omnichannel will bring.
Investment is a theme that comes across in the other voices we have in today’s newsletter. Interviewee David Tarbuck of Kiddicare, considers the power of bringing the internet into the store in today’s preview of Internet Retailing Conference 2013, and, in our guest comment, Craig Sears-Black of Manhattan Associates UK considers how a more adventurous approach to returns can benefit online retailers.
Our webinars
We have an upcoming webinar to let you know about. On Tuesday October 15, EPiServer considers How to win in the M-commerce world. Product manager David Bowen will guide retailers through how they can deliver the 3Ms of the mobile, multichannel and me (personalised) commerce experience, looking at how responsive design, contextual marketing and personalisation can be combined to drive sales and improve customer loyalty.
The free event takes place at 11am – register and find out more by clicking here.
More information about our webinar programme is available here.
Our events
The 8th Internet Retailing Conference will be held on October 16 in London, when keynote speakers will include Sir Stuart Rose, chairman of Ocado and Dressipi, and Laura Wade-Geary, executive director, multichannel ecommerce, Marks & Spencer. For more details, visit
www.internetretailingconference.com. See the editorial above for the chance of a free ticket to the event.
Today’s stories
House of Fraser reports 57% online growth though multichannel investment leaves profits flat
Laura Ashley committed to multichannel despite falling ecommerce revenues
IRC PREVIEW How Kiddicare took the internet into its new stores
GUEST COMMENT How can online retailers make the most of their returns process?
Waitrose opens second London ecommerce depot to double online delivery capacity in the capital
The increasing importance of shops to online retailing
