Switching categories and promoting online: Your Marketing Week
At the end of every week, I look at the key stories, offering my view on what they mean for you and the industry. From Next’s decision to focus all marketing spend on online, to BlackBerry’s switch to cybersecurity, it’s been a busy week. Here is my take.
All in, online
Most marketers working for retail brands not previously deemed essential will be busy preparing for the grand reopening on 12 April.
There are numerous challenges. Reassurance all is safe; persuading people used to shopping online that there’s a reason to return; what to do with unsold stock…the list goes on. At the same time many are still looking at ways to grow their online business to mitigate the loss from physical store sales. Let me state the bleedin’ obvious. It can’t be easy being a retail marketer.
Next, traditionally one of the bellwethers of the high street, has decided not to bother with pushing its physical offer, however. In response to a question from my colleague Michaela Jefferson about promoting the reopening of its stores following the announcement of its full-year results, CEO Lord Wolfson said: “The most important thing you can do to draw people back in is to open the doors. Of course there are things you can do to draw people back to stores, you can spend a lot of money doing that. The real question is whether it’s profitable.”