Canadian Retailer - Fall 2016 - 13

TECHNOLOGY ROUNDTABLE

VAN DE VOORDE: Omnichannel has perhaps become an overused
term within the industry. But it has certainly become the foundational element of retail and commerce today. Consumers are leveraging multiple channels and devices to browse product, research
information and reviews and to ultimately make a purchase. Research recently
conducted by Cognizant suggests that by 2020 61% of sales will be web-influenced. With such robust consumer activity online, why is it that Canadian
retailers are not perceived as leaders in e-commerce? Are we making the
right investments at a pace that's keeping up with consumer expectations?

Connell: Canadians can be very pragmatic. But market conditions have
significantly changed. The capabilities that roots.com has would have
been unimaginable to many of our consumers back in 1999 when we
initially launched. Today, Roots has a centralized CRM database that uses
predictive analytics to better understand and serve our customers as they
travel between our digital and physical stores and touch points. The channels share inventory-about 15% of our domestic online sales are shipped
from our Canadian store network. If the online division doesn't have the
item a consumer is looking for, we push the order to the store closest to
them, ensuring that they receive it as quickly as possible. This way we can
optimize product turns and profitability, all while reducing shipping costs.
Success online is about speed, effective innovation and efficiency.
Simpson: Luxury brands in general have been slow to embrace e-

commerce. As ecommerce has grown, we've seen people increasingly
comfortable making significant purchases. The key for us is to enable
those transactions, while still providing the customer with great service,
because it's goes beyond the sale to creating motivating experiences
people will return for. Our customers are very fashion engaged. Even
when they aren't buying, they crave their fashion fix and they see fashion
as entertainment. Our goal is to feed that desire and give them reasons to
visit our site a few times a day and dream a little bit. It builds the anticipation leading to the purchase and fills a very powerful role.

Nelson: I don't think that achieving omnichannel success has just been

a challenge for Canadian retailers. A lot of traditional retailers around
the world have struggled with bridging the gap between large investments made in legacy technology and evolving customer expectations.
At Sears Canada we're trying to advance the concepts of traditional
retail-a store with e-commerce attached-and become a more agile organization that views itself as digital retailer first, with comprehensive
store footprint to support that experience. This strategy enables us to
deliver on the tenants of omnichannel much more aggressively.

Dawson: Customer expectation and focus around e-commerce depends to

some degree on what product you're selling. In the case of LCBO, customers
often want to talk about the products and learn from our in-store experts.
They want advice and help to make an informed choice. It's an important
part of how people buy beverage alcohol. Convenience is also important,
which we're offering through online shopping and delivery to store or home.
There's great opportunity for us with e-commerce where we have about
1,200 unique products that you can't buy in store. So, in addition to more
convenience, there's the excitement component to it as well in accessing
something that they can't normally buy when shopping in our stores.

www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

PARTICIPANTS
JAMES

CONNELL

Vice President,
E-Commerce and
Marketing
Roots Canada
KERRI

DAWSON

Vice President,
Marketing
Liquor Control
Board of Ontario
MATTHEW

NELSON

Vice-President & Chief
Technology Officer
Sears Canada Inc.

ALISON

SIMPSON

Senior Vice-President,
Marketing & Customer
Experience
Holt Renfrew

C0-MODERATORS
ARNAUD

VAN DE VOORDE
Jackman Reinvents

SHANNON

WARNER

Consulting Partner,
Digital Transformation

FALL 2016 | CANADIAN RETAILER

| 13

http://www.roots.com http://www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Fall 2016