IBM ran a great session about data – did you know, 90% of all global data was generated in the last two years and that 80% of all data is completely unstructured? One thing I found myself asking was – where does your business see itself in managing data? Is it historical, real-time or predictive and how relevant is the data you collect?
An intriguing survey grabbed my attention on the second day of the show; of 28,500 people from 15 different countries, 76% of the respondents said they would welcome more communication from retailers – this has got to come as a surprise to businesses. The survey also found that customers are willing to share information about themselves, with three quarters saying they would divulge media usage, 73% willing to tell demographic information and 61% fine with sharing identifying information such as a name and an address.

Consumers between the ages of 18 and 25 would rather shop in brick-and-mortar stores for clothing and shoes, according to a study, although two thirds said they head online to do product research and price comparisons first – a fact that has been evident almost since the beginning of ecommerce. So, whilst social media plays a role in brand awareness, 88% said they opt not to shop on Facebook or Twitter.

With the growing number of selling channels, product choices and unprecedented access to information, retailers are challenged to keep pace with changing consumer buying behaviours. The omni-channel retail environment is making it more difficult for companies to meet increasing service-level expectations while minimising inventory costs and maximising margins. Solving these challenges was a huge focus of many vendors in the Expo, and is certainly the focus of our core campaigns for 2012 as a leading Microsoft Dynamics AX for 2012 Retail partner which launches virtually on 1st February this year.

The high street store as we know has already undergone dramatic changes, ever since the 50’s and the fast growth in car ownership and the redesign of town centres to accommodate them. Further change, in some cases decline, is inevitable in the next 3-5 years, and to keep up with the growth of multiple channels, chiefly the Internet, retailers need to shift from their current transactional model to more of an engagement model in order to appeal more directly to the consumer and offer a personalised experience. If retailers expect their customers to come to the store, they need to give them a good reason to do so.

An array of technologies can support this, starting off with mobile apps, which can provide the customer with vast amounts of information they may require upon entering the store, helping to replicate the online experience. QR codes are also rising in prominence, and already feature on shop displays, allowing customers to scan codes with their smartphone to obtain more information on their selected product (or even access video previews). Consumers themselves are often starting their shopping journey in the social media, reviewing and recommending and retailers need to take account of that and take part in helpful, but non-intrusive ways.

For instance, virtual shopping baskets are being offered by more and more retailers - especially supermarkets - as they add convenience by allowing the customer to build a basket before entering the store. Additional GPS apps, to help users locate the items once entering the store, have also been implemented in many stores here in the UK. Click and collect is yet another mechanism designed to appeal to today’s smart and savvy customers and has been a huge success.

It is expected that the vast majority of this technology – and indeed, more constantly in development – will drive the store of the future, and shops need to operate in a multi channel world to keep pace with how retail has changed. Retailers have welcomed Mary Portas’ recommendations but the smart ones will not be sitting back waiting for Government, legislators, town halls and citizens to do it for them.

Following the news that Waitrose will start to despatch orders from its first online groceries fulfilment centre, and that Amazon is looking to make deliveries through drop boxes, there is clearly a general trend to making sure customers get what they want quickly.

Response has been patchy; while some retailers can deliver within 24 hours of an order being placed, many still fall back on the old 28 day promise, and still often fail to meet even that. Whilst different demographics have different expectations, most retailers want to get better and recognise that fulfilment is now part of their customer commitment, not peripheral to it.

Making it happen is not necessarily so easy, particularly for retailers that have multiple systems, with few if any of them joined up. Order management is not simply about the moment of truth when a customers orders and pays, but about the entire process before and after that short moment in time. Being able to predict, or at least drive the visit that may lead to a purchase and then ensuring making sure it happens again by making the whole experience (delivery and presentation) a positive one, depends on integrated systems. Whilst an army of well-meaning people may be able to do a lot of this manually, speed and accuracy are and quite likely to be compromised. And once retailers are trading across multiple channels, manual management is impossible.

In short, cross-channel retailing demands cross-channel systems.

Searchandising is...

"The magical state of being that occurs when a retailer achieves the right balance of search engine optimisation in its merchandising."

Pardon?

"Combining a comprehensive search engine with ecommerce data and rules for delivering relevant high-margin results to the customer."

Ok...

"Searchandising is an e-commerce term used to describe a site search to promote products when users search for certain keywords or phrases. Also called multi-faceted search, this technology trend is making the site search engines much more effective and useful for both the site owner and site visitor."

Of course.

In Practise

Searchandising is about delivering the most accurate search results for the site visitor, and reducing the off-putting unhelpful results that will. When a customer mispells a word, for example, or uses a phrase that does not fit in with the exact listing of products, a searchandising engine will still identify and fixed, list similar results. If you think about Google's "do you mean..."where it returns a range of alternatives for you.

Searchandising  can  increase your sales by presenting products that may be missed with a standard search, and it can also make recommendations to push sales in the areas you wish to focus on (overstocks, cross-sells etc.) Really good searchandising relies on having accurate real-time information - search results can be affected by variables such as inventory levels, so results display items in your product catalogue that have higher inventory levels, or which you have designated as a priority sell; yet all within the parameters of what your customer is looking for so that the results are still relevant to the individual.

This Is Important Because

It has been estimated that 80% of all shopping trips start with some type of search-such as keyword or  guided navigation, making your ecommerce site search facility an important component for helping customers get to the products they are looking for.

As Matthew Bredel says in his Buzzle post Searchandizing Your Way to Increased Sales "Picture yourself again at your favorite online store. Only this time, you use the site search engine and come up with zero results. Are you likely to keep trying different words until you come up with the right results or will you go to another site that carries those holiday plates you are seeking? Why risk losing the sale? With Searchandizing you can keep the visitor and possibly sell more than you would have without this site-enhancing tool."

Resources

For those wanting indepth information on searchandising, you can find more in the Internet Retailing magazine supplement, Searchandising and Recommendation, November 2010.

The building was designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Jean Nouvel and carefully frames the city and the Cathedral while also respecting the historical significance of the location. The modernist building has 6,500 floor-to-ceiling glass panes in varying shades of red, grey and beige, flooding the floors with natural light, making this large structure feel open and welcoming.

The development comprises eight floors with retailers such as Topshop, H&M, Banana Republic, Reiss, Hugo Boss, Dune, Office, Links of London and Swarovski already claiming their space, while restaurants and eateries abound, to ensure a true leisure retail destination central to other key visitor destinations. Standing out is a brand new concept restaurant, Barbecoa, from Jamie Oliver and Adam Perry-Lang - who are also opening a butcher's shop and a takeaway, and Spring 2011 will see the arrival of a new Gordon Ramsay restaurant.

It is hoped, that after a period of uncertainty for retail, One New Change "will play a leading role in the transformation of the City into a seven-day shopping and leisure destination"

For the latest  on this development, including information on the history of Cheapside as well as a profile of designer Jean Nouvel, visit the One New Change website.

So Katie Price is releasing a new single!  ‘Free to Love Again’ is her latest offensive on the great British public, and this time there’s no Peter to fill in the gaps.  Such as the singing bit.  Who does good looking ear muffs these days?   I found these Ugg beauties. But to be honest, with her singing, maybe what you need is some of these.

The latest celeb must have accessory is the Apple IPAD. Soon to be jailbird Lindsay Lohan even uses hers to keep the paps at bay!  I’m not really sure what problem they solve, and if I actually want one, but the iPad seems to be flying of the shelves like hot cakes, so my advice is to find something that you can sell them with – and quick!  How about an oversize Mulberry bag to stow it in?  But you need to be quick, as the luxury brand is enjoying soaring demand – despite making 500 bags a week, shops can’t stock enough.  And for the boys – Fat face have a great range of bags.

My wife just came back from a hen do, where she had the time of her life on a ‘dirty dancing’ session with her mates (I’m hoping it was based on the film!)  And the hot news is…. Leg warmers are back – and the brighter the better.  She still hasn’t taken hers off.  And for all the fellas that are looking after the kids while the wife’s dancing with budding Patrick Swayzes, what better way to wear them out, then  a long bike ride?  My friends at Evans Cycles said that keen cyclists are going mad for these.

Guilfest 2010 kicks off on Friday.  OK, so it’s not exactly Glasto, but it’s easier to get tickets, and the mighty Quo are headlining on Sunday… yummy mummies will be out en masse, channeling the gorgeous Kate Moss, Sadie Frost and the rest of the fashion pack.  Despite the great weather, Hunter wellies were out in force at Glastonbury, but let’s hope the heat wave holds, and sunnies and hats are the fashion must have this weekend.  Jigsaw have some fabulous sunglasses to choose from. This dress from White Stuff will make sure you stand out in the crowd and, for the boys, these shorts have plenty of pockets to stow away your festival goodies.

Multichannel is still one of the leading trends in retail (where have you been?)  It’s all about moving to a multi channel platform.  IMRG and Capgemini predict in their new research that UK online retail is set to more than double over the next ten years. Check the  IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. They predict that the UK e-commerce market will reach £123bn by 2020.  I find that customers want the convenience on a multi channel platform and like the experience, so don't mess around, get in quick. (source:Internet Retailing)

Obviously one of the big talking points amongst retailers has been the 2.5% rise in VAT to 20%, and the retail insiders have not been shy in sharing their views. We've scraped a couple of reactions from both side of the fence and put them here for you to look at.

It's going to be bad...

- In the British Retail Consortium coverage of the budget, and on the matter of the VAT rise BRC Director General Stephen Robertson said: "We didn't want a VAT increase. It'll hit jobs, consumer spending, the pace of recovery and add to inflation but we accept the Government has no easy options.

"It's some consolation that the range of VATable products isn't being extended.

"Changing computer systems and shelf prices on tens of thousands of products is a huge, costly exercise for retailers. Planning for catalogues is a particular nightmare.

- "The VAT hike could be enough to put weak grocery retailers under", Richard Fleming, UK head of restructuring at KPMG said in The Grocer.

It's not so bad really...

- The Guardian reported a roar in retail shares as budget VAT rise is delayed until January.

- Retail Week Editor, Tim Danaher said in his blog “We’ve been speaking to a lot of retailers about yesterday’s Budget, and particularly the increase in VAT, and no-one seems particularly worked up about it.

The latest podcast is from Gary Copping – K3's Business Development Manager. He talks about multi-channel retailing in the context of an economic downturn. The news is good – on line retailers now have more opportunity to get into stores. However, he warns that all retailers will have to get better at meeting customers' expectations for consistency of product, offer and service across all channels. Gary talks about the techniques and technologies that retailers can adopt to ensure joined up retailing.

Tony has a passion for the fast moving retail industry and has detailed knowledge of the key functions - Plan, Buy, Make, Move and Sell,  and he understands the interdependencies of information, products and services. Since joining K3 he has taken a pro-active role in helping the company deliver its multi channel vision to the retail sector. Tony’s deep understanding of the commercial issues facing retailers and developing IT solutions and business processes to improve product availability, drive profitable sales and reduce costs has been invaluable in establishing K3 as a leading provider of multi channel solutions.

Outside work Tony plays drums in a local band and tries hard to maintain a very old Caterham 7 (car). He has four daughters who also require a lot of maintenance and a permanent taxi service.

We asked Tony to put his future goggles on and give us his latest insights into the world of retail and multichannel.

What issues do you think retailers should be looking at now?

At the moment retailers should be trying to understand the retail opportunities surrounding the 2012 games. ‘2012, Opportunities for Retailers’, run by Retail Knowledge, will be good for those who make it. It’s a chance to look at the ‘Games Roadmap’ and come to grips with all the issues surrounding the games. The event will be covering a lot of areas, such as smoothing the supply chain, exploiting new technologies, queue management and promotional activity as well as looking at what technology you will need and how to take full advantage of that technology. I’m looking forward to presenting there as well, asking ‘Will 2012 Be the First Multichannel Games?”

The opportunities London 2012 present to UK Retail are huge. It’s important to realise that it’s not just at the games, it’s before during and after that need to be considered as well, and it is not all about London either, it will benefit retailers all over the UK.

Aside from London 2012, what else should retailers have on the horizon?

Well, the last four years have really been about transactional retail, so retailers need to capitalise on the investments they’ve made and build from there. I see two key areas that they’ll need to look at:  the technology side and the customer side.

In terms of technology I see things growing in areas such as RFID, mobile…and multichannel, including the technology that supports that. A lot of retailers may consider their operations as multichannel but in reality it is multiple channel. They offer products across a range of channels but there is not the real unity a truly joined-up operation offers. You really have to ask ‘How good are we at accessing data across all our channels?’ The strength of a joined-up multichannel operation cannot be understated. It gives you speed, cohesion, transparency and control – from web to store to mobile.

Mobile, as I mentioned, is an area retailers need to keep an eye on. What is the mobile going to do? We’re going from customers using the phone to browse and research, to carrying out transactions. So be aware of what is happening with mobile. There are a lot of mobile platforms, so if you are looking at applications, you need to think about which platforms (iPhone, Blacberry, Nexus) your clients use and how they use them.

The other key area that demands a lot of attention is the need to understand the customers’ eCommerce journey. To really use the technology that is out there, whether you already have it or are looking to invest, you need to take a close look at your customers shopping behaviours. The channels they use, where they browse, where they spend. Capturing the data so you can turn it around to give your customers the best experience is important.

There is this symbiosis between technology and customer – both leading each other at various stages, but overall developing together. For each retailer the technology used will be dictated by the different customers they have, or want to have. If you do not understand how your customers shop, how will you know which technology you need to invest in and how you should use it?

Does the growing strength of multichannel and the technology surrounding it mean there is nothing for the Bricks & Mortar retailer?

No, not at all. There will always be a need for customers to go into the store - that face-to-face contact is important. What we should see is in-store operations reflecting, supporting and capitalising on other channels. This goes back to understanding and catering to customer shopping behaviours. For example, online customers can get reviews of products from a range of impartial sites. In-store customers can ask their friends or the sales staff. What about if customers could also get reviews using kiosks or in-store displays? They’d need to be genuine reviews; the good and the bad - the integrity of the information is important.

In-store kiosks have been incredibly successful. They’re a fantastic way of upselling and a valuable tool for sales teams. If customers can check the availability of an item and locate that item, then that frees up staff to focus on other aspects of customer service. The days of ‘I’ll just check out the back” should go. If an item is not in-store then a customer can see other stores, perhaps nearby, that do stock the item, or they can order online from in-store. It’s an incredibly versatile tool.

I mentioned in-store displays. There are so many ways for retailers to use these. For a start there is in-store advertising and promotions. Imagine if this was all controlled centrally - Head Office determining a promotion and it being implemented in real time across all stores, along other channels and promoted to customers there and then. Customer love ‘surprise’ bargains, but don’t like hearing they could get the same item cheaper from the online store – that goes back to the importance of a fully joined-up operation.

Other ways this can be used…fashion retailers can show their clothes on the runway, so customers can see how the clothing looks on, how it moves etc. Home retailers could display price and feature comparisons between products… …again, the technology is there, business just need to be creative in how they use it.

Final words?

Dig down and really understand customer shopping behaviours, and then use technology to support that.

Here’s an example I like to refer to. There’s a train station in Germany, in which a lingerie retailer has put in a kiosk rather than open a store in the station. A customer can shop via the kiosk; is able to search and pay quickly. As part of the checkout they can enter their train ticket details, which acts as proof of ID and also gives the lingerie retailer the time by which they need to deliver. Nearby, at a store, the order is received and a courier delivers the ordered and paid for items over to the station. The customer takes delivery at the designated customer waiting point.

I like this example for two reasons. Firstly it demonstrates how technology supports the customer. You can shop conveniently and quickly, and it fits in with your travel plans; they don’t need to worry about missing their train. For the retailer the technology allows them to be located elsewhere, so the stock they carry is not restricted by space and they avoid high store lease costs.

The technology is getting better and better, and people are adopting it. For retailers there is this ever increasing need to get behind that and get the most out of the technology. Give people what they want, or be innovators, show customers a better way of shopping.

Contradicting the BRC's  response are reports saying that small grocers support this move,  as  do the Scottish Grocers Federation. The SCF Chief Exective John Drummond said "I hope this announcement will introduce a culture change within the major supermarkets and an acknowledgment that they must be open and transparent in their supplier dealings."