Shop Direct Group to boost web presence with ATG

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Shop Direct Group to boost web presence with ATG.

ATG (Art Technology Group, Inc., provider of e-commerce solutions, has announced that Shop Direct, the online and home shopping retailer, will deploy ATGs e-commerce suite across its multiple sites and brands to deliver faster and more agile web applications to customers.

The retailer will be launching nine brands, including Littlewoods, Littlewoods Direct, Littlewoods Ireland, Additions, Marshall Ward, Kays Choice, Great Universal, Empire and, using ATGs solutions in the Spring. Shop Direct will be able to easily deploy all nine sites using just one unified ATG platform with advanced business tools that will allow the sites to scale up as the company grows.  ATG partners Spindrift and Conchango are working to build and deliver the sites using ATGs state-of-the-art e-commerce technology.

The deployment is part of the companys pledge to move away from paper-based catalogues in order to meet its objective of being 70% online by 2010.  As an organisation with deep roots in home shopping, Shop Direct had been relying on a largely custom-built e-commerce platform and wanted a solution that would allow them to innovate with greater speed and provide business users with greater flexibility.

Neal Preece, E-Commerce Director at Shop Direct comments, Shop Direct has three key objectives that its e-commerce strategy will have a pivotal role in achieving.  Firstly, to create a step-change customer experience, secondly to add more personalisation to our sites so that offers are targeted effectively and customers have a more streamlined online shopping experience.  Lastly, we also want to add web 2.0 technology to enable customers to personalise their own content to the site such as photos and reviews, or even shop with a friend.

Frank Lord, vice president at ATG EMEA explains, Shop Direct is a shining example of a retailer embracing the web 2.0 revolution to improve customer loyalty.  This deployment is sure to set the bar high for future e-commerce projects in 2009. Shop Direct will be one step ahead of the game when it comes to multi-channel delivery by consistently offering its customers enhanced speed and more highly personalised touch points, all powered by ATG.