Today we attended Guernsey Chamber’s latest Breakfast Seminar, which discussed the future of retail with Mike Penney from B&Q and Ian Burdekin of Waitrose.
The John Lewis Partnership:
Ian provided reports and some case studies about the performance and changes coming to Waitrose and John Lewis branches on the mainland. It’s clear from the partnership’s findings that digital shopping continues to grow, both regarding home delivery and click and collect:
Click and Collect growing 31% year on year – John Lewis. #gt2015series
— Crowd Media (@wearecrowd) June 4, 2015
Click and collect’s relevance and potential for stores in the Channel Islands is indisputable; the following statistic provided a surprising insight into the number of islanders who are already shopping online:
John Lewis currently deliver between 30-40,000 orders to Channel Islands #gt2015series
— Crowd Media (@wearecrowd) June 4, 2015
A click and collect service would further enhance both the number of orders made from the Channel Islands, and improve in-store experiences as a result. Some event attendees also mentioned stores like Next, FeelUnique and COOK, all who offer (or plan to) click and collect here in Guernsey.
Experiential Shopping
Whilst there’s an upsurge in the number of UK customers now doing their weekly shops online, Ian highlighted the need for physical shops to remain. Sometimes people simply want to walk around a store and touch, see and interact with products (and staff!). John Lewis has even introduced fitting rooms for click and collect customers – preventing them from having to make another trip to stores in case they need to return/exchange items.
Ian shows @GuernseyChamber the wine bar, juice bar and cafe concepts explored in Waitrose UK #gt2015series pic.twitter.com/QQZ2SLumse
— Crowd Media (@wearecrowd) June 4, 2015
Although these experiences in store are certainly leading the way for attracting customers to UK branches, Ian suggested that the Guernsey stores still remain destinations for ‘the big weekly shop’ (as opposed to the small, more frequent shops made by UK customers). Saturday apparently continues the biggest day of trading for Waitrose Guernsey by a considerable margin.
B&Q
Mike from B&Q further emphasised how more customers are becoming digital-savvy, and how they’re expecting more digital content from brands too. 55% of B&Q’s web traffic is apparently from mobile and tablet devices – so it’s also B&Q’s responsibility to ensure these customers have a pleasant and successful transaction.
Mike mentioned B&Q’s brand new Club card – a loyalty card that not only provides typical rewards, but also automatic email receipts and personalised offers. The new card also ties in neatly with the brand’s new app, where customers can find their Club card details, scan products in-store to learn more, and see articles and videos with free DIY advice.
Not Just Nationals
Both Ian and Mike were keen to highlight how experiences like click and collect and digital engagement are not limited to big-budget, corporate brands. Mike provided examples of ways smaller businesses can engage customers through tailored promotions, in store demonstrations and social media.
Local retailers can learn from the way we do business; helping each other, opposed to giant retail vs independent local #gt2015series
— Crowd Media (@wearecrowd) June 4, 2015
Find out more about the event and upcoming seminars at the Guernsey Chamber website. Crowd are helping local retailers embrace the adoption of digital shopping and marketing – find out more about our work here.