Knowledgeable employees vital for success of physical stores

  The good news for retailers sitting on a portfolio of physical shops is that consumers still prefer to go into stores rather than shop online. But the bad news is that there is a belief among many people that in-store employees hinder the shopping experience and need to be more knowledgeable. According to research…

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Movers & Shakers Q&A – Ben Francis, founder and director, Gymshark

Ben Francis, founder and director, Gymshark 1. What is the greatest opportunity for your business? The biggest opportunity for Gymshark at the moment is to harness the potential of GSHQ, our new Birmingham-based office. The 42,000 sq ft space gives us the opportunity to expand our workforce to help us continue on the growth trajectory we’re…

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Barbershops playing important role on high streets

The future of high streets will very much be determined by a combination of localised offerings, a high level of personalization, and more service-led propositions, as opposed to simply identikit shops looking to sell consumers more commoditised stuff. Neatly fitting into this template-for-the-future is the barbershop. I personally had not really considered them as a…

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The technology delivering the personal touch to in-store shopping

It’s taken a lot longer than it should – particularly considering the rapid rise and comparative sophistication of online shopping – but finally ‘physical’ retail is starting to get ‘phygital’. One area in which retailers are seeing demand grow, is for personalised pricing and promotions – delivered direct to shoppers’ mobile devices when they are…

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Digital Retail Innovations – Aila Technologies

Following the launch of the Digital Retail Innovations 2018 Report (sponsored by Webloyalty) a series of Q&A’s with the leading figures behind some of the key entries in the report are being published. Here is a Q&A with Jason Gulbinas, CEO of Aila Technologies which features in this year’s report for its work with Rent The…

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Technology at heart of loyalty generation

Having worked across different sectors it is noticeable how retail is very much more about the transaction whereas with the travel industry experience is everything. The good news is that this could change because innovations in things like artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) are bringing a greater level of personalised service to retail.…

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Walking Away From Cash

Earlier this year Amazon opened its first Amazon Go store to the public, enabling shoppers in Seattle to pick goods off the shelf and leave. Cameras and scanners monitor the movements of each person and the goods they handle before automatically charging their account as they leave the shop with their items. Amazon has trademarked…

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Future delivery models are knocking on the door

In a relatively modest timeframe Ocado has pretty much gone from what some analysts described as zero to the stock-market now pricing it as a hero. From being among the most shorted stocks on the UK market it has moved into the FTSE100 index and arguably become the darling of the UK retail sector following…

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Digital Leisure & Hospitality Innovations Q&A – Nutrifix

Following the launch of the Digital Leisure & Hospitality Innovations 2017 Report (sponsored by Webloyalty) a series of Q&A’s with the leading figures behind some of the key entries in the report are being published. Here is a Q&A with Joel Burgess, co-founder, Nutrifix. How did the original idea come about? I started Nutrifix to “scratch…

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Five theses about the future direction of grocery retailing

FMCG/retail sector is in a phase of transformation, the likes of which we have not seen before. Business stakeholders drive some of the changes while others are clearly coming from the outside. Business models nimble enough to adapt will thrive, while many others will be caught flatfooted and perish. Here are five theses for the…

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