It’s little surprise that some independent retailers are running scared of online commerce, as shown in one of our Internet Retailing stories today, when we consider the sheer scale of the most successful ecommerce businesses today. Asos, with its expanding warehouse and news today of a £100m e-fulfilment contract is a prime example. But the evidence is that shops are no substitute for an online presence; rather the two channels complement each other. That’s why when Mulberry invested in its new website, which we cover today, it made a point of including responsive design to better serve those visiting from a mobile phone or tablet. Mobile commerce is, at this point, inevitable, and high street retailers are likely to do better if they respond by enabling it rather than by fighting it with calls for an online sales tax. After all, as today’s BRC figures show, online is still the engine of growth for UK retail sales, rather than the hindrance that too many still see it to be. Read our newsletter stories below for more.
Our webinars
On Thursday September 5, Nuance focuses on customer service in, Creating satisfied customers – meet Nina Web, the new face of online customer experience. Tim Atkinson, business development director at Nuance, is the speaker for this event, to be held at 11am. He’ll be showing how Nuance’s intelligent virtual assistant can talk to, serve and listen to customers around the clock, and demonstrating how it works for existing customers including Coca Cola and Michelin. Click here for more information and to register.
And on Wednesday September 11, Silverpop explains how personalised multichannel experiences will ensure your customers love you to death in Behavioural marketing and how to get your customers to love you. The event takes place at 3pm – register and find out more by clicking here.
More information about our webinar programme is available here.
Events
The 8th Internet Retailing Conference will be held on October 16 in London, when keynote speakers will include Sir Stuart Rose, chairman of Ocado and Dressipi, and Laura Wade-Geary, executive director, multichannel ecommerce, Marks & Spencer. For more details, visit
www.internetretailingconference.com.
Today’s stories
Online sales lift by 15% in August
Asos awards £100m efulfillment contract
IRC 2013 The new basics of retail
Mulberry relaunches ecommerce site in light of growig mobile and international visitors
Independent retailers evidence growing fear of online rivals
Vestiaire Collective wins $20m investment from backers led by Condé Nast
