In today’s InternetRetailing newsletter we’re looking immensely to this year’s InternetRetailing Conference, co-located with eDelivery Conference. It’s an annual opportunity for us to hear the latest that’s happening in the industry, look to new directions of travel and hear about what’s challenging industry professionals right now – and the questions we should be considering in our coverage. We have a final preview and round-up of Thursday’s conference, while our final pre-conference interview is with conference speaker Richard Barnes of Select Research.
In Friday’s newsletter we’ll be bringing coverage of the event.
Just like the conference, today’s newsletter is also packed with new insights. We report as Shop Direct says that more than half of its sales took place via smartphone in its latest financial year, with more than two-thirds made via mobile devices, when tablet computers are added in. We look at what the retailer did to foster that trend. Given this result, the decision by many small businesses to ignore mobile commerce, according to a PayPal study out today, seems a shortsighted one. We cover that story here. And we report on Leicester City defender Christian Fuchs, and his move into social-driven ecommerce.
Elsewhere we hear from ScS about why its sales and profits are rising despite industry-wide lower footfall: the answer, it seems, lies in a consumer shift to online research.
Today’s guest comment comes from Mark Webb of CML, who considers the seven barriers standing in the way of the perfect omnichannel customer experience.
IRC 2017
The InternetRetailing Conference, taking place in London on October 5, is the 12th annual edition of the event and this year focuses on energising retail. It runs alongside sister event the eDelivery Conference, and will be held at the Novotel, Hammersmith, London. One pass gives entry to both events with speakers also including Giles Delafeld, global CIO, Clarks; Bill Hopkins, executive director of operations and logistics, Trainline; and Regis Koenig, director of customer services, Darty.
For further information on the conferences, and to register for your delegate pass, visit www.internetretailingconference.com.
Webinars
Find out more about upcoming InternetRetailing webinars and register for free on the InternetRetailing webinar page. You can also catch up with past webinars on the page: recent sessions have come from IBM Watson on using AI to improve the customer experience, and from SmartFocus and The Entertainer on using social to reach digital customers.
