In today’s newsletter we’re considering trends in the way we shop in the light of the latest data. It seems that store visits were markedly down in June, according to BRC/Springboard footfall figures. That was true for high streets, shopping centres as well as out-of-town retail malls.
At the same time, online shopping grew by 17%, according to IMRG figures out today.
The BRC puts falling footfall down to the distractions of Brexit, rainy weather and Euro 2016. Another month there will be other distractions – but the prevailing trend is for customers to shop in the way that works for them at a given moment in time.
That’s why retailers are enabling their customers to shop, and take delivery of their purchase, in the way that works for them, wherever and whenever they want. Today we report as Holland & Barrett does that by enabling locker collection for its shoppers and John Lewis does that by enabling shoppers to order their deliveries to more international territories, and by expanding its concessions further overseas. We also highlight the success of event shopping, with a look at the web traffic inspired by Amazon Prime Day, now well established as one of the key shopping dates of the year.
Today’s guest comment comes from Gemma Baker of Click4assistance, who considers the role of chatbots in customer service.
Our research
The IRUK Top500 2016 and the first 2016 dimension reports, the first on Brand Engagement and the second on Mobile & Cross-channel, are now available to download. Visit the IRUK Top500 section of the website to find out more.
Our webinars
In the next InternetRetailing webinar we’ll be joined by Thomas Jeanjean, regional managing director, EMEA – mid-market, at Criteo, who will consider how to get the most out of mobile marketing. It’s a cross-device world: how to navigate mobile marketing’s next big opportunity is at 2pm on July 19. Click here to find out more and to register for the free event.
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.
InternetRetailing Events
The 11th InternetRetailing Conference and second eDelivery Conference take place this October. Information and tickets are now available for the two events here.
