A month out from Black Friday, retailers are now fine-tuning their approach to what promises to be one of the biggest days of their year. Doddle says in today’s InternetRetailing newsletter that it expects to handle around a quarter of all the parcels it handles ahead of Christmas as a result of the day. But the Black Friday effect is now felt over more than just a day, or even a weekend. A Royal Mail study suggests that shoppers will start their present-buying in earnest from mid November onwards – but that a third have already started buying in October.
Whenever spending comes, retailers will be hoping that it remains buoyant. We report today as Travis Perkins says trade has been challenging at its DIY business Wickes, sounding a note of caution just weeks after homewares retailer Wilko reported a bottom-line loss and said it was feeling pressure on its margins as a result of rising costs and factors including Brexit.
Sustainability is becoming more important to retailers selling across all retail channels as it becomes more important to the customers they serve. Today we report as DPD unveils its first all-electric depot, and ParcelHero assesses in a report how sustainable delivery now is – and what other retailers are doing about it.
In today’s guest comment, Maria Wagner of venture capital firm Beringea says we’re now in the second wave of ecommerce. What is it, and what does it mean for retailers?
Today we’re also reporting on how retailers from Richer Sounds to Express Gifts are implementing new technology in order to improve the customer experience for shoppers, whether they’re picking up their order from a store or searching for the right item on their mobile phones.
And, in the wake of questions about Amazon’s Vine reviews, we look at best practice approaches to reviews – how retailers can ensure customers trust their reviews, and why that’s so important. Getting it right matters, here as in other areas that we’re covering today, in a market where shoppers now have unlimited choice.
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