At this week’s InternetRetailing Conference (IRC 2016) we heard from brands as diverse as Barbour and Lego about much they value their retailers and want them to be successful in selling their products. Both sell their own goods direct – yet, since neither considers themselves primarily a retailer, and more a provider of well-known products, the relationship they have with retailers remains crucial.
The drama that played out in public this week between Unilever and Tesco, one of its key retail clients, threw that retailer-brand relationship into relief. Brands have less control over the way their product is sold when it’s sold through a third-party and we take a look at what this event says about the relationship between the two.
In today’s InternetRetailing newsletter we also hear from retailers including Ocado and Game about how they’re using technology to make their digital commerce operations ever more sophisticated.
Innovations such as these are a key focus of our new IRUK Top500 Strategy & Innovation Performance Dimension Report – and today we also feature an interview with Emma Mead of Holland & Barrett, taken from that report.
IRC 2016 was held this week and we report on the keynote session, where retailers and services providers as diverse as Urban Outfitters, Halfords and Airbnb spoke of the importance of ‘culture’ to their relationship with their own customers.
Our webinars
Next week we’ll be hearing from Ingenico’s Julian Wallis, country manager for the UK and Ireland. He’ll be identifying what retailers must do to accelerate their international ecommerce growth – and do so profitably. Monetising your international reach: six key steps to find ecommerce success overseas is at 2pm on October 18. Click here to find out more and to register for the free event.
Then in November, Michael Langguth, co-founder of app developer Poq, will be addressing the business case for mobile apps in retail, using case study examples from retailers including Missguided and House of Fraser. Learn how apps can drive your retail business is on November 9 at 2pm. To find out more and to register for the free event visit the Poq webinar page.
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.