Research at a glance (IRUK 2016)

The elements included in each dimension are summarised below.

0. Footprint Dimension

0.1 UK retail turnover, ranging from £500,000 to £43 billion – average £554 million

0.2 The ecommerce subset of the above, ranging from £500,000 to £5.3 billion – average £125 million

0.3 UK web traffic, ranging from 548,000 to 157 billion page views per annum – average 700 million views per annum

0.4 Number of UK stores, ranging from 0 to 11,500 – average 130 stores

1. The Customer

1.1 Home page performance, including Engineering (PageSpeed and YSlow scores) and Responsiveness (html size and load time, page size andload time, and page elements)

1.2 Customer service response time and helpfulness – Facebook, email and phone

1.3 Number of socially active customers and their interaction levels

2. Operations and Logistics

2.1 Delivery, including 10 metrics covering the range of options, and competitiveness of timeframes and pricing

2.2 Returns, including 10 metrics covering the ease of the returns and refund process to the customer, and the range of options, including return to store

2.3 Collection, a summary of collection points offered by retailers, including own store, transport location, lockers, and third-party stores

3. Merchandising

3.1 Customer-perspective website review, including 23 metrics covering design, navigation, the relevance of search results, product information and visual appeal

3.2 Expert review of apparel companies, including 11 metrics covering selling strategy, purchase decisions, discount and replenishment rates, newness of stock and sell-out rate [Largest apparel retailers]

3.3 Mobile app assessment, including nine metrics covering use of notifications, product display, and personalisation. [Retailers with a mobile app]

4. Brand Engagement

4.1 Search assessment including total applicable keywords, total reach, share of search compared to other retailers, and relative visibility in search results

4.2 Social media presence and availability, including 22 metrics, taking into account size of audience and interaction with it on Twitter, the net change over three months, and use of 10 social networks, email, and blog

4.3 Facebook assessment, including 13 metrics, covering the total number of people talking about the brand, the frequency of posts, and interaction with recent posts

5. Mobile and Cross-channel

5.1 Mobile web home page performance, including Engineering, comprised of PageSpeed score and YSlow score; and Responsiveness, measuring html size, html load time, page size, page load time, and page elements

5.2 Mobile app, including 24 metrics, measuring the usability and functionality of apps and weighting features according to their impact on AOV, time spent on app, and conversion rate

5.3 Cross-channel, taking into account use of physical store estate for order fulfilment and return, store information on the website, in-store functions of apps, and cross-channel loyalty accounts. [Retailers with UK stores]

6. Strategy and Innovation

6.1 customer service response time

6.2 flexible order fulfilment

6.3 advanced merchandising techniques

6.4 Google search visibility

6.5 seamless delivery of services on mobile

web and app

6.6 offers international delivery

6.7 payment options and security

6.8 pricing strategy on goods in common with Amazon

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