In today’s InternetRetailing we’re reporting as retailers find new ways to sell. Gymshark and The Fashion Bible – which up to now sold chiefly online – are now both opening their own stores, raising brand awareness and focusing on a more experiential side of retail as they do so. For Gymshark, for example, that means ‘community hangouts’ and fitness classes.
There’s news of online marketplace EnableAll, which is set to launch next year with the promise to put accessibility first as it enables disabled and other shoppers to buy more easily.
THG brands are adding open payment method Vyne for the first time, as they look to make their customers’ checkout experience easier.
And in today’s guest comment, Yazmin King of Croud considers the fast growth of TikTok – and the role the viral social media platform now plays in retail.
These stories are all about improving ecommerce and the online customer experience. That makes sense in the light of footfall figures that suggest fewer shoppers visited UK stores in November – and over the Black Friday weekend – than did in either the previous month of October, or in pre-pandemic November 2019, according to new BRC/Sensormatic figures.
At the same time, Amazon UK is reporting record sales over the weekend, as we see in today’s Peak 2021 coverage. The shift online may be further intensified, as this peak trading season unfolds, by the new Omicron Covid-19 variant. If that happens, says ParcelHero, it may put further stress on already strained supply chains.
And today, digital-first Wickes reports that strong supplier relationships have stood it in good stead, enabling it to continue to offer value despite rising inflation.
