As online sales grow, retailers are increasingly prepared to
invest in the IT required to integrate their websites with their
bricks and mortar sales channels.
By integrating back office IT with web, catalogue and store
networks, retailers can cut costs and collect accurate information
on their customers' buying habits and create new business
opportunities
Peter Fitzgerald, head of retail at Google UK, says retailers
are "drowning in data" which they could use to their benefit.
"During the 1980s and 1990s, computer scientists defined the ground
our industry is in today, but statisticians will define where it
goes now."
Collecting all customer information in one place is a start, but
many high street retailers keep customer information in silos so
major investment is required.
John Lewis is embarking on such a mission. The retailer wants
its online and in-store sales to be integrated so it can use sales
information to cross-sell. It is developing software to integrate
in-store systems, web order systems and Epos terminals.
Robin Terrell, managing director of John Lewis Direct, says the
project to integrate the systems of web and store operations is the
retailer's biggest ever IT project.
But it is justified by retailers growing online sales. In 2008,
John Lewis sold £327m of goods online, which accounted for 13% of
total sales. John Lewis online is now the retailer's biggest single
store after sales exceeded those of its flagship Oxford Street
outlet in 2008.
Web presence
But before embarking on integration projects, retailers need to
make sure their websites are effective and easy to use.
A report by web consultancy Webcredible concludes that retailers
have increased their focus on usability.
Trenton Moss, director at Webcredible, says this is largely down
to online shopping revenues continuing to increase despite the
recession.
"Brand loyalty is low and consumers often don't remember where
they bought some products until they get the confirmation e-mail,"
he says.
Moss adds UK retailers are improving their websites but basic
errors are still "pushing customers away".
He says retailers can build a big customer base online quickly
with a good website, but can lose customers just as quick through
these "basic errors".
Retailers have cottoned on to the fact that their online
presence is as important as any store. But the real winners in
retail will be those that integrate online and offline operations
and utilise the terabytes of customer data collected. A good
website will attract online customers, but information about
customers will help retailers sell more to them and cross-sell to
customers who prefer using other channels.
Webcredible last week published the
results of its 2009 study of what customers experience when
they use the websites of high street retailers.