The retail technology week in numbers
66%...High Street retailers like Marks & Spencer have been struggling over the Golden Quarter, including the Christmas period, although there is significant opportunity to engage with customers, grow sales and increase brand loyalty, according to Qmatic research. The company carried out a survey of 1,300 Brits which found that 66% do most of their Christmas shopping on the High Street, with just 7% doing most of it online.
1.4%...Marks & Spencer saw like-for-like revenues fall 1.4% in the 13 weeks to 30th December. Clothing and homewear slumped by 2.8% and food, usually the retailer’s star performer, by 0.4%.
35%...Ted Baker saw its retail sales rise 9% YOY in the eight-week period to 6th January. Online sales surged by 35%, representing 30.1% of total retail sales.
22%...Proximity mobile payments are still far from mass adoption, according to research from eMarketer. Just over 22% of UK smartphone users will use a phone to pay for goods and services at the PoS in 2018, it found.
128…Aldi and Lidl continue to press ahead with their ambitious UK growth plans. According to data from Barbour ABI, Lidl submitted 68 planning applications for new stores last year, and Aldi 60.
48%...Major UK retailers are way off the pace when it comes to the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), set to go live on 13th January, according to research from technical consultancy Consult Hyperion and PR outfit CCgroup. This is based on responses from over 30 tier one and tier two retailers and found that 48% are unaware of PSD2, 67% aren’t ready to comply with it and 32% aren’t aware of the effect on their business.
£30 million…Marks & Spencer has announced a new technology transformation programme as the struggling retailer looks “to become a digital-first business and deliver an improvement in customer experience”. It claims that the initiative, part of its five-year transformation plan, will deliver annual efficiencies of c.£30 million by 2021/22 and drive clearer accountabilities and a more customer centric approach to technology services. There is a one-off cost to implement of c. £25 million.
£1,054…The average UK household spent a record £1,054 on groceries during the 12 weeks to 31st December, according to Kantar Worldpanel.
27%...Shoppers are much less likely to go through with their purchases if they are using phones and tablets, according to new research from the University of East Anglia. This is because consumers often worry they are not seeing the full picture on a mobile app or that they could be missing out on special offers or overlooking hidden costs. Concerns about privacy and security are also key here. According to Criteo, the share of e-commerce traffic from mobile devices increased to 46% of global e-commerce traffic in Q2 2016; however, only 27% of purchases initiated on this channel were finalised and conversion rates significantly lagged behind desktop initiated purchases.
30…Alibaba’s Hema supermarket is to add 30 locations in Beijing by the end of the year, expanding its presence in the Chinese capital from 5 to 35 stores.
1,500…Asda has installed a 16ft tall and 8ft wide automated parcel vending tower at its Trafford Park store, following a trial by parent company Walmart in the US. In a first for the UK, this enables customers to pick up their online order in less than 60 seconds and will also take returns. It was installed at the end of last week as a proof of concept, can hold up to 500 parcels and has thus far served 1,500 customers.
£108.3 billion…The UK town centre retail market declined to £108.3 billion in 2017 but is forecast to rise 0.2% in 2018 and will continue to grow out to 2022, with sales being driven by convenience goods particularly in the food and grocery sector. However, it will underperform against the overall growth of total physical sales in the UK over the next five years, which will be driven by retail parks and supermalls, according to GlobalData.
0…Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, which owns and produces the CES trade show, has pledged to "redouble efforts to expand women's voices" following criticism that all the major keynote presentations are by men this year. This follows an all-male line-up of major speakers in 2017.
1,000…Lidl is set to build its largest warehouse in the UK, servicing its growing estate of London stores. The German discount retailer’s new distribution centre at J11A of the M1 near Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, will be more than double the size of any existing UK facility and will create up to 1,000 new jobs.