How omnichannel is changing the places where we shop

We’re starting to be able to shop from a much wider range of places, a theme reflected in today’s Internet Retailing newsletter. It’s not just about buying through different devices, but about collecting our shopping from new, and sometimes unexpected, places. This week Asda revealed that it is trialling click and collect from six London Underground car parks, while there are suggestions that Amazon will also harness spare capacity in the capital’s transport network.

This was also the week that Appear Here, the online marketplace for short-term retail space, won £1m in funding from investors who hailed it as a “game changer” with “massive” potential for growth.

These changes, and the flexible way that shoppers now move from the store to the website, were also recognised in the fact that the word showrooming has now entered the language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

This week we also heard from Morrisons, on how its online grocery service, set to launch in January, will be different, while Mothercare’s results showed growth starting online as the company aims to transform itself into an omnichannel retailer.

Today’s guest comment comes from Marcus Law of SLI Systems, who looks at how changes to navigation, merchandising and search ahead of Christmas can improve ROI ahead of the festive season. Read on to find out about jobs at Internet Retailing, our IRC 2013 presentation catch-up service, and about IRX 2014.


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.

We have two positions that have opened up at Internet Retailing, a graduate researcher and a sales executive. Find out more by clicking on the links.

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.