Analysis
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Jul- 2018 -30 July
Reality Check: Would you pay by Instagram?
In the near future, direct payments will be possible via the image-sharing service Instagram. With this announcement the app, first launched in 2010, follows a rather logical path. The potential of many millions of Instagram users should increasingly be used for e-commerce. In the beginning, in 2016, the so-called ‘shoppable…
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10 July
The advantage of customer intelligence and what retailers can learn from House of Fraser
Another day, another high street stalwart closing some of its doors. With a deal now struck with creditors, House of Fraser’s plan to cut half of its brick-and-mortar stores is going ahead, making it the latest to fall prey to increasing pressure on our town centres. In light of this…
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4 July
A look-back at the first half of 2018 in retail
Over the past six months, we’ve seen high street stalwarts such as M&S, New Look, and most recently House of Fraser announce significant structural changes. A number of big-name retailers have fallen into administration, succumbing to the pressure of changing consumer spending and shopping habits. These retail struggles come against…
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Jun- 2018 -20 June
Amazon overreacting; returns are a crucial retail indicator
Amazon has kicked up a furore by banning consumers who return too many items on its site. Sure, rising return rates are a challenge for brands and retailers – over 9% of products bought in store are returned and the rate is even higher online, sometimes three times the amount.…
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14 June
How to use the peak-end rule as a framework for a strong customer journey
Last week my partner and I went to a new casual-dining place near our flat. It’s the kind of place that’s been cropping up all over London lately: small, obsessively designed, serves mostly vegan burgers. He went in to order while I waited on a bench outside. Minutes passed, then…
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13 June
Narrowing the split: The gender pay gap in e-commerce
The gender pay gap has been a topic of conversation throughout 2018 with the heightened publicity surrounding the BBC’s salaries, and over 10,000 UK firms including JP Morgan and Ryanair, exposing the extent of its salary differences just last month. The pay gap is clearly an issue across a number…
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1 June
Why you should take business advice from psychologists, not economists
In 1980, economics students at Harvard walked out of a class and refused to return. They were striking to protest their belief that the standard economics they were being taught had an inherent bias which affected students, their universities, and society at large. What was this inherent bias? And were…
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May- 2018 -11 May
The death of the UK high street
The high street as we know it is dead. Boring stores are dead. Or if they are not dead yet, they will be if retailers do nothing. The high street started to decline because retailers saw firstly that out-of- town, and then online were what customers wanted. It’s always driven…
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8 May
Bricks and Clicks: great CRM requires great customer experiences
Fifteen or so years ago the retail experience became polarised: retail stores satisfied instant fulfilment but online was the first destination for the cheapest price possible. Online enabled better quality customer purchasing data than was feasible in store, so become the focus of most brands. Industry talk was about when…
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4 May
How to thrive in the instant gratification era
We are living in the ‘want now’ generation, from instant streaming of the latest movies and TV shows, to music, books and podcasts. We value the ability to buy quickly, easily and are getting less and less patient when it comes to waiting for orders to be delivered and new…
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