Ahead of InternetRetailing Expo 2018 and sister event eDelivery Expo at the NEC in Birmingham on 21-22 March, we’re running a series of conference tracks previews and looking ahead to the event. Today, the focus is on being Mobile First.
As the dust settles on Black Friday sales, what characterised the peak weekend was not the scrabbling crowds in stores of previous years, but rather the conspicuous absence of in-store footfall. Shoppers chose to avoid the crowds and shop on the go, leading to mobile-first retail breaking all previous records. In fact, smartphones were the most used device by 41% of US consumers for online shopping during the entire 2017 Black Friday shopping week, according to research from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)
With the explosive growth of mcommerce retailers have had to accept that their consumers are now mobile first but how can retailers ensure their businesses move to a mobile-first strategy and fully engage the mobile shopper?
The Mobile First track at IRX 2018 will address this challenge and look at how retailers can boost sales through moving from a mobile-friendly focus to a truly mobile-first strategy. Speakers will consider the role of social media through mobile devices and how it has become transitional, improving loyalty through apps and how retailers can deliver a great shopping experience that keeps customers spending.
The Mobile First track opens with a keynote address from Robin Phillips, director of Digital at Kurt Geiger. Phillips will take a look at achieving a clearer understanding of the mobile element of your customers’ purchase journey along with restructuring internal strategy, team and skills to reflect the shift to a mobile-first customer. His presentation, Boosting sales through moving from mobile friendly to a truly mobile-first strategy is at 10:30am in Theatre 3 at IRX 2018, on March 21.
Tom Rooney, senior product manager, mobile apps and in-store Digital at John Lewis will pick up the baton. Rooney will be considering how to implement digital devices for colleagues in-store to seamlessly connect online shopping behaviour with the bricks-and-mortar store experience. Transforming the in-store experience with associate mobile technology is at 11:05am.
Russ Carroll, sales director at Klarna will be ‘teaching’ delegates how to create a better mobile commerce experience that will help drive convenience and eliminate a major online shopper pain points. Maximise mobile conversion: turn sitting rooms into fitting rooms is at 11:40. This is the final presentation of the morning and is followed by a break for lunch.
Sarah Davies, lead, UK ecommerce partnerships at Google is the first speaker after the lunch. Davies will discuss the importance of a mobile-first strategy in an omnichannel market. In particular, she’ll consider how businesses can use accelerated mobile pages (AMP) and increase customer engagement through progressive web apps (PWA). Her talk, Mobile: understanding the metrics that matter for retail is at 13:45pm.
Speakers from retail and digital world including Adam Gore, managing director at Findmeagift.com, Cally Russell, founder & chief executive officer at Mallzee, Mark Cody, product lead – mobile at Eurostar and Stuart McMillan, deputy dead of ecommerce at Schuh will then gather to answer the topical conundrums on mobile; with questions such as; What does a great mobile site experience look like and how can it best be achieved? What key experience factors are customers looking from a retailer’s app and how can we best deliver them? Their conference track, What does a great mobile shopping experience look like in 2018 and how can you deliver it? is at 14:45pm.
Daryl Hughes, ecommerce manager at Facebook & Instagram UK is the closing keynote speaker. Hughes will discuss why one of the biggest trends in social commerce at the moment is discovery through mobile. Retail in the age of mobile discovery is at 15:35pm.
To find out more and to register free for InternetRetailing Expo and eDelivery Expo, visit internetretailingexpo.com. Get involved on Twitter by following @etailexpo and with the hashtags #IRX18 #EDX18.
