Hamley's Goes Live with Sanderson Retail-J

Sanderson, the publically owned UK provider of software and services to the retail market, announced that its latest customer, Hamleys, has gone live with the Retail-J EPoS solution.

According to Sanderson, Hamleys, the iconic London based toy store has joined its Regent Street neighbours, Kurt Geiger and Jaeger, in becoming the third Regent Street retailer in a row to partner with Sanderson for the supply, installation and support of Retail-J. They join a further three retailers on the prestigious London street whose Retail-J system is also supplied by Sanderson.

Following the implementation across its ten UK and Ireland stores, Hamleys has been able to offer international customers enhanced service by offering "customer preferred currency" and tax-free shopping options. Hamleys are also considering the use of mobile PoS and giftcard functionality to help maximise sales and revenue.

David Oakley, Head of IT at Hamleys of London states that “Sanderson has worked hard to deliver the EPoS replacement project within the agreed timescales and we’ve been able to make use of our existing hardware which is cost-effective. The Sanderson team are very responsive and up-front about what can be achieved. The new system is already delivering tangible benefits.”

David Mahoney, Managing Director of Sanderson RBS concluded “We’re pleased to be working with Hamleys. They have a committed team and realistic goals, which allowed us to ensure the system was rolled out within two months of the pilot. They now have a future-proof solution that will support the business long-term.”

SOLSTICE Launches eComm Platform on Demandware

Demandware, Inc., a global leader in on-demand eCommerce, has announced that SOLSTICE, one of North America’s largest sunglass specialty retailers, is taking its first step into the eCommerce arena by launching its new online retail store www.solsticesunglasses.com on the Demandware Commerce platform.

As part of a long-term strategy to sell across multiple channels, SOLSTICE has developed a new standard for selling luxury eyewear online to reach a more style-conscious, digitally connected fan base. The new site mirrors the company’s upscale store design, combining clean sophisticated lines with the seasonal advertising campaigns from more than 40 luxury, designer and sport sunglass brands. The site replicates the luxury experience, yet presents customers with easy-to-navigate search options to make shopping easier.

The new site will be integrated with many of the top social networking sites. Customers will not only be able to send detailed product information and photos from the online store to their mobile devices using the latest mobile shopping technology. Combining ecommerce with social networking allows for instant uploading of favorite picks on Facebook, sharing new styles on Twitter, or simply sending a few selections via e-mail.

Most UK Call Centres Not PCI-Compliant

In a surprising and dismaying development, CallCentreClinic reports that "New research from Connected World, leading provider of communication solutions for businesses today reveals that despite 36.7% of contact centres judging themselves to be fully compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), the vast majority (89%) admitted to not understanding its requirements and penalties.

"Compounding further concern and reflecting a high level of disarray in the market, a third of all contact centre respondents (33%) claimed at best to be years away from full PCI DSS compliance, with a fifth (21%) stating that their processes will never be in full accordance with the standard's stringent requirements."

The survey included more than 200 contact centre decision makers in industries from retail and leisure to public service and finance. It was commissioned to mark the launch of Connected World's PCI TeleSafe's network-based telephony solution that protects customer account data and resolves a host of PCI-DSS compliance issues.

AllthingsAtoZ Goes Live on Magento, OrderMotion

Allthingsatoz.com just went live with OrderMotion's Platform for SaaS-based campaign management and order processing, plus OrderMotion's Connector for Magento...check out the range of product-specific online stores. Very nice-looking site.

OrderMotion, a PCI Level One Service Provider, can integrate with a variety of eCommerce Websites as well as fulfillment warehouses, call centers, customer service centers, payment processors and media agencies, acting as a hub for real-time data consolidation. 

Consumers Want Better mCommerce Sites!

eMarketer notes: "More consumers than ever before plan to use their mobile phones to shop this holiday season, continuing to build up the m-commerce trend that is growing steadily among shoppers but only slowly among retailers. According to October 2010 research from mobile and social marketing consultancy Brand Anywhere and Luth Research, 51% of consumers say they are more likely to buy from retailers that have a mobile site. But fewer than 5% of retailers have such a site." 

Check out the stats at eMarketer. And see also "Three Mobile Campaign Mistakes Big Brands Make & How To Profit From Them" (Search Engine Land).

Europeans Ready for mCommerce

I tried to check something today at the Radio Shack Website using my Samsung Android phone, but alas, Radio Shack has not yet set up an mCommerce version, so navigating the site was a miserable experience. Get with the program!

According to a recent report commissioned by technology provider Akamai and conducted by analyst firm IDC, that's exactly what Europeans are gettting ready to do. Reviewing the report, Catalogue & eBusiness notes "at least one in ten of the European consumers surveyed had already used a mobile phone for retail search, price comparison or online purchasing, with a further 20 percent of respondents planning to do so in the 'short-term.' The second-most cited reason for shoppers using their mobile phones--after checking the status of an order--was searching for store locations, opening hours, and product availability. Receiving alerts about promotions offered by stores nearby ranked third."

The study was based on input from 1,500 consumers in France, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden.  "When asked what the most influential factor was in their online purchasing decisions, 76 percent of Europeans said a website's ease of use. A close second, cited by 71 percent of respondents, was assurance of payment security, with the Spanish particularly concerned with security online," reports C&eB.

Mobile Site Search

If you are considering mobile-optimized sites, don't overloook mobile site search. Shaun Ryan, CEO of SLI Systems, a provider of eCommerce site search solutions that has just launched a mobile search option, spoke with Practical Ecommerce about this, starting with the question: "Why does an ecommerce site need special mobile-optimized site search." Here's his answer, and more Q&A.

How important is this? Well, just listen to Shaun: "If you go to Amazon, you'll notice that on its mobile site, it's dominated by the search." Need we say more?

MORE on mCommerce
See also the following:
"Merchant Shares Experiences with Mobile-Optimized Site"
Assessing mCommerce Performance
J.C. Penney makes a massive mobile push for the holidays
Study Shows Mcommerce Customer Experience Needs Improvement (Multichannel Merchant writes that "The E-tailing Group's First Annual Mobile Commerce Mystery Shopping Study, conducted in the third quarter, shows that merchants are doing some things right with mobile – but the overall experience needs improvement." Search and Gift-giving were major weaknesses.)
Journeys Shares Lessons Learned from Mobile Launch The highlights:

• An order-by-phone link is important in m-commerce
• mobile can be used to enhance the in-store experience
• SMS works for an immediate call-to-action
• Geo-social programs can drive store traffic
• 23% of Journeys customers own a smart phone, so for this retailer, it makes sense to have a WAP-based mobile browser instead of apps