In today’s InternetRetailing newsletter, we report on rising online sales at retailers from Burberry and Mothercare to Halfords.
Online sales grew too in the ONS retail figures for April, out this week. Little wonder, then, that the Royal Mail is now catching up with the kind of flexible delivery services that online shoppers want. Some of the retailers who most understand what customers really, really want are highlighted in today’s preview of the nominees for the Omni Award in today’s Internet Retailing Awards preview. In this context of growing sales, however, the recent eBay move to request users change their passwords comes as a salutary reminder that even the biggest retailers can get hacked – and that everyone must consider the security of their data as a priority. No retailer is too big or too trusted to be immune to hacking.
It seems this problem arose when hackers got hold of staff login details – a flag to others to ensure they secure this route to data. But perhaps it should also be a flag to retailers not to request the kind of data, such as date of birth, that they don’t need and is commonly used in credit applications. Customer trust is not easily repaired when hacked data could be used for fraudulent financial purposes – and customer-centric retailers should think this one through.
Finally, today’s guest comment comes from Mark Wood, of Tealium, who considers ways that tag management can reduce customer frustration.
Click to read more on our upcoming events, including the third annual Internet Retailing Awards.
Our webinars
Click to visit the Internet Retailing webinars page to find out about any upcoming webinars and to catch up on any that you may have missed.
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 InternetRetailing Awards 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.
