• PrettyLittleThing customers’ time to next purchase accelerated by 57%
• Overall post-purchase experience (rated by PrettyLittleThing customers) up by 30%
• 44% Marketing engagement rate on Narvar powered delivery updates

PrettyLittleThing has announced its partnership with Narvar, a technology company helping retail brands deliver premium post-purchase experiences. PrettyLittleThing, revealed that it has seen greater customer loyalty since adopting the platform. PLT’s work with Narvar comes as part of its wider focus on building customer lifetime value through improving the post-purchase experience.

To date, Narvar’s role in PrettyLittleThing’s post-purchase improvement journey has centered on its post-purchase communications. Before working with Narvar, PrettyLittleThing directed customers to third-party websites for delivery updates. These communications were unbranded and purely functional, meaning they did little to engage or delight customers who had just purchased. What’s more, passing on delivery communication responsibilities to external carriers meant the experience customers received after the buy button was out of PrettyLittleThing’s control.

Now, using Narvar’s enterprise-grade SaaS post-purchase platform, PrettyLittleThing customers receive proactive, convenient, engaging and branded delivery and tracking messages – via the communications channel of their choice.

PrettyLittleThings focus on improving the post purchase experience for its customers has already resulted in tangible gains in both customer satisfaction and brand loyalty: the rating that PLT customers assigned to its overall post-purchase experience increased by over 30% and the average time to next purchase reduced by 57%.

By taking control of the post-purchase experience, PrettyLittleThing has enjoyed greater engagement from customers who have made a purchase. Branded delivery communications have brought customers back to the retailer’s website, boosting site visits – which previously would have gone to external carriers’ sites.

The retailer also enjoyed a 44.3% Marketing Engagement Rate vs an industry benchmark of 14%. This incremental brand engagement and the resulting additional revenues were key to PrettyLittleThing seeing a massive 24x Return on Investment (ROI) in just 5 months since working with Narvar.

With its core audience in the 16-24 age bracket, PrettyLittleThing also realised it needed to expand the number of channels to communicate delivery updates to customers. To meet the experience expectations of increasingly mobile-first customers, PrettyLittleThing now offer SMS delivery notifications, which the retailer has seen high opt-in rates for. With Narvar also offering customer care via Chatbot, Facebook Messenger or Voice-Assistant (e.g. Alexa, Google Home), PrettyLittleThing is now considering extending the number of channels on which it communicates with customers.

Nicki Capstick, Head of Marketing at PrettyLittleThing said: “We’re at the cutting edge of fast fashion, but a sub-optimal post-purchase experience was disrupting our otherwise seamless customer journey. To keep customers coming back, we worked with Narvar to provide our customers with valuable and meaningful experiences after the buy button, not just discounts or next day deliveries. A key element of this has been the fully branded, personalised tracking dashboard which Narvar has helped us execute. Making sure our customers stay engaged after they have bought is fundamental to increasing their lifetime value. We know it works – the results of the investments we have made in the post-purchase experience speak for themselves.”

Anthony Gavin, EMEA Director, of Narvar said: “Brands and retailers which fail to recognise the importance of customer experience beyond the buy button are missing a trick. The post-purchase experience that customers receive is fundamental to keeping them engaged and turning one-off sales into loyal customers.

“We’re delighted to be working with PrettyLittleThing – a brand which truly recognises that loyal customers are not won through point cards, coupons or even discounts, but instead by continuing to provide customers with authentic, thoughtful and convenient experiences from the moment they hit buy to the moment they receive their orders.”

Creative agency, Mynt Design, has been appointed by international sports retailer, SPORT 2000, to develop a new shopping experience for the retailer’s generalist/multisport ‘SPORT 2000’ store estate. The new concept will be designed to re-engage with its existing audience whilst appealing to a new experience-hungry consumer too.

Following a competitive pitch in late 2018, Mynt Design was appointed to create the strategic design concept for the next generation of the SPORT 2000 stores.

Margit Gosau, CEO of SPORT 2000, commented:

“Mynt has shown an extraordinary understanding of the SPORT 2000 brand and how to bring the core essence of the brand to life in our future retail concept. SPORT 2000 differentiates itself strongly from other sports retailers. SPORT 2000 is the retailer with the human touch and our relationship with the sports enthusiast is led by expert knowledge, personal service and a bespoke approach to people and their individual needs. This must be expressed in our stores in the future, which is challenging to realise. To build a good-looking store is doable, but to build the spirit and soul of the brand in a store is extraordinary difficult.
Mynt is one of a few retail concept agencies who we believe can do this, and we are happy to collaborate with their highly talented team on this project.”

“Working with SPORT 2000 on brand positioning, values and marketing communication projects over the last 12 months, we have a very good understanding on the retailer’s points of difference. This, combined with our heritage in designing retail environments for leading global brands, gave us confidence that our future vision for the brand’s generalist store estate would be well received and we’re absolutely thrilled to be working with the team at

SPORT 2000 on redefining the store experience. Our vision is about curating regular, relevant experiences within a flexible and updatable space.”

Ollie Patterson, Marketing Director, Mynt Design

Work on the new store concept will commence in early 2019 with the first iterations expected to be implemented during 2019.

The Bullring Estate, Birmingham’s iconic shopping destination that comprises the Bullring, Grand Central, and Link Street, has announced that cult-favourite series Black Mirror, in partnership with Netflix, recreated the iconic 1980’s game store from the choose-your-own-adventure drama Bandersnatch last week.

The 1,196 sq ft Grand Central unit was chosen as one of two Bandersnatch pop-ups in the UK, located between Nando’s and Holy Moly Macaroni, the store offered a window into the dystopian world of the psychological thriller to Birmingham.

Hammerson and The Bullring Estate hosted Netflix from 3 – 12 January, the hustle and bustle of Grand Central proved to be the perfect location for Tucker’s Newsagent and Games. The unique set up drew fans seeking an excellent social opportunity as well as considerable interest from centre visitors.

Hammerson was represented by Appear Here.

The British accessible luxury brand will deploy Aptos’ end-to-end solutions in the cloud to enhance customer engagement, omnichannel experiences

Glee is back for Spring Fair 2019, shining the spotlight on the latest and greatest garden and outdoor living products, as well as providing inspiring garden retail insights to prepare you for the year ahead, and beyond.

Spring Fair 2019 – the UK’s largest and number one home and gift marketplace – will feature a dedicated Glee concession, providing a centralised hub for visitors to the show to explore garden-related products, and attracting thousands of influential garden product buyers.

Located in hall 3 at the NEC, the showcase will give garden centres and green-fingered retailers the chance to re-stock after the busy Christmas and New Year period, and prepare for the upcoming Mother’s and Father’s Days.

Core gardening, including garden care, landscaping and garden decoration and outdoor entertaining, will be supported by the Glee at Spring Fair central networking café – the main hub that will house key industry associations GIMA, the HTA and Gardenex and the New Product Showcase feature. At the café, Gardenex will also host events to facilitate trading and networking amongst exhibitors and retailers.

This year will see both new and returning exhibitors lining the halls. Riverco will be back with their range of garden furniture and accessories handmade in the UK, Laurica-plants is returning for the second year to showcase their laurus nobilis topiary and evergreen plants, and familiar face, Woodlodge, will be launching a new range of indoor pots and decorative products bringing fresh and on-trend designs to the show.

For those garden centres looking to diversify their range and find more profit in their business, Spring Fair is a perfect match. Amongst the floral exhibitors in the adjacent Hall 2 – Christmas Gifts, Floral & Seasonal Decoration – will be specialists Swift Imports, Sincere, Florelle as well as museum-grade artificial plant manufacturers, TreeLocate and internationally renowned Sagedecor, who have over 40 years’ experience in the sector.

Garden centres are well placed to respond to the need for experiential retail with more holistic and complete shopping experiences with their offering often encompassing homewares, giftware and even jewellery and fashion. Spring Fair’s 15 show sectors, ranging from Greetings & Gift through to Toys, Homewares and even more, will afford garden centre buyers the best opportunity to replenish and enhance stock across a wider range of categories than just garden.

Alison Graham, Spring Fair’s event director, said: “We’re delighted to welcome back the Glee concession at Spring Fair 2019. The showcase gives buyers the latest and greatest insight into the trends that are influencing both the industry and buying decisions, and gives visitors the opportunity to get their hands on the freshest and most exciting products.

“With new and best-selling items on display, Glee at Spring Fair offers buyers the chance to refresh their ranges ready for the key retail spikes throughout 2019, and the chance to fill any last minute product spaces – ensuring they’re fully prepared for the year ahead.”

Spring Fair runs from the 3rd to 7th February 2019 at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre. Register to attend for free here: https://bit.ly/2qsR4qr

Williams Lea Tag, the leading independent global marketing activation partner, has announced the acquisition of Popcorn Global, an end-to-end shopper marketing activation partner based in Melbourne, Australia, and operating across the Asia, North America and Europe.

Popcorn Global is a design-led shopper marketing activation provider with end-to-end innovative retail design and prototyping capabilities including expertise in designing both temporary and permanent displays, with a leading position in digital displays and content management.

The WLT acquisition of Popcorn Global is the third to be made under Advent International’s ownership, following on from the news announced in September that WLT has acquired major digital production house, Taylor James and the October acquisition of THP, the leading on-demand digital and social media content agency.

David Kassler, Group CEO of Williams Lea Tag, commented: “Retailers are increasingly focused on creating a compelling shopping experience for their customers. Adding Popcorn’s best in-class in-store marketing capabilities to Williams Lea Tag’s existing marketing activation experience brings a powerful tool for both our consumer and retail clients.”

Daniel Brodecky, CEO and Founder of Popcorn Global, added: “We are really excited to be joining the Williams Lea Tag family, the synergy between us is strong and our vision is aligned. The sheer scale and global growth ambition of the business makes us confident that together we can deliver innovative end-to-end client solutions around the world – the sky really is the limit.”

ISE, RAI, LANG, Panasonic and Green Hippo combine to light up new hotel

Integrated Systems Events and the RAI Amsterdam are combining to produce an exciting projection mapping display onto the façade of the brand new nhow Amsterdam RAI hotel, adjacent to the exhibition and conference centre.

The eye-catching 25-storey, 650 room hotel has been developed by real estate developers COD and Being Development, NH Hotel Group and architects OMA, following a tender process initiated by the City of Amsterdam and the RAI in 2014.

Specially created content will be projected onto the nhow Amsterdam RAI Hotel from 15.00 – 20.00 each day throughout the week of the ISE show. The projection mapping showcase will be delivered by ISE 2019 Technology Partner and media server and digital display specialist Green Hippo, working alongside hire and production experts LANG, a long-term ISE Platinum Sponsor and Technology Partner. ISE Technology Partner Panasonic is supplying the projectors.

The daily display will demonstrate the latest in projection mapping technology and include live feeds from the ISE show floor.

Content for the presentation is being created by 3D-mapping specialist Tenfeet working in collaboration with Green Hippo. This content will be focused on the concept of diversity as well as on the construction and design inspiration behind the nhow hotel, showcasing popular media manipulation and projection techniques.

Technical planning and implementation of this unique project is being managed by LANG. Its primary challenge is to transform the glass façade of the nhow Amsterdam RAI into a projection surface that can support projection mapping. Working with

ProDisplay, a specialist in innovative display solutions, the solution is to implement a complete ‘foiling’ of the glass interior of the hotel. For projection, LANG will use 14 Panasonic PT-RZ31K projectors, providing around 400,000 lumens. Using Hippotizer V4+ Media Servers Green Hippo’s 3D mapping applications will be used to map live data visualisations, custom content and perspective mapping onto the hotel.

Mike Blackman, Managing Director of Integrated Systems Events, commented: “This unique showcase brings together the elements that make ISE such a special occasion – the harnessing of state-of-the-art technology with some of the world’s finest creative minds and production experts to creative a unique, immersive experience. It’s an exciting addition to ISE 2019.”

Paul Riemens, CEO RAI Amsterdam, commented: “We are delighted to support this exciting initiative at ISE 2019 together with Being Development, COD, nhow and Pleijsier Bouw. The new nhow Amsterdam RAI will be the canvas for the ISE showcase and is a welcome addition to the ‘RAI family’ to further enhance the experience of exhibition attendees visiting RAI Amsterdam. This is a fantastic way to introduce the nhow Amsterdam RAI to the city and a prime example of ‘connecting’.”

Integrated Systems Events is the producer of Integrated Systems Europe, the world’s largest Audio Visual and systems integration show. RAI Amsterdam is one of The Netherland’s leading exhibition and conference centres.

A1 Retail readers can use the exclusive discount code 406843 for a free ticket to ISE 2019. The code can be entered at the online registration page: www.iseurope.org. Book your place now.

IBM and NRF Study Finds 85% of Global Retail Industry Preparing for Intelligent Automation Within Three Years to Improve Worker and Business Performance

At the National Retail Federation’s 2019 Big Show, IBM announced the latest findings of a study into the Retail & Consumer Industry and launched new AI-powered innovations to help the retail industry accelerate customer experience by providing tools designed to optimize worker and business performance. At the heart of this is retail’s growing adoption of intelligent automation, defined as the convergence of people, processes, automation, and AI.
This represents a watershed moment for the industry as human capabilities can be augmented to help reduce errors, while enabling a culture of digital operations and customer experience innovations. Spearheading this transformation are IBM Order Management with Watson Order Optimizer, and IBM MetroPulse, which help retailers improve omni-channel profitability and customer satisfaction.

As the next generation of customers expect brands to provide unmatched experiential design and functionality across multiple interfaces, retaining customer loyalty requires retailers and manufacturers to implement cognitive, automated services while still remaining transparent and secure.

Developed with the National Retail Federation, IBM’s Institute for Business Value released the findings of its latest report, ‘The coming AI revolution in retail and consumer products,’ which surveyed 1,900 Retail and Consumer Products leaders across 23 countries. The survey reveals:

• 85% of retail and 79% of consumer products companies surveyed plan to be using intelligent automation for supply chain planning by 2021
• 79% of retail and consumer products companies surveyed expect to be using intelligent automation for customer intelligence by 2021
• Retail and consumer products executives surveyed project that intelligent automation capabilities could help increase annual revenue growth by up to 10 percent

“The changing landscape across today’s retail and consumer industries has resulted in a rapid rise of emerging technologies, especially when it comes to Automation and Artificial Intelligence. Retail is one of the sectors to already implement and invest in cognitive and AI technologies, resulting in new and unexpected offerings for consumers and shoppers around the world,” said Luq Niazi, Global Managing Director, IBM Consumer Industries.

Luq added, “Throughout the entire value chain and operational infrastructure of B2B and B2C commerce, there has already been an increased adoption and demand for Intelligent Automation. This also brings forth the need for stronger transparency, ethical practices and business prioritization to evaluate and deploy AI responsibility. Working with the right partners and third-party experts can result in acceleration of digital services, capabilities and customer experience and business efficiency for retailers of all sizes.”

“Retailers are increasingly using innovative technologies to offer new ways to shop both online and in-store and provide rewarding careers for employees. From reducing shipping costs and improving supply chain efficiency to personalizing shopping experiences and helping workers acquire new skills, AI technologies allow retailers to compete in the 21st century economy and better serve their customers. This is what the future of retail looks like,” said NRF VP of Research Development and Industry Analysis Mark Mathews.

Leading French retailer Casino Group is already using Intelligent Automation in their operations. Cyril Bourgois, Chief Digital Officer, Groupe Casino, commented that “as the gap between brick-and-mortar and digital stores closes, physical and digital distribution channels will not only need to adapt to tastes and trends but also to anticipate them. This requires an entirely new mindset based on constant adaptation, with a view to more effectively anticipating and meeting consumer expectations while maintaining close, trusting relationships with the customers.”

New AI-Powered Innovations for IBM Order Management – Putting Fulfillment at the Heart of the Customer Experience

New AI-powered innovations from IBM Order Management (OMS) are designed to help organizations improve omni-channel profitability and customer experience. The AI-powered Watson Order Optimization capabilities integrated with OMS can help increase purchase conversions by quickly adapting to seasonal fluctuations, while scaling fulfillment capacity. This supports increased yet regionally varied customer demand.

As the only solution of its kind, omni-channel fulfillment practitioners can increase collaboration across store ops, merchandising, supply chain and IT to save time and improve business performance. Order Optimizer’s new predictive models factor seasonality as it learns daily sell-through patterns, using data from across the fulfillment network to help organizations identify where to best source an order. Additionally, new carrier optimization capabilities can help reduce shipping costs by automatically issuing alternative carrier options to fulfill orders if weight or dimension limits are exceeded for the initial carrier’s restrictions.

These innovations build on the integration of IBM Order Optimizer’s business user controls UI and resolution rooms within Watson Supply Chain Insights. This provides ‘one source of truth’ to help fulfilment leaders analyze the impact to customer experience, SLAs and conversions, while facilitating collaboration among external suppliers to help reduce order processing costs.

“Order Optimizer has allowed REI to see immediate reductions in split shipments, reducing costs and improving customer delivery experiences,” said Matt Bergerson, Director of Omni Channel Experience and Operations, REI. “It also helped us manage capacity constraints as peak, reducing order expedites and providing faster service to our customers.”

IBM MetroPulse

IBM’s Industry Platforms Unit, working with IBM’s India Research Lab, brings new first-of-a-kind, AI-driven capabilities into the latest enhancements to MetroPulse. The new capabilities are designed to allow consumer industry companies to better understand customers through:

• New larger data sets from a leading consumer products market data provider and also product sentiment data via product ratings and reviews provider, provides access to consumer preferences and characteristics at the neighborhood level.
• New retail-industry specific vocabulary into the platform to help the AI understands the difference between fashion items such as jackets and sweaters, and between boat necks and V-necks.
• New AI algorithms and models that can help identify and understand the signals buried in the data and exposes them in a meaningful and standardized way via APIs. These signals can then be further processed by solutions and additional solution-specific models to help business leaders and merchandizers to understand trends, behaviors, and preferences of their target consumers. The new models use explainable AI techniques to help users of the platform understand why an AI model generates a particular output for a given input.

Available now, the enhanced MetroPulse is a software-as-a-service cloud offering for line of business users in retail and consumer brand businesses.

IBM will demonstrate the capabilities of IBM Order Management and MetroPulse at NRF 2019 in booth #2119.

Liverpool’s high street is thriving, with footfall in 2018 up by 2.4% on the previous year, representing three years of consecutive growth.

Liverpool BID Company, which represents and champions the voice of retailers in the city and who compiled the figures, believe the diverse and evolving nature of the city’s retail and leisure offer, from the independent retailers on Bold Street, to the national brands of Church Street, St Johns Shopping Centre, Clayton Square, Whitechapel and
Williamson Square, and the boutique shops at Metquarter, is what is keeping people coming back into the city centre. It also attributes an annual programme of events and animation within its Retail & Leisure BID area.

Bill Addy, chief executive, Liverpool BID Company, said: “These figures come despite growing competition from online shopping, and during a year when retailers and shoppers experienced transport disruption including the closure of Lime Street station and strike action affecting both our bus and train networks. The figures endorse the work we are doing to attract more people into the city centre, but also demonstrates the resilience of our levy paying businesses. We need to celebrate our high street and retailers more and recognise the incredible hard work they are doing in keeping Liverpool’s high street alive and kicking.”

Nationally, traditional retail has struggled since the financial crash of 2008, with the growth of internet retailing and the rise of convenient out of town retail parks combining to kill off some of our best-loved high street brands. Latest figures presented to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee* show that in the last
10 years footfall in town centres has dropped by 17%, vacancy rates have risen to over 30% in some locations, and more than 400 multiple retailers have gone out of business. Nationally, tens of thousands of store closures are predicted over the next 12 months with job losses estimated to hit 164,000.

In Liverpool, the world’s largest Lush store will open this year in the former Dorothy Perkins building, while ongoing investment has welcomed new brands to Metquarter, including the UK’s largest independent retailer for kids clothing, Kids Cavern, and the boutique cinema chain, Everyman. In 2019 Metquarter will see independent designer clothing store, Cricket, open its flagship boutique and completion on HUGO BOSS’ expansion.

Jennina O’Neill, Metquarter centre manager, said: “We’re in negotiations with some fantastic brands and will continue to bring new and exciting labels to the city, along with exclusive collaborations with our established, existing brands.”

St Johns Shopping Centre also defied the national decline on the high street in 2018 to show an increase in shoppers and revenue. The centre welcomed 13 million shoppers over the year, up more than 400,000 on 2017 and a rise of 2% in footfall. While UK retailers struggled to keep pace with online competition, St Johns outperformed the national figures with a 1% increase in sales.

General manager, Neil Ashcroft, said: “St Johns is very much at the heart of the city, and a valued part of the community, and we’re going into 2019 – our own 50th birthday – with great loyalty from customers and a genuine optimism.”

Elsewhere on the high street, Liverpool BID Company is working with partners at the city council, Liverpool Playhouse theatre and businesses in the area to devise a vision to re-imagine Williamson Square.

The leisure and hospitality sector is also playing its part. It was recently announced that Australian hotel chain Quest plan to open its first hotel in the UK on Church Street – representing a £10m investment. Clayton Square is also set to welcome Lane7 – a high-end, bowling alley and dining venue, in 2019.

Another component of Liverpool’s high street resilience is the work done by the BID in improving customer service standards, in particular, customer-facing roles. This has led to improved customer service and brand success – as demonstrated at the BID’s annual Mystery Shop Awards, which aims to raise standards across the sector by offering businesses constructive feedback and training packages to up-skill employees.

Bill Addy, concluded: “It is a difficult time for high streets nationally – and while footfall in Liverpool grows,
we will not rest on our laurels. The high street needs to evolve to survive and we will do our part by continuing to deliver on the £5m masterplan improving the trading environment for our levy paying businesses in Liverpool city centre.”

To find out more about what Liverpool BID Company does please visit www.liverpoolbidcompany.com

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