Articles
Customer Focus: Jon Darch, Digital Manager at Farrow & Ball
Tuesday 28 February, 2012We caught up with Jon Darch, Digital Manager at Farrow & Ball to find out what he is currently working on, how he got started in the business and the latest plans for their website.
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Mobile hits the big time
Thursday 23 February, 2012Dubbed ‘The year of the Mobile’, 2011 saw an explosion in Mobile and Tablet growth. With an estimated 59% (Ofcom, 2011) of the UK population buying their first Smartphone last year, the number of people accessing the web via their phones is growing at an increasingly rapid rate.
NRF 2012 sets out retail's new rules
Friday 10 February, 2012For our retail technology guru, Steve Thomas, the combination of New York and the annual National Retail Federation (NRF) convention was like a second Christmas. Once we'd calmed him down, we asked him to tell us what his favourite bits of the expo were – and what "must-have" items he thinks retailers should be asking Santa for next year...
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Customer Focus: Will Dymott, Head of e-commerce at Lyle & Scott
Tuesday 6 December, 2011We caught up with Will Dymott, Head of e-commerce at Lyle & Scott a men’s fashion brand with over 135 years of heritage and still at the forefront of fashion. This year, he's asked Santa for global jumper domination.
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Increase website conversion and customer satisfaction with FCP 5.1.
Tuesday 6 December, 2011The latest version of our FrescaCommerce Platform (FCP) is now out, and it comes with even more ways to boost conversion rates and increase customer satisfaction.
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Bodycare puts its trust in BT with new five-year contract
Thursday 1 December, 2011In an age of comparison sites, it's become the norm for people to switch suppliers on a regular basis as they chase the best deal. But chopping and changing isn't ideal in terms of business continuity. So what if you could get the best of both worlds, a long-term, flexible service, built on a future-proof foundation and bundled with competitive pricing that frees you to concentrate on building your business?
Are you really ready for London 2012?
Thursday 1 December, 2011An extra 500,000 international customers may sound like a dream come true, but you'll only benefit if you're ready for them. The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games saw 83 per cent of retailers increase sales. And with an estimated 9.2 million people expected, London 2012 is tipped to boost the economy by £21 billion. So are you ready to grab a piece of the action? Here's what you need to be thinking about...
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Aurora's in-store iPad: I came, I saw, I shopped
Thursday 1 December, 2011In all the time we've been working with Aurora Fashions, one thing's remained constant: a desire to use new technology in a way that improves the experience and makes life easier for everyone – from shoppers and sales assistants to suppliers and IT staff. Our latest adventure together saw us introduce iPads to its high street brands, Coast, Oasis, Warehouse and Karen Millen.
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R&D event lifts the lid on retail's future
Thursday 1 December, 2011A small group of retailers, including representatives from Arcadia, Home Retail Group, Mothercare and Tesco were given a glimpse of the future of shopping at Adastral Park, BT's world-renowned research centre. Find out what they saw, what they said, and how you can visit too...
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Customer Focus: Mark Andrews, e-commerce Manager at The Range
Wednesday 28 September, 2011We spoke to Mark Andrews, E-commerce Manager at The Range about what he does, how the re-launch of the new 'The Range' website is keeping him awake at night and why he would like to have lunch with Peter Kay.
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A platform for e-commerce success
Tuesday 20 September, 2011When it comes to selling online, you need a website that really does the business. It has to stand out, look good and be easy for your customers to use, in the way they want to. And it has to be there when they need it, wherever they are -- at home or on the go.
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Getthelabel.com customers get the message with new email marketing campaign
Thursday 8 September, 2011Getthelabel.com offers massive savings on leading high street fashion and sport brands. It's a simple idea – well known names, great prices. But a simple idea doesn't always mean a simple approach. Initially, the company's email marketing strategy had been to send the same message to all customers. But as the business matured and the database grew this approach simply wasn't producing the results the team wanted. So we helped create a personalised, targeted email campaign that got people buying more, and more often.
IT investment at an all time low, but mobile commerce takes off
Thursday 8 September, 2011The latest Martec IT in Retail Reports show that retailers' investment in IT is at an all-time low. And for the first time e-commerce and mobile commerce are the priorities. There are also positive noises from retailers planning to upgrade key business systems. We've got a free summary report of the key findings for you to get your hands on – and Martec MD Brian Hume has given us his take on the results.
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Party bore or life of the party: How to get customer engagement on social media right
Thursday 8 September, 2011Have you ever been to a party where you don't know anybody? You scan the room and spot someone fascinating, so you move into the group of people surrounding them. The person finishes talking and you ask them a question – and they just walk away. This might be regarded as somewhat rude – and yet it is precisely what many retailers are doing to customers on a daily basis on social networking sites, according to BT futurologist Nicola Millard.
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CITRUS: A whole new flavour of training, communication and support for The Co-operative
Thursday 8 September, 2011The Co-operative Group is a hugely diverse and complex organisation – doubling in size twice in less than six years. This sheer scale provides massive challenges in terms of implementing training and operational plans – as well as just keeping everyone up to date. So the company has radically overhauled its training, communication and support systems – working with BT learn Diverse to create CITRUS. This new web-based application is now supporting consistent communications and training for up to 80,000 unique users nationwide. And that's just for starters...
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A Christmas service menu that comes with all the trimmings
Thursday 8 September, 2011Picture the scene. 'Twas the week before Christmas... you arrive in the morning to open up for the busiest shopping day of the year. You realise there's been a server problem during the night and your tills are down – you're going to lose a lot of money. You wake up in a cold sweat.
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Eight new technologies get the X-factor treatment
Thursday 30 June, 2011We always enjoy a good discussion about new technologies at our client conference. This time we had a particularly wide selection of retailers from different sectors around the table including Burberry, Primark, Signet, Halfords, New Look and The Co-operative Group. There was a lot of debate, with eight new technologies to get our teeth into. Our very own Simon Cowell, Geoff Barraclough reveals the technologies that wowed the crowd – and those that were voted off.
Cloudy with a chance of retail
Thursday 30 June, 2011At our recent client conference in Stratford-upon-Avon, the session on "Retail in the cloud – on-demand Point of Sale (POS)" attracted a lot of interest. Hosts Tim Johnson of Crabtree & Evelyn and BT Expedite CTO Steve Thomas reflected on the recent successful POS implementation across the retailer's store estate – the first to be deployed on BT's retail hardened Virtual Data Centre cloud platform...
Flying in the Facebook of fashion: Lyle & Scott launches social media commerce store
Thursday 30 June, 2011There's a massive buzz about social media commerce at the moment. To prove the point, it was standing room only for Lyle & Scott's session at our recent client conference. About 40 retailers squeezed in to hear the company's head of e-commerce Will Dymott announce the launch of its first social media commerce store, powered by a BT Fresca application. It means Lyle & Scott can now sell directly to its army of 40,000 Facebook fans, as well as all their friends, and their friends, and...
One small step for the supply chain system, one giant leap for the business
Thursday 30 June, 2011Every Thomas Pink shirt is an exercise in perfection. And when you have a perfect product, you can't make do with shoddy stock management. So it's no wonder the retailer is so keen to make sure that the systems and processes behind the scenes work as smartly and efficiently as possible. This means using technology to help tackle the big challenge faced by retailers today – managing stock in a multichannel, international marketplace.
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Asia-Pacific: A remarkable retailing opportunity
Sunday 1 May, 2011With difficult trading conditions in the UK, it comes as no surprise that many retailers are looking to expand internationally. Large emerging markets such as India and China have been identified as major opportunities for goods and services, and China also plays a key role in the extended global supply chain, linking manufacturers directly to retail outlets. But it's not easy, and you need to find a partner that understands both your business and the local market. That's why big names such as Tommy Hilfiger are working with BT...
Retailers going back to the future for risk-free stock control
Sunday 1 May, 2011Globalisation and technology are changing the face of retail. But it's a face you might recognise. They say that nothing is ever truly new, and in retail we're seeing the return of a retail model and customer service approach that wouldn't have looked out of place in days gone by.
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The five steps to successful international e-commerce
Sunday 1 May, 2011At the recent Internet Retailing Expo, BT Fresca's Justin Lord outlined the challenges to overcome – and pitfalls to be aware of – when planning an international expansion programme for your e-commerce operation. We caught up with him to try and get to the heart of the issues and hear his thoughts on the best way to proceed...
Learning to get off the PCI fence
Wednesday 23 March, 2011At last week's Retail Technology Expo, our PCI experts outlined the problems retailers are having trying to meet PCI DSS compliance standards. It seems, amid the confusion, many are adopting a wait and see approach – and sitting on the fence for the time being. But there are some quick wins to be had – both in terms of tweaking your processes and educating your people. BT Expedite's PCI consultant Kevin Burns explains how...
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The sky's no longer the limit for Crabtree & Evelyn with new cloud-based point of sale
Wednesday 23 March, 2011We've just installed a new cloud-based version of our Store 6.2 Point of Sale (POS) solution for Crabtree & Evelyn. That makes the international fragrance and luxury gift retailer the first in the UK to use BT's Virtual Data Centre (VDC) to run our store software.
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Pets at Home, at work, and out and about
Wednesday 23 March, 2011If you thought pets and mobile devices got no further than talking cats and Tamagotchi, think again. We've just developed a new Pet Care iPhone/iPad/iTouch application for Pets at Home.
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New BT service is "Lighting up the high street"
Wednesday 23 March, 2011Being agile and efficient is absolutely vital for any retailer – from fashion chains to national supermarkets. By having access to advanced IT services on a secure virtual platform in the cloud, you can now get all the retail applications you need, on-demand.
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China in your hand? Mobile and China top the bill at NRF 2011
Tuesday 1 February, 2011After a couple of quiet years, NRF was buzzing again, as the cream of the world's retailers (and their suppliers) were shoe-horned into New York's most dilapidated convention centre for three days of frantic networking, writes BT Expedite's Geoff Barraclough.
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Are retailers on cloud nine over new technology?
Tuesday 1 February, 2011We took a dozen senior IT folk from UK retailers with us to NRF. After two days trudging round three aircraft hangars full of technology, being dazzled by the very latest applications, we got together to discuss what will work – and what needs work. BT Expedite CTO Steve Thomas gathered feedback and has the verdict on nine key technology areas
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Big Apple event dominated by iPad
Tuesday 1 February, 2011More than 20,000 retail professionals gathered last month for the 100th Annual Convention & EXPO in New York. Among them were Thomas Pink's Peter Mila, a conference veteran, and first time NRF-attendee Guy Allen. We caught up with them back in the UK to find out what they made of it all.
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Bringing customers closer than ever to Liberty
Wednesday 15 December, 2010London's landmark retailer, Liberty, has asked us to provide a sophisticated Loyalty and CRM solution to replace its existing, outsourced loyalty system. By bringing its CRM system in-house, the store and its e-commerce site will be able to offer a more responsive, flexible and personalised service to its customers
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Customer satisfaction hits 90 per cent as JJB Sports brings web and high street together
Wednesday 15 December, 2010JJB Sports has always been keen to get the latest technology in place to provide customers and staff with what they need. The latest project has seen the sports retailer roll out our Integrated Store solution. Now every store – no matter what size – can offer a full range of stock to customers.
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New automated phone service locates the branch that callers want
Wednesday 15 December, 2010We have a simple new way for your customers to find the location of the retail branch or store they require quickly while at the same time helping you to reduce costs.
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The eagle has landed: Mobile site puts Lyle & Scott in your hand
Wednesday 15 December, 2010Paris, Milan, New York, Hawick... When it comes to blending cutting edge technology and fashion, you don't usually think of the Scottish Borders as a top destination. But Lyle & Scott is changing that. And we've been working with them to re-launch their online store and give them a better mobile presence...
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