MULTICHANNEL


RETAIL ENTERS A BRAVE NEW MOBILE WORLD


Mobile is becoming increasingly important for multichannel retailers – but just how important is a matter for debate.Retail T


echnology


takes a look at the research and evidence of industry adoption to support store processes, as well customer- facing ones throughout online and High Street shopping journeys


“Mobile is an increasingly important channel for retailers,” according to Dan


Durling, head of retail for Yahoo. Recent research carried out on behalf of the internet firm found that 79% of Britains now shop on a smartphone. “Therefore a mobile optimised site is paramount to retailers’ omnichannel


strategies,” Durling added. “The popularity of smartphones has led to a rise in showrooming, where consumers research goods instore, with 41% of users telling us they now do this.” David Hogg, IBM solutions lead in Europe, put the mobile shopping revolution


into an data-driven, omnichannel context: “High Street retailers are having to re-engineer their systems in order to deal with the different back and front-office functions needed from technology: on the supply chain side, where there is an urgent need for the reality of global inventory. “In an omnichannel world, store systems need to have a real-time view and not


just a daily download. Access to stock data has to be immediate. Then there is the requirement to be more digital instore - and mobile PoS [point-of-sale] and digital signage are data-hungry activities. And finally timely, accurate data is also needed to feed the personalised marketing efforts retailers are now engaged in. “Omnichannel demands consistent marketing online and instore, which


www.retailtechnology.co.uk Spring/Summer 2014 31


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