Harrods ramps up digital to grow brand
Harrods is to launch a transactional mobile site and online magazine as part of a raft of new digital initiatives that it hopes will build a “long term global presence” in the growing luxury store market.
The Qatar Holdings owned company is to allow its customers to buy via mobile and tablet devices from the autumn.
It follows the launch of a GPS-based app to help in-store shopping earlier this year.
The move is part of a wider digital push from the company, which it hopes will grow the brand internationally.
The online magazine, scheduled to launch next month, will mainly focus on fashion, and will be edited by harrods.com content editor Nicola Copping.
David Worby, director of Harrods Direct, said, “These moves form part of our strategy to ensure harrods.com is at the forefront of growth in the online luxury sector over the next five years, not only preparing harrods.com for increased demand but looking to give the brand a greater global online presence.”
Rival department store John Lewis already has a mobile-optimised transactional site, while Debenhams has an iPhone app.
According to last month’s Martech IT in Retail research report the UK’s top 100 retailers are to increase their spend on mobile and ecommerce over the next year.
The report revealed that 16% of the retailers surveyed have rolled out m-commerce strategies in the last year – up 5% compared to last year, while 12% of the respondents said they are planning to launch m-commerce strategies in the coming year.
Other investment priorities include launching transactional websites and improving ecommerce customer journeys, according to the report.
This story first appeared on New Media Age. For more digital stories and analysis’ from NMA click here now
