We’re gearing up for IRX 2013 in today’s Internet Retailing newsletter. And it seems lots of you are as well. More than 5,000 have now registered to attend the annual expo, as we report in our final previews of the event. We’re looking forward to seeing you there.
In today’s newsletter we have an interview with IRX 2013 speaker Jonny Zhu, of Baidu’s exclusive European partner CharmClick, on why the Chinese search engine is key for UK retailers. We report on Sainsbury’s rise in online grocery sales, JD Williams’ move towards multichannel customer engagement, and on research from Rakuten into customers’ priorities. We also report on a study that suggests very fast growth for the UK online sales sector is over, with forecasts now putting ecommerce growth at around 10% a year until 2017.
Webinars
We have some upcoming webinars to tell you about. Take part by registering for the free events on our webinar page.
Laster this month, Ian Harris, chief executive of Search Laboratory will join us for a session on Demystifying Organic Search for Retailers. The event, which runs from 11am on March 28, will give a helping hand to retailers in developing natural search strategies that work. It will look at best-practice examples of search, highlight no-no’s and give action points for retailers to improve their own search marketing. Find more and register for the event here.
On April 11, at 4pm, the focus is on tag management, in How to Win with Tag Management: Strategies for Achieving Business and Marketing Agility. The event, which features QuBit’s CMO Ian McCaig and technology partnerships manager Harry Hurst, will look at how tag management works, what its benefits are, and how to use it to best advantage. Find more and register here.
And on April 18, at 11am, we’re joined by Will Cook, VP of multichannel at HP Autonomy and Colin McFarland, head of group CEM at Shop Direct, for a session on Marketing Optimisation for Online Retailers. The focus in the session will about what marketing optimisation can do for retailers, helping to personalise the customer experience and boost performance against key KPIs. Find out more here.
Finally, on April 30, Stibo Systems and Bazaarvoice join forces for a webinar on Staying relevant: creating a personal shopping experience that drives sales. In the 11am webinar, speakers Aurelien Dubot, product marketing manager EMEA at Bazaarvoice, and Simon Walker, director, ecommerce innovation, Stibo Systems, will discuss why it’s so important that retailers focus on their customers as they create shopping experiences that reflect both shoppers’ feedback and needs. They’ll be considering how to harness and learn from social data. To find out more about the webinar and to register for free, click here.
Today’s stories
IRX 2013 PREVIEW Thousands set to converge on IRX 2013
UK online sales set to top £54bn a year by 2017
Sainsbury’s online food sales grow by almost a fifth
IRX 2013 PREVIEW Interview with Jonny Zhu of Baidu’s European partner CharmClick
Price, reliability and choice top consumers’ priorities: study
JD Williams puts multichannel customer engagement in place
