In today’s InternetRetailing newsletter, we’re particularly taken by the way that retailers and manufacturers are designing their services around their customers. That’s evident in the news that Tesco is now offering same-day click and collect – that extra mile convenience resonates with shoppers who, so often, need it now.
And it’s front and centre in the way The Lounge Co promises to showcase its sofas close to the shoppers will want to try before they buy. It’s an interesting approach. The multichannel retailer, created by the manufacturer behind Parker Knoll, is coming at this in a way that seems different from other sofa retailers. It’s not taking legacy approach that starts with the fact of there being shops, and it’s not discarding the shops and putting the technology first. Rather, it appears to be looking at selling sofas from the perspective of the customer – and concluding that shops are the most important thing, and that the technology has an important supporting role to play. For it’s with the technology that the vast choice comes. As always, it will be interesting to see how this works in practice – but the approach seems very interesting.
It comes as new Verdict Retail research suggests home décor retailers may be sheltered in any Brexit-related slump, thanks to, among other things, the ability to inspire online.
We’re also reminded of the importance of the customer, and in particular keeping existing customers loyal, in new analysis from IMRG and Capgemini.
Finally, we report as a Redcentric survey suggests legacy systems are holding 40% of retailers back.
Today’s guest comment comes from Matt Wills of Szygzy, who asks whether retail is drinking in the last chance saloon, instead of focusing on digital change.
Our webinars
We’ve a number of InternetRetailing webinars coming up. Lisa Templeton of PFS will join us early next month for an expert advice session on SEO. The Forward-thinking marketer’s cheat sheet to SEO is at 2pm on September. Click here to find out more and to sign up for the free event.
The following week we’re joined by James Lovell, European retail solutions leader at IBM, to hear how leading brands are using technology to develop a relevant and personalised customer experience. Learn how Homebase and Boots are developing a personalised customer experience in 4 steps with IBM is at 2pm on September 13. Click here to find out more and sign up for the free webinar.
And on September 22, we hear from Luca Benini, SVP, GM EMEA at Olapic, to get the bottom line on user-generated content and images. He’ll be talking through key research findings on this kind of content in the webinar. What makes UGC relevant for retail is at 2pm on September 22. Click here to find out more and to register for the free event.
Click to visit the Internet Retailing webinars page to catch up on the latest webinars, which are also available to view again on the IRTV channel.
InternetRetailing Events
The 11th InternetRetailing Conference and second eDelivery Conference take place this October. Information and tickets are now available for the two events here.
