In today’s InternetRetailing newsletter we have the latest figures from Elite and Leading retailers in the IRUK Top500. John Lewis, Argos, Waitrose and Morrisons are judged by their placing in the InternetRetailing research to be among the largest and most effective multichannel retailers in the UK. So what do their figures say about the way we shop now?
It’s a picture of an industry in transition as consumers opt to shop in the way that works for them at any given moment – and retailers work out how they can best operate their stores alongside digital channels. Parent company Home Retail Group says that more than half of Argos‘ sales took place online for the first time in 2015, with 28% taking place via mobile devices – and store sales falling slightly. At the same John Lewis sees online and mobile sales growing fast – but store sales down by 1%.
Waitrose, meanwhile, is focusing on giving shoppers a reason to come into store, while Morrisons is expanding its online service to cover the whole of the UK as it looks to improve the service its customers get. All of these retailers seem to be coming to similar conclusions: digital and stores must work together to offer customers the seamless, cross-channel service they are now coming to expect.
Today we also report on Hotel Chocolat as it plans to invest across sales channels following a stockmarket float.
Our IRX 2016 preview takes the form of an interview with enclothed co-founders Levi Young and Dana Zingher, while today’s guest comment comes from Venkatesh KBS of Mindtree.
IRX 2016
IRX 2016 will take place on April 27 and 28 2016 at IRX 2016, at Birmingham’s NEC. Find out more here. Register to visit the show for free here.
Our research
The latest InternetRetailing research, the IRUK Top500 2016, is now available to download. Visit the IRUK Top500 section of the website to find out more.
Our webinars
Click to visit the Internet Retailing webinars page to catch up on the latest webinars, which are also available to view again on the IRTV channel.
Event presentations and interviews
Catch up with presentations and other interviews from IRC 2015 on the event website now.
