Internet Retailing

Home fitness equipment retailer, Puretec Fitness, has secured its future and taken back control of its brand by launching a fully transactional website, after historically relying on eCommerce marketplaces to target customers.

The latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) revealed the sharpest decline in retail sales since 1995 last month, sparking further fears for the UK retail industry. According to their figures, retail sales fell by 2.7 percent in total and like-for like in May, while online sales of non-food products grew at a rate of just 1.5% year on year, which the BRC and KPMG said was “an all-time low”.

By Jeremy Snape, founder and managing director, Sporting Edge.

If the disruption and competitive threats to retailers from the likes of Amazon and discounters were not enough, there are also such issues as concerns as the impact of climate change and sustainability, possible supply chain market disruption from Brexit, and global trade.

Seamless mobile connectivity can help prevent this from happening explains Colin Abrey of Nextivity.

Too much choice and not enough product information online is causing high-intent consumers to abandon purchases, right at the moment they are ready to buy, a new report from iAdvize, the leading conversational commerce provider, warns.

Despite the ever-growing dominance of e-commerce as part of the overall retail sales mix, conversion rates across online channels remain a long way behind their in-store counterparts.

Retailers are neglecting social media when it comes to customer service, and are not listening to consumers to drive customer experience improvements, according to the 2019 Eptica Digital Trust Study.

It’s clear that the rise of pure-play e-tailers and the Amazon model have significantly disrupted the retail market, putting traditional brick and mortar retailers under more pressure than ever to manage costs, whilst also meeting rising customer expectations.

UK independent parcel carrier Yodel is celebrating the latest addition to its trophy cabinet after claiming the title of Retail and eCommerce Innovator of the Year at the techies 2019. The techies celebrate innovation across all industry sectors in the UK, rewarding the best and brightest technology professionals.

By Jon White, MD at InXpress.

In the last few months, online retail giants ASOS and Amazon have made headlines for announcing that they may start blacklisting ‘serial returners’ from their websites.