In today’s InternetRetailing newsletter we’re focusing on innovations that are helping multichannel and ecommerce retailers of all sizes to set themselves apart from the competiton. At one end of the scale, the largest retailer of them all, Amazon, has enabled shoppers to buy via Twitter. At the other end, we today report on how MyHigh.St, a site that takes independent high street retailers online, is fundraising with the help of crowdfunding. In between the two, we report on Waitrose’s use of omnichannel to support its strategy of doing “everything that the discounters don’t”, on DFS’ move to launch its first B2B site, and on Missguided’s search for overseas growth. Today we also report on how some retailers still lag behind when it comes to multichannel and omnichannel retail, thanks to Micros research that suggests half of UK multichannel retailers still don’t enable in-store returns of online orders.
Click to read more on our current research and events, including our third annual Internet Retailing Awards.
Our webinars
On May 8, Martin Newman, chief executive of usability specialist Practicology, and Stephen Lovell, head of product at retailer Chemist Direct , join Tim Callan, CMO of SLI Systems, for a revealing webinar that will consider how understanding customers’ shopping behaviour can help retailers give them a more relevant experience online. SLI Systems: Connecting shoppers to products to accelerate ecommerce revenues will be held at 11am on May 8. Find out more and register for the free webinar here.
On May 20, Amplience founder and chief executive James Brooke leads a hands-on webinar that will show how retailers from Tesco to L’Oreal are using rich and dynamic media to creating compelling shopping experiences. Amplience: Customer experience masterclass takes place at 2pm on May 20. Click here to find out more and register for the free event.
Finally, on May 21, Jim Davidson, managing of marketing research at Bronto, will host a webinar demystifying the responsive design for marketing messages. Bronto: The responsive inbox: marketing to multidevice consumers takes palce at 2pm on May 21. Click here for more information and to register for free.
Our awards
Judges for the 2014 Internet Retailing Awards will soon be considering their shortlist. Last year the winners of these multichannel and ecommerce industry awards included Tesco, Burberry, Asos, Lakeland, eBay, Amazon, Oasis/Warehouse and LoveHoney, who celebrated their wins at a rooftop party in the middle of the City. Who will take this year’s titles? Shortlist will be announced in the May issue of the magazine with the winners revealed at an exclusive event at One Mayfair on Thursday June 26. Click here for more information or to buy a ticket to the event.
Catch-up on IRX 2014
If you missed an Internet Retailing Expo 2014 presentation that you’d like to catch up on, you can do so now through the post-event website. Visitors to www.internetretailingexpo.com can access all the presentations that we’ve been given permission to share with our audiences.
