Friday 9 December 2011

Omni-channel retail gathers pace

Virtual shelves of food items for purchase with a smart phoneWhile Mary Porter, the Queen of Shops, tries to save the British Street, we see savvy retailers advancing their 360-degree views of customer relationships, with omnichannel 'click and mortar'
strategies that look set to revolutionise the way we shop in 2012 and beyond.

The trend is being mirrored on the continent too. Outside the UK, Swiss retailer Coop recently launched a drive-in concept.  It already has an online presence called coop@home but this drive-in concept goes one step further to take the load off Zürich's busy workforce.


Launched as a smart phone application (also available on iPad), it enables customers to select from a range of 13,000 supermarket items from the luxury of their home or office and collect their purchases at a drive-in at a designated time and place between 12pm and 8pm Monday to Friday at no extra cost. Orders are packed and delivered straight to the customer's car with the promise of a five minute turnaround.

Coop says it has had a highly positive response from the public with the most frequent question being when the drive-in scheme can be extended to areas closer to the customer.

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