Cross-channel

It seems that retailers in Luxembourg are still not keen on digitalization. Just 7 percent of tradespeople in this Western European country have an online shop for their goods or services. While other countries in Europe are embracing ecommerce, Luxembourg seems more reluctant.

Consumers in Sweden don't think highly of traditional stores, it seems. A third of shoppers expect to be disappointed by the in-store experience and one in four think the store is outdated when compared to online shopping. The in-store journey should be more connected with customers' online shopping habits if Swedish retailers want to improve their conversions, a study suggests.

For the first time ever smartphones and tablets accounted for over half of online sales in the United Kingdom. During the period November 2015 to January this year, 51 percent of UK online retail sales took place using smartphones and tablets. This is a significant increase on the 45 percent share recorded in the third quarter of last year.

The Media-Saturn Group wants to open 50 new physical stores across Europe. The German electronics retail group wants to focus more on its omnichannel-strategy. Although the company's goal with the internet business is still to be worth 15 to 20 percent of its total revenue, the resurrection of the physical store has come in between, says Pieter Haas, chairman of the management board.

Supermarket chain J Sainsbury disclosed yesterday that a 1 billion pounds bid for Home Retail, owner of retailer Argos, was rejected two months ago. It's now thinking about making a formal offer. With the desired acquisition of Home Retail, which also owns Homebase, Sainsbury's wants to fight the competition of online ecommerce giant Amazon and discount supermarkets Lidl and Aldi.

For ecommerce players, having an omni-channel approach is getting more and more important as customers continue to demand ever-higher levels of service. This requires retailers to adapt new models and be everywhere the customer wants them to be. Specific approaches to omni-channel however, differ widely from country to country.

The Dutch telecom retail chains Dixons, MyCom and iCentre are saved. Their previous owner BAS Group was declared bankrupt, but the retail chains will continue to operate under new owner Relevant Holdings. Now 30 Dixons stores, 22 MyCom stores and 24 iCentre stores as well as their online stores will continue selling items such as white goods, telecom products and IT devices.

The German fashion retailer Apparently Different has opened a pop-up store in Berlin yesterday. In the store, customers can order products from a touch screen while they are in the locker room. Via a tablet, employees get notified of the customers' requests so they can search the desired items and deliver them through a drawer system directly into the locker room.

Pure online shops need to evolve into an omnichannel retail business if they want to grow in the future, an omnichannel expert from Denmark says. Physical retailers need to have an online store if they still want to make profit in the near future, an omnichannel retailer from the Netherlands says. They are probably both right.

Spartoo, the French online seller of shoes, clothing and accessories, is expanding its offline activities. The retailer will open ten physical stores in France by December this year. Apparently the launch of its first physical store, five months ago, pleased them well.

Karstadt is in dire straits. The online product range will be significantly reduced in size, while many employees have to look for another job. The German department store chain has quit the classical omnichannel concept, although it still bets on the combination of ecommerce and brick-and-mortar stores.

Three-quarters of British consumers believe they shouldn't have to pay for a click-and-collect service. If they order something online and then decide to pick it up in-store, consumers think it's more than acceptable to get that order without paying any additional fee. Meanwhile, UK retailer John Lewis revealed last week it would start charging shoppers on click-and-collect orders below £30 (€41.66).

Sweden is the best country in Scandinavia when it comes to omnichannel retail, a new study shows. However, there are still plenty of retailers who are defined as omnichannel laggards. Especially in the furniture and interior industry, companies haven't fully embraced an omnichannel strategy, while in consumer electronics omnichannel is more common.

It's great to see new shopping technologies arise on the horizon, but this also means consumer expectations have shifted. They now want online retailers to offer them an enhanced and more consistent shopping experience across channels.

British department store John Lewis delivered more online orders by click & collect than by home delivery for the first time. Last year about 54% of its online orders were delivered to the store for consumers to pick up.