Category Archives: E-Commerce

E-Commerce, News

Online Underwear Brand, Nudea, Announces Seed Fund Raise To Grow Fit-Centric Inclusive Offering

Fit-Centric online underwear brand NUDEA, today announces a further £600,000 in seed funding, marking the start-up’s second successful round. The win also caps off the brand’s first full year of trading – with more months operating under COVID-19 restrictions than during pre-pandemic months.

The investment comes as more customers seek accessible, size-inclusive, stylish options for bra-shopping online – an activity accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nudea’s mission to help bra-wearers find their true fit has attracted this new pool of investors to support the round, bringing the total raised since inception in late 2019 to £1.1m. Backers include seed-stage firm Cornerstone Partners, and a group of angels led by investor James Eden, with both parties joining Nudea’s Board. Also participating in the raise are the brand’s founders.

Wilfred Fianko, Co Founder of lead investor Cornerstone Partners says of the backing: “Supporting Nudea’s female founders on their entrepreneurship journey is for us a highlight. Their industry expertise and vision for the future of the online underwear space is really inspiring. I’m excited to see them build out their team, sustain and scale the brand’s remarkable year-one success and make further impact in terms of accessibility in self-fitting.”

Priya Downes, CEO and co-founder of Nudea comments: “Having the backing of Cornerstone Partners is an ideal fit for Nudea – particularly their commitment to underrepresented founders and inclusive businesses. As a female-led business whose central ethos is inclusivity, we are pleased to be aligning with a fund that complements our values. We have an absolutely stellar team of product innovators, most notably Sophie, our creative director, who has over 25 years’ experience leading design at renowned underwear brands. We’re really excited to have the backing and support of our investors to grow our business set to an exciting backdrop of a rapidly-changing retail environment.”

Nudea Co-founder and CEO Priya Downes comments: “The pandemic has, in fact, served as a tailwind for us to grow even faster than we could have predicted, given our value proposition of self-fitting, simple online purchasing and hassle-free returns. We have also seen that COVID-19 has accelerated digital change in the shopping space by 3 to 4 years in the space of 6 months. We genuinely believe customer behaviour has permanently shifted too, and the future of bra shopping is virtual, online and from the comfort of your home.

None of this comes as a surprise to Nudea. Of their value system which has sat at the heart of the brand from day one, Priya says: “We make it our business that bra-wearers feel supported and that means accountability when it comes to inclusivity, diversity and accessibility. We’re particularly supportive of those going through bodily change, which is when bra-fitting is essential, but emotions are often high. We saw that the traditional retail environment wasn’t servicing these bra-wearers, so we developed our bespoke Fit Tape product, combined with our Virtual Fit and Online sizing quiz. Those bra-wearers are now coming to NUDEA – to the safe space that we’ve created.”

App News, E-Commerce, Low Code

You refreshed your website and re-opened your shop, but without an app, how many customers are you not engaging with?

The impact of Covid-19 has been profound during 2020 and it has made many industry sectors rethink significant aspects of their business models. This has probably been felt as strongly in retail and associated logistics as any other sector.

The consequences and repercussions of the original lockdown have been discussed and debated at great length, particularly in respect of which parts of customer behavior is temporary and what is likely to be a more permanent shift in their purchasing habits. What is becoming clear is that the second and possibly subsequent waves of restrictions will, if anything, accelerate the rate of traction of new behavior patterns to find a more permanent footing and so become ‘the new normal’.

The rapid growth of on-line shopping has seen a proliferation of websites being updated to more effectively support this. However, while these websites can support the activity and process of on-line selection and purchasing, they are not necessarily able to provide many of the functions now considered to be crucial to the smooth introduction of an effective on-line shopping experience. Nor are they able to support the need for a cross-channel retail strategy, as the effects of Covid-19 start to recede and the high street and malls return as a still important part of retail.

This is where the introduction of mobile phone, tablet and desktop computer apps, often working in combination with a website, are becoming increasingly valuable.

Apps are able to not only meet the demands of on-line commerce, but can also address the critical issue of customer loyalty. Apps are able to encourage customers to easily return to a chosen supplier rather than being faced with the choice of a number of websites where they can potentially select a competitor. Loyalty is a major factor in the high street and shopping malls but is often being lost in the on-line world.

Malcolm Carroll, Director of BlueFinity International says, “Accessing an app is like entering a shop to browse and purchase an item, whereas choosing from a multiple number of websites is like standing in the middle of a market with multiple vendors all trying to sell you the same item.”

There are a myriad of other advantages to having an app compared to a website. These include increased security, location-based communication with your customers, integrated use of phone technology (GPS, Bluetooth), information retention and display, the personalization of the shopping experience and a far higher conversion to purchase rate than websites. It is clear to see why apps in the retail sector are fast becoming a must-have rather than a nice-to-have.

And the introduction of apps, extending the online presence of a retailer, is not just for the larger stores and suppliers, as new no-code/low-code app development platforms are making them easily within reach of all retail outlets, no matter the size and their level of experience with technology.

One such no-code/low-code app development platform is Evoke from BlueFinity, one of the new generation of products which is making what was a previously challenging and expensive option of electing to deploy apps, now a very affordable, accessible and viable one for all retailers. Using Evoke, retailers are now able to design and deploy the apps that specifically meet both their needs and the needs of their customers, and they do not have to employ specialist app developers to do it but can use their existing staff to create apps.

Evoke provides a point and click, drag and drop and option select development process, supported by an extensive array of functional routines and widgets, that anyone can use.

The results are sophisticated, full function apps that can run on and are optimized for any device and operating system (phones, tablets, watches and televisions using IOS, Android and Windows as well as Windows, Linux and Apple desktops) and can be fully integrated with any type of database a retailer has or wants to use (SQL, Oracle, DB2, MultiValue etc).

Although many retailers have been able to create highly effective, full function apps without any custom programming at all, for those retailers with more technical experience, there is also no limit to the degree of customization, future enhancement and development they can add to their Evoke app design, and they have the ability to re-use and incorporate routines and code that they already have.

Evoke will generate their app as a web, hybrid or native app, with the ability to generate fully structured Visual Studio and Xamarin solutions for onward development as well as providing the capacity to include the addition of custom code or 3rd party components as required.

Carroll of BlueFinity adds, “No-code/low-code opens up entirely new possibilities for retailers, and is the way to get the app that is right for both you and your customers without a lengthy and costly development process. The latest releases of Evoke now include full retail support, making available multiple product displays and purchase experiences, customer information retention, shopping baskets and multiple payment and delivery options. In fact, the complete store within an app!“

 

About BlueFinity International: 

 BlueFinity markets Evoke, a cost-effective, rapid app development platform that provides the complete environment for your existing staff to design, develop and deploy business apps across multiple devices (IOS, Android and Windows phones and tablets, plus Windows, Apple and Linux desktops). Aimed at multiple industry sectors and large and small companies, Evoke offers a low-code or no-code route which can evolve in to fully customisable native apps as you require.  It allows you to confidently create web, hybrid and even native apps (as it generates in to Visual Studio and Xamarin projects), and to fully integrate and synchronise with existing back-end systems and a wide array of both SQL, Oracle and MultiValue databases.

 BlueFinity is committed to a continuous development programme for Evoke, ensuring its partners and customers will always be able to take advantage of the very latest of technological innovations to deploy multi-platform, multi-operating-system based business apps.

E-Commerce, Retail

UK personalised gifts market anticipated to reach £1 billion in the next 12 months

  • UK shoppers are set to spend over £750 million on personalised gifts over the coming festive period, fuelling market growth.
  • The average shopper is willing to spend an extra 7% on gifts that have an element of personalisation
  • Most popular personalised gifts are books, clothing and babywear and calendars
  • Number one driving factor behind purchases of personalised gifts is that they are considered to be more thoughtful
  • Online retailers like Notonthehighstreet and Etsy are by far the most popular places to buy personalised gifts

The UK personalised gift market is anticipated to reach £1 billion over the next 12 months, according to the findings of a European study of 5,000+ shoppers from Roland DG.

The research also found that UK shoppers are set to spend over £750 million on personalised gifts over the coming festive period, with buyers of personalised gifts expected to fork out more than £40 each on unique gifts for their loved ones.

According to the data, the average UK shopper is prepared to spend an extra 7 percent on gifts that have an element of personalisation, such as adding a name, personal message or image. The most popular categories for those who anticipate purchasing personalised gifts are books (29 percent), clothing and babywear (24 percent) and calendars (also 24 percent).

The number one driving force behind purchases is how shoppers consider personalised gifts to be more thoughtful (chosen by 21 percent of respondents), closely followed by the fact that they are unique and can’t be bought straight off-the-shelf (chosen by 20 percent of respondents).

With many brands and consumers pivoting to eCommerce since the start of the pandemic, online retailers including Notonthehighstreet and Etsy are by far and away the most popular places to buy personalised gifts, and is the most likely place for nearly a quarter of respondents (24 percent). High street businesses with in-store personalisation offers was a likely place for nearly a tenth of respondents (8 percent).

Younger shoppers are far more willing to spend more on personalised gifts than their older counterparts. On average, 18-34 year olds will be willing to fork out an extra £30 compared to shoppers over 55 over the next 12 months.

Stephen Davis, EMEA Marketing Director at Roland DG UK, said: “These might be turbulent times, but the British public does not intend to let the pandemic interfere with their appetite for personalised gifts. Our desire to treat each other in difficult times may well be a factor in the huge projected spend over the festive period. But make no mistake: the market for gift personalisation is vast, and only set to grow as it becomes easier and faster to source gifts with that personal touch. It represents a lucrative source of revenue for manufacturers and retailers.”

“Retailers who are willing to add customisation options to their products, diversify the options they currently offer, and integrate these services online using tools like PersBiz, are sitting on a golden opportunity. The even better news is it’s easy and inexpensive to add personalisation options, from the most simple to the most complex. There are products for every budget to tap into this burgeoning market,” Davis continued.

For more information on growing your personalisation offering with Roland DG, see:

 Methodology

Online survey polled 5,014 18+ year old consumers in the following markets: UK (1000 respondents), Spain (1002), Italy (1002), Germany (1008) and France (1002). Survey conducted by Censuswide, 18th – 23rd November 2020. All stats are based on the 1,000 respondents from the UK. All extrapolations are based on 52,673,433 18+ population figure from the ONS 2019 midyear population estimates.

 

About Roland DG

Roland DG Corporation is the world’s leading provider of digital printing solutions. The company’s inkjet printers, printer/cutters and cutting machines are widely used to create a broad range of promotional items including banners, signs, vehicle graphics, stickers and labels, and to provide customisation services for apparel and personal items like smartphone cases. Recently, Roland DG has embarked on a promising new retail frontier by capitalising on individuals’ increasing desire to create their own, uniquely designed and decorated items. The company’s COTO business division has developed proprietary design and print management software which enables customers to design their own gifts, apparel and treasured mementos, and to enjoy an unforgettable creative experience.

For more information, please visit rolanddg.co.uk.

 

E-Commerce, News, Retail

Over 1,000 Local and Small Online Shops offer Amazing Black Friday Deals Through National Discount Scheme

Black Friday is coming this week and many national chains and internet giants are enticing shoppers with the promise of huge discounts and bargains this Friday. My VIP Card is offering UK shoppers a way to take advantage of thousands of Black Friday deals while still supporting local and small businesses with a network of over 1,000 online local shops.

The discount scheme is urging Black Friday shoppers to remember and support local and small shops on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Local shops need the Black Friday and Christmas shopping season to be fruitful this year more than ever and My VIP Card is hoping the network of local discounts card will encourage shoppers to think locally first. The national discount card gives local shoppers access to thousands of discounts, helping them save on average £500 a year while supporting their local high street.

Maddy Alexander-Grout, Founder of My VIP Card, added, “I created My VIP Card to help the local high street also give back to the community and this Black Friday and Christmas they need us more than ever. My VIP Card supports small businesses by raising awareness and actively encouraging shoppers to benefit from local discounts. By bringing them all together on our platform we are allowing them to compete with the online giants and hopefully encourage many shoppers to shop small this Friday and benefit from some amazing discounts.”

Cybersecurity, E-Commerce, News, Retail

Tools to help you stay safe online as we count down to Cyber Monday

According to Nick Blake, Cyber Security Consultant at Gemserv ”In the lead up to Cyber Monday and the holiday season, it’s important to ensure we all take precautions in order to stay safe online. Things as simple as changing your password can make a great deal of difference between a cyber-attack and a harmless online purchase”.

Cyber Monday was created by retailers to encourage consumers to shop online by offering discounts and promotions. With varying degrees of lockdown restrictions active across the country, this year’s Cyber Monday falls on 30 November and is predicted to see higher rates of online shopping than usual.

The pandemic has accelerated the shift towards a more digital world and triggered changes in online shopping behaviours that are likely to have lasting effects. More than half of UK consumers are now shopping online, and UK online spend is forecast to increase 29.6% between now and 2024, according to retail analysts at GlobalData.

Now more than ever, it’s important to take precautions in order to stay safe online. Therefore, we’ve put together an ‘online toolbox’ with five tips to help you stay safe online during Cyber Monday and beyond.

Strong Passwords

We all understand the need to have a strong password, but do we really know what that means? The National Cyber Security Centre’s advice is to create a long password by using three random words. The longer and more unusual your password is, the stronger it becomes and the harder it is to hack. You can make it even stronger with special characters, such as using a passphrase, for example: Thisisan3xampleofastrongpass.

A strong password reduces your risk of compromise, even if your password is known. It’s critical that your passwords and accounts are not subject to brute force attacks (guessing), and that they aren’t reused across multiple websites. For example, don’t reuse your Facebook password for your Amazon account.

Tools

Legitimate Websites

During Cyber Monday and in the run up to the holiday season, you should be wary of deals that seem too good to be true, as they usually are! Don’t be lured into clicking “free” offers and disclosing too much information to websites that seem untrustworthy.

Tools

  • You can use tools such as ‘isitphising’ and ‘wheregoes’ to find out the types of websites you’re planning to visit before you even click the link.

The Padlock

Have you noticed the padlock that is present on almost all websites? It’s usually located on the left-hand side of your browser bar. The padlock symbol represents websites that have a valid certificate and are usually trustworthy. Alongside this padlock is the URL of your website beginning with httpS, not just http – the S stands for Secure! If the website doesn’t have a padlock and isn’t using HTTPS, our advice would be to stay well away!

Tools

  • You can use websites like SSL Shopper to check the authenticity of your Padlock (certificate).

Using Antivirus and System Updates

Did you know that the ransomware WannaCry attack that affected the NHS and many more in 2017 could’ve been prevented by a patch released by Microsoft two months prior? It’s important ensure your machine is updated with the latest security patches to prevent new vulnerabilities. There is a reason your IT department asks you to restart your computer and ensure all updates have been installed.

Use of antivirus is imperative to detecting and defending you when connecting to the internet. A computer without antivirus is an open-door invitation to attackers and even free antiviruses are better than no antivirus at all.

Tools

Virtual Private Networks (VPN)

A VPN will create a secure (encrypted) tunnel so that nobody else is able to snoop on the information that is passing through your connection. Be cautious of connecting to a free public Wi-Fi as the signal could be coming from a different location. Even if you’re working from home, the use of a VPN is a good idea to safeguard your passwords, card details and other personal information.

Tools

  • You can see a list of free VPNs, but there are also premium options available.

Gemserv aims to educate users who haven’t thought about their security online and remind even those of us working in these areas every day. We hope these tools can help establish awareness on the common techniques cyber criminals are using to compromise your personal information. Stay safe online this holiday season and happy shopping!

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E-Commerce, News

Tekla has its ecommerce future sewn up as it selects Brightpearl

Fast growing home textile producer Tekla has chosen Brightpearl to provide the operational structure it needs to power growth and aid the design and delivery of its high-quality products – from bedding, towels and blankets to sustainable textiles – to a growing army of fans across the UK and Europe.

With Brightpearl, the firm now has access to a scalable digital operations platform which meets the needs of its ecommerce and wholesale growth strategy and addresses key considerations around inventory, orders and warehouse management.

Founded in 2017, Tekla designs and delivers thoughtful products for the home that are shaped by serene architectural references to provide tranquility and comfort. From the brand’s studio based in Copenhagen, the team creates a beautiful range of products for sleep, bathing and living.

To support its ambitious growth plans, Tekla selected Brightpearl. With a world-beating suite of integrations to superior ecommerce, 3PL and EDI platforms, combined with advanced fulfilment features and access to real-time data, Brightpearl was a natural choice for the rapidly growing home textile brand.

Brightpearl provides digital operations solutions for the world’s biggest retail brands and has seen the number of online firms using the platform grow by 80% since spring 2020. The complete back-office solution includes financial management, inventory and sales order management, purchasing and supplier management, CRM, fulfillment, warehouse and logistics.

“We really believe that Brightpearl gives us a future-proof setup, to scale our omnichannel business”, said Kristoffer Juhl, Managing Director, Tekla. “Automation, scalability and flexibility are key beliefs in our tech-stack strategy. Brightpearl remains the master-engine in this setup, and we are off to a good start. We cannot wait to unlock the full potential.”

“Tekla is a rapidly expanding brand that now offers a wide range of thoughtful products for the home, across different channels”’, said SVP Customer Success at Brightpearl, Justin Press. “As the organization’s digital presence grows across the UK and Europe, and the business scales, retail-focused operational software has become paramount to keeping up with demand and providing the solid foundation needed for further growth.

“With Brightpearl in place, Tekla can focus on its core mission to create and deliver outstanding fabrics to its growing customer base. We’re excited to see what products Tekla designs and launches next, and we’re delighted to be powering the brand to get them into the hands of supporters, even faster and more efficiently.”

 

E-Commerce, News

Northampton Business Owners Visit Amazon ahead of Sales Rush

The Northampton couple behind a natural skincare brand are gearing up for a bumper sales period following a special visit to the Amazon fulfilment centre in Rugeley.

Holly-Anna Coulton, with the help of her partner Andy, run The Ilex Wood, a company that creates natural beauty and skin care products for all genders in a collection of herbal salves, balms and creams.

The Ilex Wood, which has been running since June 2018, was born from Holly’s lifelong love of nature. Like many people, Holly found herself purchasing beauty products with a long list of ingredients and additives and she grew tired of using obscure chemicals on her skin.

Not satisfied with the natural products already on offer, she created The Ilex Wood to help people take care of their skin in a natural way.

Demand for the company’s products soon soared and Holly decided to make her natural cosmetics available to customers locally and internationally by listing them on Amazon. Andy started using Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA), where Amazon helps the business by stocking, picking, packing and shipping The Ilex Wood products to customers around the world.

FBA is a solution that enables SMEs reach more customers with benefits like fast Prime delivery and easier selling across Europe. SMEs send their products to Amazon, and the company takes care of storage, delivery to customers, customer service and returns handling.

Selling on Amazon has helped The Ilex Wood to reach customers in new markets, spurring the natural cosmetics company to increase its revenue and profits.

To see how products like theirs are fulfilled, Holly and Andy made a special visit to Amazon’s Rugeley fulfilment centre this week for a private tour of the site ahead of Amazon Prime Day. During the visit, the couple met some of the team responsible for helping small businesses like theirs to grow in the UK and across the globe.

“It’s been great to meet the team who help companies like ours grow,” said Holly. “We love making the natural creams, salves and balms and by selling our products on Amazon and using programmes like Fulfilment by Amazon, we’re afforded more time to do what we love – developing high quality natural skin care products for our customers here in the UK and around the world.”

Andy added: “Selling The Ilex Wood products online is a no-brainer. It helps us reach more customers in multiple markets and it’s something we’d encourage SMEs of all shapes and sizes to embrace as it really does help fuel growth.”

Holly and Andy’s visit to Amazon comes during the annual Prime Day sales event, which this year aims to support small businesses. This has been a challenging year for many small businesses but selling in Amazon’s stores has enabled hundreds of thousands of smaller companies around the world to sustain and even grow their businesses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amazon is increasing its commitment to small business by designing Prime Day to support them with its biggest small business promotion yet. This Prime Day, and throughout the festive season, Amazon will spend more than £75 million on promotional activities to help small businesses around the world increase their sales and reach new customers.

Prime members who spend £10 with select small businesses selling in Amazon’s store now through to Monday 12th October will earn £10 to spend on Prime Day.

“After a tough six months for everyone, we’re committed to making this the most successful Prime Day ever for small businesses like The Ilex Wood, and excited for members to discover the very best from artisans and entrepreneurs in the UK, whilst saving big on everything they need and love from the comfort of their homes.” Doug Gurr, Amazon UK Country Manager.

To learn more, visit: https://blog.aboutamazon.co.uk/

Digital Transformation, E-Commerce, Economy & Jobs News, Energy, Local Government

Growth Vision for North Wales and economic investment the subject of virtual conference

PROGRESS on the Growth Vision for North Wales and major investment in the region will be the focus of a virtual conference.

Organised by North Wales Mersey Dee Business Council, in partnership with North Wales Economic Ambition Board (NWEAB), the online event takes place on Wednesday November 4.

Presented by Business Council chair and North Wales Tourism CEO Jim Jones, the event will feature updates from the NWEAB Programme Office on transformative projects set to begin in 2021.

Among the speakers are Programme Director Alwen Williams, Digital Programme Manager Stuart Whitfield, Energy Programme Manager Henry Aron, Land and Property Manager David Matthews and Operations Manager Hedd Vaughan-Evans. There will also be a question and answer session.

Programmes to be discussed include Digital Connectivity, Regional Transport Decarbonisation, Regional Land and Property – including commercial property and housing schemes – and the Smart Local Energy Network, encouraging more local renewable energy generation.

The Holyhead Gateway project is also on the agenda, targeting infrastructure improvements and investment that will create jobs and enhance transport links between Wales and Ireland.

Ashley Rogers, Commercial Director of the Business Council, said this is an opportunity to gain further information on where things stand in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic and following the £240m commitment towards the North Wales Growth Deal from the Welsh and UK Governments last year.

Heads of Terms on the Deal were signed last autumn, and strides have been made over the last 12 months, in the face of Covid-19 and economic pressures.

“This is the right time to come together with businesses in the region to showcase what has been going on behind the scenes, what is to come, and how the Growth Vision will impact upon North Wales,” said Ashley.

“This has been a year of unprecedented challenges, but the Programme Office has been working closely with stakeholders in education and the private and public sectors.

“We have already had a great response to the session and hope to see a wide range of companies join us on the day, to feed back their thoughts and ensure they are fully aware of progress made and how they can benefit and contribute to our economic recovery – that collaboration and communication is going to be vital.”

In past months, the Programme Office – based at Conwy Business Centre in Llandudno Junction – has been busy shaping business cases, engaging with stakeholders and exploring private sector investment opportunities, while holding virtual meetings and conferences in lockdown.

“Together with the Welsh and UK Governments and our partners in this region we have been driving the programmes forward,” said Alwen.

“It has, of course, been a challenge laying these foundations while unable to hold meetings face to face or with the ease of travel and access to different areas that was there before the pandemic took hold in the UK.

“But we have met those challenges head-on and look forward to sharing with those who join the conference the advances we have made.”

She added: “The Growth Vision for North Wales is a long-term masterplan to create jobs and grow our economy, and we realise that is more important than ever in the light of past months.

“By working together with businesses, we can respond to these pressures and start to build positive momentum, so we are ready to deliver from 2021 onwards.”

As well as creating thousands of new jobs, the Growth Vision is targeting a £10bn increase in the value of the North Wales economy by 2035.

The free private sector stakeholder sessions runs from 1pm-4pm. Companies and organisations can register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/north-wales-growth-deal-private-sector-stakeholder-session-tickets-124549409637

For more information on North Wales Economic Ambition Board, visit www.northwaleseab.co.uk.

Alternatively, email info@buegogleddcymru.co.uk or follow @BUEGogleddCymru (Welsh) or @NorthWalesEAB (English) on social media.

E-Commerce, News

Digital experts collaborate to create a new online experience for Austrian grocery chain

Austrian grocery chain, MPREIS, has teamed up with headless commerce specialists, emporix, to expand its brand online with the launch of a new digital storefront.

The grocer, which is largely based around the Tyrol region in the west of Austria, offers a range of local and seasonal produce including fair-trade products, low carb and gluten free options and over 2,000 organic products. The digital storefront will now provide an online showcase of the product catalogue, removing the need for printed promotional catalogues, as well as helpful information on stock availability, pricing and special offers.

Covering 240 different stores, the digital platform has been built to enable localised and optimised content for each individual store thanks to the flexible software solution that emporix has created in collaboration with a number of other specialist digital partners.

Feeding from a central database of product information, individual stores will be able to manage their own product catalogues, including pricing, availability and promotional content, to tailor and optimise it according to local market preferences.

Ulrich Theilmann, head of eCommerce at MPREIS, said: “We’ve built a loyal customer base that enjoys a positive shopping experience in our stores where they can find high quality local produce. We wanted to replicate that brand experience with a new online offering.

“Working with emporix’s headless commerce solution has made this process very straightforward. It allows us to seamlessly integrate a number of great design and architecture features into the site from a variety of digital partners, each of whom is an expert in its field.

“Every touchpoint has been built to deliver on both convenience and quality. It all feels very simple and intuitive to the end user, but I understand that there is a lot going on behind the scenes to make it happen!”

Eberhardt Weber, CEO of emporix, explained how headless commerce works: “Adopting a headless commerce solution splits the front-end and back-end of a website into separate touchpoints. This gives us the flexibility to incorporate a number of different functionalities with ease, leveraging various cloud-native microservices and APIs that have been especially designed for eGrocery services. Each partner has been able to implement its solution without disrupting or causing conflicts with other aspects of the digital storefront, which provides a great platform for collaboration.”

Design strategy experts COBE were responsible for developing a digital user experience (UXi) that could reflect the MPREIS brand and its focus on quality produce, while web and mobile design experts clubdrei.com created an intuitive MPREIS user interface (UI).

Felix van de Sand, Managing Director und Director of Design Strategy at COBE, said: “We wanted to create a digital experience that fans of the brand would instantly feel familiar with. The design is clean and vibrant, while showcasing the great products by telling the story of their origin allows them to be the star of the show. This does not only strengthen the brand of MPREIS, it also makes the user experience unique and distinct, letting the MPREIS online store stand out from its competitors.”

For clubdrei.com, the objective was to ensure the digital storefront was agile enough to respond to different users and still provide a consistent and seamless experience. This was approached from two angles: through integrating the content management system in a way that was flexible enough to handle localised content across the 240 stores; and by ensuring that the storefront worked perfectly across all types of devices, from mobile to tablet to desktop.

Thomas Reinstadler, managing director from clubdrei.com said: “Ensuring that the website’s content management system could allow for multiple users to optimise separate content simultaneously from a central database was our greatest challenge. It was also our greatest victory and we are delighted with the result. The headless commerce approach has enabled us to easily integrate this advanced functionality into the site.”

He continued: “Server side frontend rendering makes the user experience fast and comfortable. By dynamically stacking the content at smaller screen sizes it displays equally well when scrolling on a mobile or a tablet as it does when it is expanded on a larger desktop screen. This not only aids the user experience, it means that there’s no need for further investment in an app, which is a significant cost saver.”

The product data for the digital storefront has been managed by retailer data management experts Markant, who worked to enrich the data from MPREIS to create optimum product descriptions in line with Food Information Regulations (FIR). The accompanying images throughout the site have received similar optimisation treatment via media management software from Cloudinary.

In order to make finding the products as easy as possible, including tailored results depending on the local store data, specialist search engine functionality from Algolia has been integrated into the site. This software is both intelligent – allowing for spelling mistakes and to promote associated products – and fast in loading its results.
User interface experts SNK were brought in to collaborate on the emporix back-office UX. Its solution ensures that the ongoing maintenance and management of the site was as simple for MPREIS staff to use moving forward as the front-end experience would be for the grocer’s customers.

Christian Flaccus, co-founder of SNK, said: “A good user experience for the site owners when using internal management systems is becoming increasingly important, as it has a direct impact on efficiency. We’ve created a backend experience for MPREIS that will help them to manage the day-to-day business way faster and free some time for thinking beyond just standard activities.”
Ulrich Theilmann concluded: “In an increasingly digital world, an online presence is becoming a necessary extension to the retail brand. The digital storefront that has been created here helps to enhance the overall brand experience for our customers. The way it has been built, using headless commerce, leaves us with scope for even more enhancements as our online business continues to grow.”

Creative News, E-Commerce, Marketing, PR and SEO, News

parcelLab marks 5th anniversary by announcing raft of new hires as part of its expansion strategy

parcelLab, the post-purchase and operations experience specialist founded in Germany in 2015, has almost doubled its headcount with a raft of new hires to support its expansion efforts both in the UK and globally.

The announcement, which comes on the same day as parcelLab celebrates its 5th anniversary, is a significant move for the business and comes in response to an increased demand and customer-load, as more and more retailers see the need to improve their post-purchase customer experience.

In the last five years, parcelLab has doubled its employee headcount year on year, growing to a global team of 80 people, operating from offices in Munich, London, Paris and Los Angeles. It currently works with over 500+ brands (including Lidl, Ikea, Nespresso and Shoe Zone) across 45 countries, in 32 languages.

Despite the ongoing challenges brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, parcelLab has maintained a strong foothold. As a result, parcelLab has increased its headcount in France (from one to nine employees) Munich (an additional 19 employees) and London (an additional six employees) offices, as well as registered as a limited company in the USA and set up operations in Los Angeles.

“Overall, it’s clear that online trade has benefited greatly in recent months, which we have seen from our clients’ shipping data,” said Tobias Buxhoidt, CEO at parcelLab. “Many retailers recognise the potential and the demand for them to develop into multi-channel providers. We’ve been able to react quickly, analyse customer expectation and support brands through this uncertain time to come up with best practices and special COVID-19 specific communication.”

Among the new hires in marketing are Dora Birna and Laura Physick. Dora joins parcelLab as Director of Marketing & Growth. With 15 years of experience specialising in marketing, branding, communication and growth strategies, Dora has worked across the globe with the likes of Investors in People, Adgistics, and Össur. At parcelLab, she will be tasked with implementing a global marketing strategy, developing parcelLab’s brand and driving growth across all regions. Laura joins the team as Content Marketing Writer.

parcelLab has also expanded its sales team in the UK. Earlier this year, Jacob Gillis joined as UK Client Partnership Manager, following a stint at Docker, Inc where he was Business Development Representative and Market Development Manager for the UK & Ireland. In addition, Malin Jonsson has taken the role of Client Partnership Manager for the Nordics, responsible for growth in the Nordics by supporting global and local retailers as they leverage parcelLab technology to transform their customer experience post-checkout.

After a successful launch into the UK market and a growing number of customers onboarded, parcelLab also hired two Technical Account Managers to oversee operations here and in the Nordics: Matthew Speight and Suman Varatharaja.

Several roles are currently open, including a solution consultant for the UK, to support clients in providing customised solutions from its product portfolio.

With a growth trajectory of 100 employees before 2021 and plans to develop its platform to support enterprise businesses further, parcelLab has big plans and high hopes for its global markets. Here’s to the next five years – the only way is up!