In today’s InternetRetailing we reporting as in-store sales decline but online sales continue to grow. Online shopping has long been the only area of real retail growth, but now it seems we’re seeing a positive decline in shoppers’ visits – and spending – to stores. Indeed, Helen Dickinson of the BRC says in our lead story today that growing footfall is only evident in retail parks – which are handy for multichannel services such as click and collect.
New figures today show inflation hitting 2.9%, it’s highest level in five years, and that’s likely to hit retail spending as well. Faced with this developing situation, it seems that retailers must focus on multichannel strategies in order to give shoppers the experience the want. That’s just what JD Sports has done – that retailer today put an enormous emphasis on multichannel selling as it reported a 41% rise in sales and a 33% rise in pre-tax profits.
Meanwhile, a report from delivery experience specialists Sorted suggests that most shoppers would like more choice of delivery options.
Today we also report on an innovation that could help customers choose when it comes to home redesign projects.
We also bring some useful advice in today’s newsletter. Today’s look ahead to IRC 2017 is an interview with Philip Driver of Canon Europe, with some very useful insights into international expansion strategies.
And today’s guest comment comes from Richard Whomes of Rocket Software, with three tips to make sure digital transformation works.
Webinars
Find out more about upcoming InternetRetailing webinars and register for free on the InternetRetailing webinar page. You can also catch up with past webinars on the page: recent sessions have come from IBM Watson on using AI to improve the customer experience, and from SmartFocus and The Entertainer on using social to reach digital customers.
