In today’s InternetRetailing newsletter, we’re looking at how Ocado is now moving ahead with its strategy of selling not just groceries but its technology to more customers. It has long looked for international grocery partners to buy into its in-house developed software, but of late it appears to have concluded that its best market is for general merchandise: as Ocado’s head of general merchandise James Matthews said at IRX 2017, its warehouse network is in this country. Today it announces one new customer in the form of Dobbies Garden Centres, while another, in the form of M&S, may be in the offing.
Today we also look at different ways that retailers are using technology to improve the customer experience. We report as Holland & Barrett and, in the Netherlands, Mediamarkt use technology to improve the customer experience in-store. and we highlight research that points to the importance of focusing on that experience online.
We look back to IRX 2017 on the top five mobile innovations, according to mGage’s Michael Braybrook, while today’s guest comment comes from Richard Dennys of Webgains who says retailers must make the GDPR a priority.
Webinars
Upcoming InternetRetailing webinars are from Greenlight Commerce, on how BHS relaunched online in just seven weeks, to be held at 2pm on May 4, and from inRiver on how retailers can shape their product marketing for high speed retail, to be held at 2pm on May 8.
Find out more about them and register for free on the InternetRetailing webinar page. You can also catch up with past webinars on the page: recent sessions have come from IBM Watson on using AI to improve the customer experience, and from SmartFocus and The Entertainer on using social to reach digital customers.