In today’s Internet Retailing newsletter we’re looking at the first post-Christmas numbers from some of our leading multichannel retailers. Department stores John Lewis, House of Fraser and Debenhams were among the first to release their figures, while fashion retailer Next followed today with strong figures for the run-up to the festivities. The early signs are that it’s been a good Christmas for some, but that for others the expected sales surge never materialised: what retailers stocked was key in making a difference in a Christmas when shoppers flocked online to buy, many from their mobile phones or tablets.
Christmas also highlights new ways that shoppers want to buy: we detected a move towards out-of-hours shopping, delivery, and even returns in our analysis.
But today we’re also looking forward. We have the first two installments in our continuing series focusing on the retail trends for 2014. So far we’ve looked at omnichannel and delivery, but in coming issues we’ll also be focusing on areas including the customer, the store, mobile, big data and personalisation, international and social shopping: if you have predictions in these areas, do let us know by emailing chloe at internetretailing dot net.
Today’s guest comment also looks to the future. It comes from Bernard Helders of Capgemini, who considers how retailers can shape their international strategy and understand shoppers in emerging markets as they look to new horizons in 2014.
Our events
We’re now gearing up for Internet Retailing Expo 2014 (IRX 2014) in Birmingham. The event will be held on March 26 and 27 at the NEC in Birmingham, where there’ll be an array of conference streams, workshops and a wide range of exhibitors showing off the latest cutting edge technologies. Watch the Internet Retailing website for the latest news on speakers and exhibitors, but registrations are already open on the IRX 2014 website.
Catch-up on IRC 2013
If you missed an Internet Retailing Conference 2013 presentation that you’d like to catch up on, you can do so now through the post-event website. Visitors to www.internetretailingconference.com can access all the presentations that we’ve been given permission to share with our audiences.
