In today’s InternetRetailing newsletter we’re reporting on the approaches that retailers in a range of sectors are taking to engage their existing and potential shoppers. This comes as ONS figures suggest ecommerce and total retail sales fell in December, compared to the previous month. It’s likely the fall came after shoppers bought early for Christmas. But now the festive season is over, getting close to shoppers is more important than ever.
The Works today says it is on a journey to becoming ‘more than a retailer’. It now aims to develop the kind of customer relationships that a trusted brand has instead. It has seen sales grow – with two-year like-for-like sales up both online and in-store – although it reported a pre-tax loss.
Superdry shows how it’s using both online and in-store sales to woo shoppers. The retailer is moving away from discounting and saw its sales fall slightly but its profitability increase in its latest half-year.
N Brown Group’s focus is now firmly on its five strategic brands, while it is managing the decline of its legacy brands. The retail group showed this week that its legacy brands were declining faster than its strategic brands were growing – resulting in a small sales dip.
Primark says its new customer-facing website is on track to launch by the end of March. Shoppers will be able to use the site to check in-store stock levels at its branches before going into store to buy.
Gear4music says that Brexit has hit its European sales – but expects that will change as it expands its newest European distribution centres.
Today’s Predictions 2022 piece considers how retailers will use mobile and social commerce to engage customers in the coming year.
And in today’s guest comment, Laura Lough of Digital River asks whether automation is the future of supply chains.
