The focus in today’s Internet Retailing newsletter is on what’s going to be important in the future, omnichannel, world of retail. In an interview, Sir Terry Leahy, former chief executive of Tesco, tells us how he used data to grow the supermarket group – and why data will be so important in how we shop in the future. We also report on House of Fraser’s decision this week to put mobile design first, in the light of its own data that showed more traffic from mobile devices than from desktops, and we hear from Dixons about how a multichannel approach has helped put it back into growth mode.
Elsewhere, we have the latest update on online and high street retail sales figures, and we bring our latest focus on the Internet Retailing Awards list of commended retailers. We also bring you a daily interview with the sponsors who are backing this year’s awards. Our guest comment today is from Heiki Haldre of Fits.me, who discusses how technology and mobile are the future of the in-store shopping experience. Read the stories below for more.
Tickets for the Internet Retailing Awards (more info here) are now available to book. The shortlist of award winners has is now out. Do take a look.
We’re also excited to announce the first details of the 8th Internet Retailing Conference. The event will be held on October 16 in London. 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 and early bird supersaver registration, visit
www.internetretailingconference.com.
There’s still time for anyone who missed that vital briefing at Internet Retailing Expo (IRX2013) to catch up. Presentations and panels from the across the six conferences of the event, the workshops and Innovation TV Studio are now available to view online at InternetRetailingExpo.com.
Webinars
We have a number of upcoming webinars to let you know about today.
On Wednesday June 26 Amazon UK’s director of merchant services Chris Poad will be with us for a webinar on the Total cost of ownership for ecommerce. He’ll be looking at how merchants can keep costs low and act quickly to launch into ecommerce, whether setting up a primary or secondary stores online. The event takes place at 2pm, and more information is available on the Amazon webinar page.
And on Tuesday July 2, we host Sitecore and Blueleaf for a webinar looking at how one tailor used personalisation online. Personalising the user journey for Emmetts Shirts is at 2pm, when the speaker will be Rob Smith strategy director at Blueleaf. More information is available here, on the Sitecore webinar page.
Finally, on Tuesday July 16, SLI Systems bring together Snow + Rock and Javelin Group to discuss SaaS (software as a service): risks and rewards in retail. The event takes place at 11am, when Fraser Davidson, director, technology services, at Javelin Group, and David Kohn, head of multichannel at Snow + Rock, will speak. Find out more and register for the free webinar here.
More information about our webinar programme is available here.
Today’s stories
INTERVIEW Sir Terry Leahy tells us why the data should matter to retailers
Dixons boosts multichannel sales by a quarter
INTERNET RETAILING AWARDS Focus on the shortlist: international and global awards
GUEST COMMENT Retailers mobilising to future proof the high street
INTERNET RETAILING AWARDS Interview with Marcus Law of SLI Systems
INTERNET RETAILING AWARDS Interview with Frank Lombos of Fredhopper
House of Fraser prioritises responsive design as mobile visits overtake desktop
INTERNET RETAILING AWARDS Interview with Kevin Skurski of Bronto Software
UK online retail sales rise by 16% in May
