Retailer Solutions is an initiative driven by Enterprise Ireland. We work with retailers to understand their strategic and operational needs, in order to introduce value-adding, multi-channel suppliers to them that are capable of increasing efficiency, enhancing customer experience, or raising the level of innovation. This post originally featured on www.retailer-solutions.com.
Enterprise Ireland welcomed members of the retail community to the Irish Embassy, London on Thursday, 14thJune 2012 to celebrate the range of exciting technologies coming out of Ireland. Enterprise Ireland is a champion of innovation, and can provide retailers with access to emerging technologies from Irish companies with world class solutions for retail. We call this group of leading suppliers ‘Retailer Solutions’.
The event included the launch of the new short video which gives a flavour of some of the Irish companies that Enterprise Ireland works with.
As the UK isEurope’s leading eTail economy, the focus of the day was on this growing area of retail. At £68.2bn in 2011, eTail now accounts for 17% of all UKretail sales. According to IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group), eTail is forecast to grow by 13% in 2012.
The first part of the day kicked off with Michael Ross of eCommera who shared his ‘Manifesto for a ‘metailer’’ with the audience. Michael spoke about recent changes in consumer behaviour, and how this impacts on retailing business decisions. This has moved from the store to the individual: location, location, location is giving way to customer, customer, customer.
The afternoon’s speed-meeting session composed of 90 quick fire meetings between selected Irish eTail suppliers, including Actus Mobile Solutions, Realex Payments and Louder Voice) and retailers such as Tesco.com, John Lewis and TK Maxx.
Von Bismark was there on the day to showcase its wardrobe platform, which allows customers to physically try on digital clothing, and share their experiences via social networks. Check out our Pinterest account for images of this.
There are more than 100 Irish Companies selling next generation solutions into the Retail sector – in addition to the many others who sell through retailers as a ‘route to market’. These retail solutions companies provide services such as payment solutions, store interiors, technology providers, consumer products, packaging, marketing, instore systems etc. and are targetting supermarkets, pharmacies, DIY stores and other retail outlets as their clients.
Given the work that EI and its clients are undertaking in the retail solution area, I am delighted to announce that we are holding a second Retailer Solutions Forum on Thursday 9th February in Eastpoint Dublin. It will include the following topics; Social Media, Retail in Germany and Multichannel Retailing and is aimed at CEO’s of supplier companies targeting the retail sector in the UK and Europe.
You can find the agenda for the day below. Places are limited so contact me allyson.stephen@enterprise-ireland.com or +44 (0) 20 7438 8714 to book.
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‘Social Media in a Business to Business Context’ . Michael O’Brien, Head of Marketing at Celtrino, will share his experiences of the adoption of social media as a strategic part of the company’s marketing mix. Adrian Goodsell and Pete Wood of Steak Digital will add context and background to Michael’s story.
‘Retail in Germany’. Michael Gerling, Managing Director of the German Retail Institute, will provide in-market insight into the German retail scene. He will give a general overview of the German market, type of stores, trends etc. with much opportunity to ask him about this challenging but potentially rewarding market.
’Multichannel retailing in Europe’. Martin Newman, CEO of Practicology, will address the topic of multichannel in Europe. He will use practical examples to describe the retail scene in various European markets, to look at strategies of key European retailers as well as compare trends in e-commerce, m-commerce and f-commerce across Europe.
There will be a chance to interact with and question these speakers through networking over coffee / a light lunch. We will welcome your feedback, and inform you of the planned activity for Retailer Solutions for 2012.
Follow the EI Retailer Solutions Twitter account @retailer_sol for all the latest information about the work EI is doing in this area.
The mobile payments market is expected to quadruple by 2014, reaching USD630 billion in value worldwide, according to research conducted by Juniper Research in mid-2010. Juniper found that the value of mobile payments reached USD170 billion in 2010, accounting for around 5 percent of total e-commerce retail sales.
The growing demand for m-commerce functionality is being driven by the rollout of mobile devices with broadband capabilities, says John Clarke, head of product innovation at Dublin-based payment provider WorldNet TPS.
Previously we outlined tips on preparing your online store for the welcome upswing in business that normally takes place in the last quarter of the year.
Here we ask several experts for their top tips on streamlining the e-commerce experience for site visitors. (more…)
Previously we discussed how to get your online retail strategy right, and how good design and content are key elements for keeping visitors on your site.
Another essential factor in boosting sales is ensuring that your transaction process is easy to navigate and quick to complete. (more…)
Online trading offers smaller companies operating in limited markets an opportunity to punch above their weight on the global stage. Irish companies have certainly embraced this relatively low-cost method of reaching international markets. E-commerce accounts for 26 percent of the total turnover of Irish companies, compared to 15 percent of the revenue of UK-based companies, according to a European Commission Eurostat survey published January 2010.
However, simply putting a website together is no guarantee of success in online sales. There are millions of sites selling all sorts of products and services available to consumers these days and only those that are supported by a well-developed e-commerce strategy will succeed. (more…)
Irish retailers are racing to be ready for the Christmas rush. Online orders are set to flood in from ‘Cyber Monday’, the first Monday in December, so there’s no time to lose in preparing your store for the upswing.
There are plenty of challenges facing online retailers at this time of year, not least of which is ensuring they have the infrastructure and security systems in place to deal with the surge in activity. (more…)
More Irish consumers than ever are now computer literate and have broadband access. Many of these people are using websites to buy airplane tickets, books, albums and gifts, and those SMEs without online stores are missing out.
“There are two reasons for having a website: one is to have an increase in sales and two is to make people aware of your product. Books and CDs and flowers and groceries are doing very well online. Tickets are doing very well online too,” says Michael Veale, CEO of online retailer Buy4Now.ie. (more…)
More and more Irish businesses are selling their wares online. It’s one thing to attract a customer to your site, but quite another to make the final sale. Having an easy-to-use checkout system can make all the difference for those looking to improve sales.
Recent research has shown many US and UK shoppers are abandoning purchases even after selecting items for their online shopping carts. Over 60 percent of US online retailers are seeing cart abandonment rates of more than 20 percent this year, according to research by consulting firm E-tailing.com. (more…)
Matt Rhodes (Fresh Networks) 
