payments - Retail Systems

RS
Genius idea
08 RS June - July 2012
news general
IN BRIEF
Widget UK Ltd, a specialist distributor of
consumer electronics products to retailers
and resellers, has created and launched its
own iPhone app supported by the Maginus
multi-channel solution. It enables customers
and suppliers to have a real-time view of
product availability, details and pricing from
any location via their iPhone.
in-store app
PayPal has revealed the technology partners
behind its in-store app – Eagle Eye Solutions
and BT Expedite – and how they are helping
Aurora Fashions bring together the online
and bricks and mortar retail experience
using mobile. By partnering with PayPal,
Eagle Eye Solutions and BT Expedite, Aurora
Fashions can now offer PayPal’s 15 million
customers the ability to make in-store
purchases using their PayPal account.
Gs1 members
GS1 UK, the not-for-profit supply chain
standards and solutions organisation,
membership has increased to over
25,000, fuelled by the growing UK internet
economy. GS1 UK members include
retailers of all sizes, from small start-ups
to the likes of Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
social complaints
Over a quarter (26 per cent) of Britons
are complaining more now they can
use social media to communicate with
companies – but organisations simply
aren’t listening. Seventeen per cent of
their complaints are left unanswered and
an enormous 83 per cent of those who
have complained are unhappy with the
response they received.
ask an owner
Reevoo, the social commerce solutions
provider, and Kia Motors (UK) Ltd have
expanded their partnership. The car company
selected Reevoo earlier this year
to provide verified, authentic customer
reviews and an ‘Ask An Owner’ platform
on the Kia.co.uk website. This has
resulted in increased engagement with
car buyers who are researching online.
Unifying channels
Consumers may move through many different channels,
but mobile touches them all, writes Glynn Davis
There is no escaping mobile technology,
and the impact it will have on the
retail sector, as there is an increasing
belief that it will be the vital connective tissue
between multiple channels.
Speaking at the recent IDC E-commerce
Conference 2012 Christine Bardwell, research
manager at IDC Retail Insights, suggested: “The
biggest reason mobile is important is that
customers move through various touch-points
[with retailers] but the common theme is that
mobile touches them all. It’s the channel unifier.”
David Hogg, commerce solutions executive
at IBM, agrees and points to the growth already
seen in mobile commerce – with the likes of
Debenhams generating 10 per cent of its sales
over the channel. “Retailers need an investment
plan to deal with this,” he suggests.
Such is the growing influence of mobile
devices around the world that Matt Jeffers,
international development manager for Tesco.
com, told delegates that some Asian countries
are “leapfrogging [e-commerce] and going
straight to m-commerce”
He views this as a warning to UK merchants
to not think that because they have been
leaders in non-store retailing that they are
therefore ahead of other parts of the world.
For instance, in South Korea he says Tesco has
been installing virtual stores on subways that
enable pictures of products to be scanned
via mobile phones and added to consumers’
shopping baskets for home delivery.
To handle these various channels Jeffers
regards the ideal scenario for retailers as having
a single core platform that “sits underneath
everything and the channels sit on top”. He
adds: “It’s not easy but ultimately this is the
way to compete with pure online retailers.”
The potentially seamless customer
experience that should derive from such an
infrastructure will help create what Ivano
Ortis, head of international at IDC Retail
Insights, describes as omni-channel baskets
and payments for those customers that shop
across multiple touch-points with retailers.
He says such omni-channel shoppers can
help retailers drive greater sales and efficiencies
because these customers typically deliver:
15-35 per cent increases in average transaction
values; 30-45 per cent increases in online
conversion rates; and help merchants enjoy
20-60 per cent reductions in inventory losses
as a percentage of sales.
The IDC Retail Insights E-commerce
Conference took place took place in
London and brought together e-commerce
professionals from UK retailers such as; Tesco.
com, Carphone Warehouse, Mothercare, Schuh,
Debenhams, M&S, Ocado, and John Lewis PLC.
“It was a fantastic event, great to have
professionals from retail and technology
sectors in the same room,” said Matt Jeffers,
international development manager of Tesco.
com. “I particularly liked the combination
of networking opportunity where you can
ask questions and formal sessions where
you can learn about new trends in the
ecommerce market.”
Online stories
most clicked on stories at www.retailsystems.com
during June
eCommera launches mobile app service
Retail Systems to hold discussion panel evening
E-com giant, Rakuten, extends global reach
Jubilee holiday helped boost e-tail sales
Contactless a mystery to consumers
Man City employ Postcode Anywhere software
Salon launches Facebook loyalty card
Aurora Fashions to enter the Dutch market