Tag Archives: retail business

Digital Transformation, News

Tech Mahindra Selected as Freemans Grattan Holdings’ Digital Transformation Partner to Improve Customer Experience

The partnership will transform FGH’s existing IT landscape into a next-generation digital retail platform focused on consumer centricity 


Tech Mahindra, a leading provider of digital transformation, consulting, and business re-engineering services and solutions, today announces that it has been selected as the technology and digital transformation partner for Freemans Grattan Holdings (FGH). FGH is part of the Otto Group, one of the world’s largest shopping organisations, and the home of familiar names such as Freemans, and its boutique brand Kaleidoscope.co.uk. 

Through the partnership, Tech Mahindra will support FGH in executing their 4D strategy to provide distinct retail offers, dynamic financial services, and a digital first approach, driven by operational efficiency. This five-year engagement will help FGH reduce their technical debt and migrate their entire infrastructure and application portfolio to modern cloud-based platforms. Tech Mahindra will work with FGH to optimise, simplify, and standardise business processes to streamline front and back-office platforms for automated operations and improved customer experience. 

Jinender Jain, Senior Vice President & Sales Head, UK&I at Tech Mahindra, said, “Retailers are focusing on improving their customer experience through digital transformation as technology is fuelling a massive shift in the industry. The shopping experience is an increasing point of focus within the retail sector since the pandemic. Tech Mahindra will support FGH in its journey to build the next generation of retail platforms by delivering emerging technologies and solutions that enable an improved experience for all its customers through our NXT.NOWTM framework. Our partnership with FGH is a huge step in our continued journey towards bringing NexGen digital transformation solutions and service offerings across the UK.”

Gary Ellwood, CIO at Freemans Grattan Holdings, said, “Over the last two years we have been on quite a journey to re-imagine our offer and how this is executed – all with the ambition of becoming the digital department store of choice. From a customer perspective, they have seen a brand-new look and feel across our trading brands and a revitalised and strengthened product offering. We’ve also introduced several exclusive partnerships such as Henry Holland, Julien Macdonald, and Abigail Ahern. This strategy is already paying dividends as we continue to grow ahead of the market. Digital transformation is the next complimentary steppingstone in our growth strategy and will allow us to be both reactive and resilient. We believe that in partnering with Tech Mahindra, we have mitigated significant risk associated with technology debt. But most importantly, we set ourselves up for future success by including wholesale technology and business transformation into the scope of the contract.”

FGH and Tech Mahindra will collaborate to improve overall customer experience, delivering customer insight, hyper-personalisation, seamless credit services, and simplified operations, all within a MACH (Microservices, API, Cloud, Headless) architecture. FGH and Tech Mahindra will be implementing retail solutions supporting the entire retail life cycle of plan, buy, move, and sell, covering business areas such as assortment planning, demand forecasting, merchandising and digital supply chain. 

Over the past 2-3 years, Tech Mahindra has significantly expanded its presence within the UK&I retail & CPG space by acquiring a total of five partnerships. This is largely attributed to its capabilities in implementing digital cloud native applications, front office transformation, digital CRM solutions specific for retail, direct to consumer, personalisation and much more.  

E-Commerce, News

Not OK boomers: Older consumers least likely to be loyal to any brands, new emerchantpay report reveals

Today, leading global payment service provider, emerchantpay, publishes its Loyalty Paradox report which examines customer loyalty in a post-pandemic world. Findings from the report suggest that retailers are missing out on wooing large groups of consumers and no longer understand what is driving customers to switch brands. Ahead of the busy Christmas period and into 2022, retailers need to rethink their strategies to capture consumers’ attention and ensure ongoing customer lifetime value via successful customer loyalty. 

 

Redefining loyalty programmes in a post-pandemic world 

emerchantpay’s research surveyed 2,000 UK consumers to understand the brand loyalty landscape in retail. Consumers across all age groups were most likely to be loyal to brands in the grocery, food, drink and supermarket industry (49%) and within this sector, Baby Boomers were the most likely to be loyal (57%). Gen Z respondents broke the trend as they were more likely to stay loyal to technology and gadgets brands (48%), with fashion, clothing and accessories brands coming in at a close second (47%) and grocery, food, drink and supermarkets at only 42%. However, aside from their loyalty to food, drink and grocery, Baby Boomers were one of the least likely to be loyal to any brands, with nearly a quarter (23%) stating they didn’t feel loyalty to any brands – the group was only surpassed by over 75s, where this number rose to nearly a third (31%). For context, only 9% millennials and 7% Gen X consumers did not feel loyal to any brands.

Additionally, respondents shared what drove their decisions to switch brands. The top drivers were price (57%), followed by perceived quality (44%), product reviews (26%), speed and time it takes for the product to be delivered (25%) and shopping from a trusted brand they’ve already bought from (21%). Intriguingly, more than 1 in 10 (13%) consumers claimed not to be loyal to any brands.

 

Reimagining loyalty as a loop

Customer loyalty should be perceived as a loop rather than part of a linear customer journey. What happens post-sale becomes more critical than ever because this experience can build brand allegiance and repeat custom for consumers.

During a busy shopping period such as Christmas, ease of purchase, customer service pre- and post-purchase, quality of goods and the ability to return, exchange, receive a refund and add complementary items are crucial. Adopting a unified commerce strategy can help retailers craft a more value-adding loyalty strategy. When sales channels are supported by a single platform, retailers get a single view of their customers’ data across all channels and touchpoints. That rings especially true today when more shoppers than ever are using services such as click and collect or are buying online and returning in-store. 

 

Paid loyalty programmes

For certain brand categories and industries such as fashion and groceries, paid loyalty programmes (PLPs) have the potential to outweigh free loyalty programmes because they can drive higher purchase frequency, basket size and brand affinity.

Once subscribed to a PLP, members are 60% more likely to spend more on a brand, whereas members of free loyalty programmes are only 30% more likely. What’s more, emerchantpay’s research found that 55% of consumers are willing to pay more for a product if delivery is free, with 25% willing to pay up to 5% and a third (30%) willing to pay between 5-20% more.  

 

Payments as a key driver of loyalty

In a world of constant disruption, retailers must align their organisational goals with their payments strategy, not only to secure long-term profitability, but equally, to drive loyalty. The report highlighted that just 14% of payment leaders – individuals responsible for payments within their respective companies – have personal and team KPIs that are fully aligned with the KPIs of the wider business and broader commercial objectives.

Retailers can no longer afford to view the payment stage as their end objective, particularly as in-store and eCommerce shopping continues to increase in a post-pandemic environment. Instead, they should look at it as the beginning of a long and nurturing relationship between brand and customer.

 

Svetlio Todorov, Managing Director at emerchantpay, said: “The busy Q4 shopping period is a great time to attract new customers. However, to increase the lifetime value of a customer, establishing brand loyalty is paramount. If there’s one thing that the pandemic has highlighted, it’s the need for retailers to listen to their customers and understand how they want to interact with brands. Consumers have become accustomed to being able to do practically anything from their couch at home. The ‘couched consumer’ is well-informed, looking for a bargain, impatient and armed with the latest technology. Payments are essential to this frictionless customer experience, and some retailers are failing to see them as part of their loyalty strategies. Retailers are under even greater pressure to listen to their customers and understand how they want to pay. All of this means that customer loyalty will lie with the retailer that makes shopping quick, easy and intuitive whilst delivering a seamless buying experience.”

News, Retail, Tech

New Sticky could ’revolutionise’ online trading for small businesses

A revolutionary new technology that allows customers to order products or access information with just the tap of a smartphone could transform the online marketplace, an expert says.

Hello Merchant founder Tracy Hazlewood says the pioneering new Sticky platform will provide the most cost-effective way for retailers to offer online sales – and can also help breathe new life into town centres and tourist attractions.

Sticky has been developed by an award-winning tech team in Leeds and Telford-based Tracy is among the first people in the country to be offering it to retailers.

A sticky is a branded sticker that can be stuck to shop windows, pub tables, information points and check-in desks and can take a customer’s details, allow them to place an order or offer useful information with just a single tap of a smartphone.

“This is a really innovative piece of technology that nobody has offered before,” said Tracy.

“There is an almost endless range of uses for stickies – from single tap ordering and payment in pubs, restaurants and shops, to being used to develop information and promotional trails through town centres, speedy check-in systems at hotels or health centres and a really cost-effective contactless payment system.

“The great thing about them is that they are self-contained. Customers don’t need to download a separate app to make them work or scan extra codes or input their credit card details. It’s quick, easy, seamless and super-convenient.

“The list of uses you can put stickies to is almost endless, but they will be a real game-changer in the retail and hospitality sectors. Imagine being able to order another drink in less than 20 seconds at your local pub without ever leaving your table.

“We are already working with Business Improvement Districts to offer stickies as a great way of producing informative, multi-media discovery trails, which can help town centre visitors discover what it has to offer and incentivise people to visit as many shops as possible by turning the town centre into a game.

“In more than 20 years in the industry I have never seen anything with the potential that Sticky has to transform the market.”

Tracy said the price and flexibility of the sticky made it a particularly attractive platform for small retailers who were desperate to offer online sales in the wake of the Covid pandemic.

“Each sticky costs just £5 to buy, with discounts for bulk orders. You then pay a £5 per month subscription fee but can turn the sticky off and on whenever you need it, so you only pay for the days it is in use. The transaction rate is just 1.5 per cent which makes it the best value for money I know of.

“You can buy ready-made stickies or have your own designed to carry your branding, and you get free virtual stickies to use on your digital platforms and websites. There is no contract, and you can decide exactly what information or products go on each sticky.”