Amazon Go store launches in Seattle
Amazon this week opened the doors of its first checkout-free store to the public in Seattle. The retailer, ranked Elite in IRUK Top500 research, first piloted the technology underpinning the checkout-free store in 2016. Now it has gone live for the general public’s use.
Brick-and-mortar stores here to stay
Retail disruptors will put getting customer experience right ahead of sales growth, according to a new JDA Software report – and believe stores are a key part of that. The 2018 Retail Disruptors Survey questioned, in English and Chinese, 109 online respondents representing global retailers, of whom 32% were at chief executive level, and 20% chief information officer level, and 17% senior vice presidents.
Some 87% of disruptors said they had a high street presence, while 79% of non-disruptors did, while 25% of disruptors had a seamless shopping experience across all channels (13% for non-disruptors). Two-thirds (66%) of disruptors said they were profitable now, and 28% said they would be in 18 months time.
Rise and rise of click and collect
UK click and collect sales will grow by 55.6% to reach £9.6bn in 2022, accounting for 13.9% of total online spending that year, according to a study from GlobalData.
The Click & Collect in the UK, 2017-2022, report says clothing and footwear categories will drive the rise in sales, and are set to account for 61.2% of spend by 2022.
But it warned that the rise of delivery saver schemes could threaten growth in the sector.
Charlotte Pearce, retail analyst at GlobalData, said: “Click & collect sales will become increasingly threatened as delivery saver schemes become more widely available and retailers continue to extend their choice of fulfilment options. Retailers must ensure that their click & collect propositions are competitive in terms of price and/or threshold as well as speed of delivery into stores. This will help to drive footfall into stores and encourage additional spend at the retailer.”
Supermarkets: cutting jobs to simplify customer service
Tesco says the jobs of 1,700 people will be affected as the supermarket, an Elite retailer in IRUK Top500 research, removes customer experience, people, and compliance managers from its stores. Instead, line managers will be more directly accountable for the customer experience.
Matt Davies, Tesco UK and ROI chief executive, said: “These changes remove complexity and will deliver a simpler, more helpful experience for colleagues and customers. We recognise these are difficult changes to make but they are necessary to ensure our business remains competitive and set up for the future.
“Our priority now is to support affected colleagues through these changes in any way we can. We hope to retain as many colleagues as possible in the new roles we have created and in the vacancies we currently have available.”
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s is reported to be changing the way it manages its UK stores and scrapping some management posts. Thousands of jobs are understood to be at risk as the supermarket looks to cut costs and simplify its organisational structures in a move that comes at a time when Sainsbury’s aims to cut £500m over the next three years.
