In today’s InternetRetailing newsletter we’re reporting on what tactics worked for retailers selling online and across sales channels in recent months and particularly over the Christmas trading period.
In our latest Week in Peak coverage we report as JD Sports, Shop Direct and Boohoo Group all report rising sales. JD Sports says its multichannel model and an aversion to discounting helped it to stay in growth over Christmas, and over the wider first 48 weeks of its financial year.
But Shop Direct and Boohoo Group both report offering cheaper prices without hitting profits. Shop Direct reports that successful use of machine-learning in chatbots has helped it to reduce calls to its contact centre by 30%, and it also flagged up its tactic of beaming its prices and availability to high streets. This may have helped to boost its mobile sales, which grew as mobile devices took a greater share of its sales.
We report on New Look’s latest update on its multichannel trading, which comes as it looks to swap high levels of debt for equity. The retailer says its decision to move away from unsustainable discounting towards profitable sales has hit online sales – but helped to keep store sales stable. Its multichannel strategy will now see it focus on driving sales into stores via mechanisms such as click and collect.
Games Workshop has reported flat or falling online sales even as it reports record sales. We look at how a sense of community matters for the games retailer’s business model.
How do industry commentators see the way we take delivery evolving over the next year? That’s the subject for the latest in our series of predictions for 2019, today focusing on the future of delivery, returns and the supply chain.
We report on the latest new Belgian strategy from retailer Ahold Delhaize, while, finally, today’s guest comment comes from Amy Hodgetts of Mediaworks, who considers how the UK uses the internet and why that matters to your business.
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