I posed this question a couple of years ago in a previous article on Internet marketing strategy issues.
In this article, we will look at what’s still hot and what’s now less so. We will see that many of the core issues are similar, but there are new issues to consider like ‘Web 2.0’ and the ongoing need to establish a ‘Right Touching’ strategy.
As well as revisiting my previous top 10, we will start by taking a look at what the UK E-retail industry believes are their top issues. IMRG (2006) reviews the state of UK online retail according to the Internet Media in Retail Group Senate which is made up of the top UK retail brands like Arcadia Group, Argos, BT.com/dabs.com, Comet, Debenhams, easyJet, Figleaves, IKEA, John Lewis Partnership, lastminute.com, Littlewoods/Shop Direct and Tesco. It also polls the issues amongst the wider IMRG membership, so it represents a barometer of the main Internet strategy issues from a retail perspective. Even for non e-retailers it provides an interesting benchmark to compare themselves against – how do your strategy issues and growth rates compare?
Top 10 UK E-retail priority issuesThe IMRG (2006) report is very upbeat about UK e-retail and so it should be. The headline figures are impressive:
Online retail has increased by 2900% in the last 6 years
10% of UK online retail purchases are forecast to be made online by the end of the year
This will amount to £26 billion spent online by UK shoppers
On average, online shoppers will spend £1,000 each
540 million parcels will be shipped to the UK’s 26 million Internet shoppers
For every pound spent online, the web will influence another pound spent in traditional retail outlets
The growth in e-retail sales of individual companies is also impressive, with Alison Lancaster of John Lewis Direct quoted as saying:
“John Lewis Direct continues to show very strong sales growth. Sales for 2005/6 were 70% ahead of 2004/05 levels - which is in line with the average annual growth rate of 70% achieved in the last four years. This year has started very positively and we expect to continue this pattern of strong growth throughout the year”
Achieving this growth hasn’t been straightforward though, with many retailers having to adapt their processes of product targeting, marketing and distribution
