Eddie Woffinden, head of digital merchandising at QVC and one of the key speakers at this year’s Internet Retailing Expo (IRX 2015), gives his exclusive guidance to those retailers looking to improve their merchandising across channels. Read Eddie’s Tips
“Focus on what the different channels are used for and how your customer uses them. Study the data to see the differences. Don’t just assume an ‘omni-channel’ approach for merchandising your channels and simply put the same message on them all. They are unique devices and understanding that is important.
For further information and to book your place now visit www.internetretailingexpo.com or www.edeliveryexpo.com.
“The biggest challenge has been keeping up with the speed of change. For us our new platforms have been a key driver in this. We have looked to use technology partners to enable us to deliver changes quickly. Whilst being a global company has its benefits in terms of getting some great technology, we’ve found it’s also important to be able to deliver market specific updates quickly.
It’s important you have the right staff and structure to deal with this, enabling people to be creative to drive and react to customers’ changing behaviours – something we’re getting better at.
Customisation and personal selling
“For QVC it’s customisation and personal selling. This is what we’ve based our business on, connecting with our customers and making them feel like they’re getting a personalised and content rich experience. While this isn’t necessarily a new trend, I think it’s one that hasn’t been utilised fully anywhere. We’re looking at how to connect with our customer digitally and welcome new customers with that great personal experience you’d get through the TV.
At the same time improvements to our site will mean customers will be able to get a more personalised experience and choose how they interact with TV.
“I’m really looking forward to hearing about mobile and personalisation, looking at what innovative ways other retailers are using these devices to complement their main channel or stores. Previously there has been a lot of natural growth from mobile, in the upcoming years I think retailers are going to need to be a lot smarter to find that incremental revenue.”
Eddie Woffinden is speaking in the Multichannel Merchandising and Selling Conference on March 26 in Theatre 3 at IRX 2015. His presentation, Multichannel merchandising – challenges and learnings from a different type of retailer, is at 12.30pm.
The Internet Retailing Expo (IRX) which, new for 2015, is co-located with the eDelivery Expo (EDX), will take place between 25th – 26th March at the NEC Birmingham and will bring together retailers from across the globe to learn about the latest innovations and best practice in multichannel retail.
Both IRX and EDX are part of InternetRetailing – the magazine, portal and events for European ecommerce.
For further information and to book your place now visit www.internetretailingexpo.com or www.edeliveryexpo.com.