Tag: #RETAIL

100 days until Christmas – new consumer trends report from Sitecore to help brands sleigh this season

Sitecore, the global leader in digital experience management software, today released its Holiday Shopping Trends 2021 report exploring how consumers worldwide intend to celebrate, indulge and recuperate this holiday season. Irish consumers are eager to resume their normal lives and make up for last year’s COVID-controlled holiday, with 75% of those age 25-34 saying they are ready to embrace pre-pandemic shopping, travel and holiday experiences. More than half (54%) of consumers surveyed plan to make bigger and more mindful holiday purchases this year, fuelled in part by the fact that 50% of consumers say they have more savings set aside for the holidays this year compared to last year.

Sitecore’s Holiday Shopping Trends 2021 report surfaces insights from consumers around holiday shopping, gift giving, spending, and sentiment. The data arms marketers in categories like retail, travel, automotive, and others with the intelligence they need to deliver winning experiences that satisfy the evolving tastes and demands of consumers.

  • Shift in Perspective:

o   68% of consumers would prefer experience gifts to “more stuff”

o   53% of consumers are now planning “the trip of a lifetime”

o   55% of consumers under the age of 44 said they are now more spontaneous, more social, and enjoying life more

  • Young consumers bringing spending back:

o   72% of Gen Z and 66% of Millennials are more willing to make big life enhancements post-pandemic

o   60% of Gen Z will spend more this year; with 64% of 55 – 65 year olds and 65% of those over the age of 65 spending about the same as last year

o   79% of those under the age of 44 stated that following their experiences during the pandemic they now “value travel and appreciate other cultures more”

 

  • Retailers failing Black and minority-owned businesses:

o   65% of consumers believe it is essential that retailers offer more products from Black/minority-owned businesses, but only 17% report seeing more Black/minority-owned products when shopping

 

  • Buying local and being mindful with purchases is a priority for most:

o   67% of consumers are willing to pay more for locally made gifts

o   66% of consumers are annoyed when they find a purchase was made in China, when they thought it was a local purchase

o   78% of consumers stated that the pandemic has made them think more carefully about how they spend their money

  • Self-care now includes self-gifting:

o   51% of those buying a gift for themselves cite “therapy” as the main reason

o   16% of consumers plan to emerge from the pandemic with a new wardrobe

o   22% of consumers will gift themselves travel this year

 

“Consumers in Ireland are very clearly ready to move on from the pandemic and are looking at Holiday 2021 as the beginning of the rest of their lives,” said Sitecore CMO Paige O’Neill. “Our research shows pent-up demand and more savings than usual will result in younger consumers splurging on self-care and big-ticket items at the register, which is great news for those in retail, travel and hospitality. It’s also heartening to see that all types of consumers want to support their local community, including Black and minority-owned businesses. The industry will need to respond with more offerings from these businesses.”

UPS, Sealed Air, Smurfit Kappa and MacFarlane Packaging simplify wine and spirits exporting. #ecommerce #Logistics

UPS, a global leader in logistics, global packaging experts Sealed Air (SEE), Smurfit Kappa and top UK distributor Macfarlane Packaging are today launching a new range of packaging specially designed for shipping individual bottles of spirits and wine, to help producers in the UK and Ireland expand their markets and reach new customers.

 

“Ecommerce presents a huge opportunity for drinks producers wanting to grow their businesses, as a fifth of alcohol consumers in key export markets are already purchasing their favourite brands online,” said Mark Vale, President, UPS UK & Ireland. “We designed this new packaging to simplify the process and bring peace of mind that these fragile products will arrive safely at their destination. By combining this specialised packaging with UPS’s smart global logistics network, brokerage expertise and service coverage, distillers can focus on their passion and sharing their savoir-faire with the world.”

With alcohol e-sales in the UK and Ireland experiencing double digit growth this packaging addresses the challenge of how to safely pack and ship individual bottles that come in a range of shapes and sizes. It has been developed and tested by UPS, in partnership with leading packaging companies Smurfit Kappa and Sealed Air, and is distributed by Macfarlane Packaging. Alcohol producers shipping with UPS benefit from damage cover when they use this UPS Approved packaging.

              

“At the moment, people are ordering more goods from online retailers so that they can stay at home,” said Laurel Granville, Marketing Director, Macfarlane Packaging. “There is a growing demand for bottle packs as there is a need to effectively pack and distribute these products without damage. At Macfarlane, we offer our clients the most innovative and environmentally friendly protective packaging options for their businesses and we are proud to work with UPS to offer this pack to ecommerce customers.”

 

There are four customisable versions of the new one-bottle packs that can accommodate most of the wine and spirits bottles on the market. The packaging is also fully recyclable. It features the Korrvu® Retention technology by Sealed Air that allows the bottle to be suspended in transparent film, the pack can be used for display in a shop or bar, or sent to family or friends as a gift.

 

UPS also provides a direct-to-consumer wine shipping export service from selected countries in Europe to destinations in 60 countries across North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa, in addition to its global business-to-business alcohol shipping services.

 

For more information on the new packaging, visit ups.com/spiritspack. To download UPS’s full guide to shipping alcohol, visit the UPS website.

emporia UK & IE announces four new sales channels despite retail lockdown. #emporiamobile #retail

emporia telecom – which launched a range of mobile phones and landlines in the UK and Ireland markets at the start of the year – has established a growing volume of sales through a number of new retail partnerships as consumers have adapted to the high street lockdown.

After initially developing its own e-commerce site in partnership with Eurostar Global, and starting to develop its presence on Amazon.co.uk, emporia has developed quickly to add new key partnerships to build on its early success.

Scotts & Co, through its brands Scotts of Stow and Expert Verdict, now sells 10 emporia devices through home shopping and online.

Hearing Direct has also launched the full emporia range online and are already busy making sure that its many hearing-impaired customers can access and enjoy the technology.

 

In addition, key online retailers including MobilePhonesDirect (owned by AO.com) ranges two devices and offer them SIM-free and with great value pay monthly contracts from only £9.50 and laptopsdirect is now selling the vast majority of emporia’s mobile phone devices.

 Chris Millington, the UK and Ireland MD of emporia said: “We are really pleased with the progress we have made in the short period of time since our launch, despite the widespread impact and uncertainty caused by Covid-19.

 “Our products are particularly well suited to helping older people overcome the feeling of isolation and separation from family and friends by offering easy-to-use communications technology. Working with key partners and retailers that are able to reach this audience has been critical in helping older users stay safe but to keep in regular contact. Our detailed training guides that accompany all smart devices have really provided an incredible tool to help many users to gain confidence and maximize their use through applications like WhatsApp.

 “Sales through retail partners is a key part of our growth strategy and is particularly effective in these times. Plus, we are working with outlets who serve the retiree segment particularly well.  We look forward to accelerating this positive momentum in the coming weeks and months with further new partnerships to be announced and as the economy starts to regain some normality.”

For more information on emporia’s products, please visit: www.emporiatelecom.co.uk  

Smartbox Transforms Customer Experiences with Nutanix. #Nutanix #Smartbox #IT #Cloud #Retail

Nutanix , a leader in enterprise cloud computing, announced today that Smartbox Group, a leading European retailer of gift experiences, expanded its relationship with the company to support its digital modernization project. Smartbox leverages Nutanix software to modernize its IT infrastructure, streamline operations, and reduce costs in order to delight customers with tailored, real-time experiences.

 

A seamless omnichannel customer experience is now a must have for retailers, as customers expect online shopping experiences that draw from their digital behavior and are tailored to them. This requires real time data analysis, across multiple sources as well as a modern technology infrastructure that is automated, secure, supports the use of artificial intelligence, and, is most importantly, always available.

 

Providing gift boxes, gift experiences, and memories for clients across Europe, Smartbox serves 11 countries, distributing nearly 6.5 million gift experiences annually, as well as its unique brand of gift boxes to 10,000 major outlets through retail partners and online stores. The sheer scale of its operations and its many webstores demand constant uptime, scalability during seasonal peak times, flexibility in development, and tailored experiences to its customers.

 

“Our previous systems were just not able to support our business vision and something drastic had to be done if we were going to be able to continue to support our business expansion across Europe and ensure customer fulfilment,” said Paul Cash, Director IT Operations at Smartbox. “Nutanix, more than any other partner, has allowed us to get more out of our IT infrastructure, so it can add value to the business. Its solutions have enabled us to take back control of our environment and allowed us to focus on innovation first rather than maintaining a legacy infrastructure.”

 

With a keen understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the retail industry, the Smartbox team invested in a hyperconverged environment that marries the best of its on-premise IT systems with public cloud services, to be more nimble and quickly adjust to customers’ needs. Its base requirements included the need for full visibility across all IT assets and services, advanced data analytics, the ability to control cloud usage, and scale out DevOps.

 

To support this shift, in the last 18 months Smartbox has adopted Nutanix AHV, which has both allowed it to reduce its datacenter footprint and provided it with enhanced flexibility. Additionally, the company has moved some elastic workloads, like its eCommerce storefront to AWS. The overall environment supports hybrid cloud computing, with seamless connectivity between its Nutanix-powered datacenter and its public cloud environment. The IT infrastructure now better caters to its development teams and is stable enough to run its web services and all core backend applications.

 

“Hybrid Cloud continues to gain momentum as organisations yearn for more flexibility and choice in preparation for moving to a multi-cloud operating model.  Dublin based Smartbox Group is taking advantage of our consumer grade software and methodologies which deliver simplicity, choice and security as it deploys Nutanix.

Smartbox was the first Nutanix customer in Europe and it took a leap of faith with us 8 years ago when we were a small company with a big vision.  Smartbox is the European leader in gift experiences and operates in 11 countries. Nutanix has helped Smartbox to achieve phenomenal growth through its software which includes a virtualisation platform with real-time analytics on multi-cloud cost and security for both on-premises and public clouds. Expanding our relationship with Smartbox is an exciting step in cementing Ireland at the forefront of the global cloud economy”, said, Fergal O’Sullivan, Country Manager & Regional Director at Nutanix.

 

Smartbox is also using Beam to keep public cloud costs in check – which at times was 15 to 20% higher than budgeted prior to the deployment. With Beam, the IT team can now utilize a cost based  model to show the department the actual footprint and cost and of running application environments and the IT they consume.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Additionally, Nutanix Era has helped Smartbox simplify databases and management solutions across many environments, while Prism Pro supports automated infrastructure management, all to drive more flexibility.

 

“Retailers need the flexibility to change the course of their business at a drop of a hat. Whether to cater for seasonal fluctuations, to scale up or down for a sale, or to add digital services – automation and adaptability are what stands between failure and success,” said Dom Poloniecki, General Manager, Sales, Western Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa region, Nutanix. “Smartbox has really got the mix between public and private cloud right, it not only understands the costs of its on- and off-premise infrastructure but is able to prove the value of IT to the business and ensure that each department is responsible for its own costs. Smartbox is not just keeping the lights on – it is delighting its customers and creating greater loyalty.”

 

Looking ahead, the company plans to leverage its Nutanix software investment tools to deliver self-provisioning of IT resources across the business. It is working to create an environment where its developers are able to spin up changes to its sites, add promotional offerings, and create new products, without having to wait for IT to approve requests. Smartbox believes this will allow it to more proactively act on business opportunities and more easily adapt to customers’ needs.