Category Archives: Multichannel

What M&S, McDonalds and Harrods are doing in-store

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Major retailers such as M&S, McDonalds and Harrods are making significant changes in their stores.  This is what they said at the Retail Bulletin In-Store Engagement Conference in July 12. Claire Zuurbier, Workstream Lead New Channels Marks and Spencer M&S want to be: The leading Multi-channel Retailer in the world by 2014 The New Channels team started two years ago with three people. It now has 50. The first project from the new CEO was “put big screens in stores”. The team Read more [...]

Why shoppers use mobiles in stores. Is it showrooming?

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Some retailers were concerned about shoppers using mobiles in their stores for showrooming.  But, what do shoppers actually use mobiles for?  The results may surprise you. A survey by Forsee based on 21,000 responses has come up with some interesting results on the use of mobiles in stores. The top finding is that 65% of shoppers are visiting the website of the store and their main purpose is to find out more about a product. Of course if they can't get the information they want from the stores Read more [...]

Omni-channel – bringing it alive in-store

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A new white paper has just been published that helps retailers create an Omni-channel environment in their stores. Most major retailers have already started to implement some form of Omni-channel strategy. Their objective is to enable their customers to consistently interact with them through all of the touch points in their purchasing journey, includes both on-line and off-line. This is a major task that will impact many parts of their business and take some time to fully implement so many retailers Read more [...]

Multichannel or Omnichannel?

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Over the last two years almost every major retailer recognised that if they don't offer shoppers the option of buying their products online other retailers certainly will. In response to this challenge most retailers rapidly set up their own online shops, often with teams that were not part of Retail Operations. As stores and online were two separate channels and shoppers could choose which to buy from the term multichannel described the approach perfectly. What changed? Things developed rapidly.  It Read more [...]

Notes on RetailBulletin MultiChannel Conference Feb12

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Another excellent event put together by Retail Bulletin. The top message was that mobile is seen as the vehicle that linked together on-line and off-line channels and enables multichannel integration.  One speaker actually called mobile the saviour of bricks and mortar stores!  Other common themes were:  QR codes, trial things quickly, focus on customers, iPod & Pads and channel integration. Here are my notes on some individual speakers. Kenny Ball, IT Director, Schuh Major success Read more [...]

Multichannel Retailing – where next?

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Multichannel retailing has transformed the retail landscape and will continue to do so.  New technologies and increasing customer power has led to retailers business success being shaped by how they responded to multichannel retailing. It's a tough but very exciting time for everyone. Talking with major retailers it appears to me that they are going through four stages in their multichannel journey.  Some are already at stage three but many others are still at stage 1 & 2. A few Read more [...]

Multichannel Retailing – an Original idea

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According to some people multichannel retailing is simply about shoppers deserting stores and buying on-line instead. This is a narrow view of the potential of multichannel retailing and how it can improve the shopper experience. It was therefore good to read an article in RetailWeek from Angela Spindler, chief executive of The Original Factory Shop, who adds a different perspective. Angela puts a lot of effort into understanding customers and was clear that they value face-to-face contact Read more [...]

Bricks and mortar vs on-line

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It's not about which selling model will "win" in the end. Bricks and mortar stores will continue to change to meet the needs of shoppers as will on-line stores. Neither are perfect but the development potential for a more rewarding shopping experience for both retailers and customers is enormous. Personally I believe that in a couple of years time we will have a similar total number of bricks and mortar stores as we have today but many of them will both look different and be operated in different Read more [...]

Why should I buy this one?

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A recent report from McKinsey called The value proposition in multichannel retailing pointed out that retailers can carefully craft product assortments in ways that influence customer value perceptions. For instance, in categories with clear “good,” “better,” and “best” ranges—such as flat-screen TVs retailers can display models side by side, attract consumers with hot prices on good models, and then encourage trading up by clearly articulating the features and benefits of the better Read more [...]

Notes from RetailWeek conference March 2011

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Here's my summary of the event and what CEO's of major retailer talked about Top 10 overall themes: Mobiles – customers will use them everywhere Multichannel – anything, anywhere, anytime, any mix Community: Be local in every respect (format, actions, sourcing, identity) and support  community actions and activities Retailers are spending money mCommerce and channel integration Customer power - recognition that they are smarter and more selective Creative new products and services Read more [...]