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EDITORIAL From peak trading updates to new uses of blockchain in retail

We’re still a way off judging how successful this year’s peak trading period has been, but in today’s InternetRetailing newsletter, we’re reporting in our This Week in Peak piece as Cyber Weekend discounts start to be turned off, and as prices start to rise ahead of those last Christmas shopping weeks. The focus now moves to last delivery dates before Christmas. 
 
Away from peak shopping, we’re looking to another kind of future as Auchan and Carrefour put blockchain into action in the supply chain, so that shoppers can find out through a QR code where their food came from. By zapping an aubergine, French shoppers will soon be able to find out details such as where it grew, who picked it, and how it was transported. It will be interesting to see what the demand is for such information – and how other retailers use this in their own businesses in the future.
 
The news comes at a time when many shoppers are now turning online to buy those groceries – indeed, research finds that a significant proportion now only buy their groceries online. New Awin research suggests that 18% of shoppers always do their food shopping online, while 20% never have. We report on why that is, and what lies between the two extremes.
 
ONS figures today show that more UK businesses in a wide range of sectors are now selling online: the sales generated online have lifted dramatically in recent years as more businesses of all sizes now do use the internet to make their sales.
 
Bloom & Wild, meanwhile, is now delivering its flowers to customers same-day in London. For this  relatively new retailer – and its customers – speed is of the essence. 
 
Today’s guest comment comes from Iain Banks of TTEC who argues that tales of retail apocalypse are overblown and that there are simple steps retailers can take in order to be more successful in a multichannel age. 
 
Image: Fotolia

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