Gilly HIcks Sydney open in the UK with a splash!

The Abercrombie & Fitch owned lingerie, beach and nightwear brand, Gilly Hicks, Sydney has this week featured on a live screen in the retailers new store at the St David’s Centre in Cardiff.

The Gilly Hicks, Sydney logo is incorporated within the screen and the film this morning was of Bondi beach. The store entrance was patrolled by trim young men and women in beachwear – the norm for the brand.

Internally, the store is similar to the branch that opened in Westfield London last year, but the exterior features a double-height digital video screen carrying film and images of beach and ocean, a first for the brand in the UK.

Eat, browse and shop on Barney's digitalised table top

Barneys opened its new interactive floor cafe, genes @ CO-OP, where shoppers can grab a meal while checking out what’s new and of note at Barneys on a digitized tabletop. The restaurant has room for just 30 diners, each of whom are spread across a communal table with a glass top under which there are 30 computer screens allowing diners to digitally order off the menu and scroll through Barneys’ digital content.

Mark Lee, Barneys newest CEO explains the goal behind the rennovations:
You don’t need to leave your house to shop in today’s world. So if you’re going to go out and spend time in a physical store, the experience of that — the entertainment aspect, the social aspect, shopping with your friend or significant other of the same or opposite sex — is all part of the experience. It just enhances the opportunity.

Topshop new store: Santiago, Chile

There’s been a lot of news recently about Topshop beaming down in Chicago, but putting the US to one side for a moment, what about Chile?

Topshop has had outposts in the country’s Paris department stores for some years now, but the first standalone shop only opened in the middle of last month.

Located in the Alto Las Condes mall in Santiago, the new store’s arrival has been trumpeted across the city, and in the upscale shopping centre itself the prime public area has been taken over by a Topshop and London-themed installation. From the outside this modestly sized, single-floor shop has everything that you would expect, with the familiar logo standing proud of the shopfront and the two full-height glass windows containing three modishly dressed mannequins a piece.

Within, it is white box territory with the clean white ceiling raft overhead providing a home for the mid-shop spots, while a mix of lightboxes and Topshop logo variants provide interest around the perimeter walls.

Everything is priced in local currency until you reach the back of the store where the shoe area has styles that are priced in euros, US dollars and, yes, in good old pounds. What this reveals is that things are pricier than back in Blighty, and this is aimed at Santiago’s fashion-conscious middle classes more than anything else.

More than 6,000 miles from base, this is one of the Arcadia brand’s more far-flung branches, but looking at it you could almost be back home. This may not cater for the very young in quite the same way as the UK (the majority of those inspecting the merchandise had said farewell to 30 some time ago), but Santiago’s Topshop standalone looks set to thrive.










Retail Week

11 of the Most Innovative Online Retailers

In the early days of the Internet, online retailing itself was an innovation. Online retailers were an amazing departure from catalogs, mail order, and brick and mortar stores, offering consumers a new option for buying goods (sometimes in their pajamas). But the honeymoon has been over for a long time now, and if online retailers want to succeed these days, they have to deliver. Whether it’s through innovative marketing or knock-your-socks-off amazing customer service, these online retailers are making a difference and making things work in a really smart way. Read their stories, and get inspired by their innovation at work.

Amazon
Some businesses become great by doing one thing, and doing it well. On the other side of the coin, businesses that can transform themselves have even greater potential. Take Amazon.com, a website that once just sold books, but is now a competitor in the MP3, cloud hosting, and e-reader business, and doing quite well in these pursuits. Even better, Amazon has not lost sight of its origins, continuing to be a major competitor in books. BusinessWeek believes that Amazon has done so well by continuing with successful strategies that helped them survive, and even thrive through the dot-com bubble: staying flexible and responding to customer needs. Amazon’s popular cloud hosting was offered not because the company wanted a new sector to break into, but because a wise engineer saw profit in the excess server capacity Amazon kept around for peak holiday times: that’s innovation. And although it might seem like Amazon is jumping around and spreading itself thin, the company does a great job at staying committed to its products and supporting their continued success. For example, The Motley Fool points out that since Amazon introduced the Kindle, the product has been on its front page, taking up precious space that could be used to promote other products, but instead, the Kindle remains heavily promoted. This speaks volumes about Amazon’s innovation and commitment, qualities that have enabled the company to do so well in the long term.


Zappos
Zappos, and founder Tony Hseih in particular, sure seem to be obsessed with happiness, and that happiness has driven the company to innovation and success. In the early days of online retailing, customers would be lucky to find a customer service email address, much less a phone number. Even now, online customer service is often less than stellar. But Zappos completely dismissed the status quo, preferring instead to make their customers king. In fact, customer service as well as satisfaction in customers and employees alike is what has made Zappos famous, and the company has expanded to launch an outsourcing program that deals with customer service, shipping, and other items for companies. That’s right, Zappos has gotten so much right, that companies now pay Zappos to do business for them. Hseih is famous for his innovation in online marketing, including his amazing ability to connect with customers in a positive way. But even though so much press and love focuses on the happiness culture at Zappos, the innovation doesn’t stop there. At the Zappos warehouse, you’ll find 70 robots that make it possible for the company to ship a pair of shoes in as little as eight minutes, a feat that not only saves the company time, but leads to thrilling moments for customers when they receive their shoes in record time. With this in mind, it’s not the least bit surprising to find out that in 2009, Zappos and Amazon joined forces, presumably because Amazon feels they have a lot to learn from the happiest shoe sellers in the world.

Woot!
Scarcity and limited time offers are marketing gold, and they lead to an incredibly high rate of closed sales. It’s not hard to figure out why: if you don’t want to miss out on an item, you’ll have to buy it right then, instead of hemming and hawing, and possibly never coming back to complete the purchase. Woot! has done an incredible job capitalizing on this idea, and in 2004, was a pioneer of the “one deal a day” business model. They’re certainly not the only ones doing it today, but they remain one of the most successful, growing from electronics and household goods to include sites for kids, shirts, wine, and more. In fact, Shirt.Woot! is one of the more innovative things about the company. Each week, the site holds a derby in which fans and designers can submit their t-shirt designs, and the best are put up for sale, chosen by votes from site members. This is a great example of customer interaction on multiple levels, customer retention and community, as well as a very smart way to determine the most popular products before they even go on sale.

Groupon
Who cares about coupons? Although news outlets love to highlight “coupon queens,” the reality is that people often don’t take advantage of coupons even when they’re staring them in the face. In today’s world of modern technology, shoppers just don’t want to have to deal with tiny slips of paper. But Groupon saw things differently, and turned lowly coupons into something cool and even social. Groupon’s innovation has not gone unnoticed, and the company was named the number 5 most innovative company in the world by Fast Company. Groupon also won a Chicago innovation award in 2009, and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn selected Groupon’s co-founder Brad Keywell to be a part of the state’s new Innovation Council, a group formed to find creative economy-boosters.

eBay
Like Amazon, eBay isn’t exactly a new kid on the block. Founded in 1995, the auction site has been around practically since the beginning of the Internet as we know it. The site itself was innovative, giving online users an inexpensive place to buy and sell items with almost zero overhead. But eBay hasn’t just sat back on its laurels of seniority. The company didn’t make a whole lot of changes for several years, but in 2007, they really hit a turning point with new buyer tools, including a desktop application, social media integration, and tools for keeping track of auctions. Another great tool eBay has rolled out is its mobile site, giving way to a new era in mobile commerce, and this move landed them on the Fast Company Most Innovative Companies list in 2011. Fast Company also points out the eBay Fashion app, which allows shoppers to visualize purchases before they actually bid on them.

Hotwire.com
Online travel sites are a hot business, and very competitive. There are so many top performing websites, in fact, that there’s a new genre of travel shopping websites: ones that organize all of the offerings from travel discount sites. With this wealth of resources for shoppers, retailers in this genre have to stand out or get left behind. Priceline.com did a good job with their model of bidding, but many customers have a problem with not knowing exactly what they would be paying. Hotwire innovatively made a great twist on this idea, giving customers the option to pay an exact price, but leaving the booking details a mystery. To reassure shoppers, Hotwire introduced a great idea: a guarantee to rebook or compensate travelers if they make a change in the star rating of a property before, or 60 days after their stay. Additionally, in 2010, Hotwire began to use the Oracle Exadata Database Machine, a tool that allows them to improve productivity, see new patterns in customer engagement, and make business decisions based on analysis in lightning fast time.

Blippy
A few years ago, people might have questioned the need for a look into the shopping lives of other people. Even now, we’re sure plenty of people scoff at the idea that Blippy even exists. But the fact is, social media makes it possible to share more of your life online than ever before, and Blippy takes that idea and applies it to shopping, allowing users to share every purchase they make on a single credit card. Site users presumably benefit from being able to share things like fashion and lifestyle purchases, but the real winners on Blippy are the businesses: every time a customer makes a purchase and shares it on Blippy, they get free advertising and a wordless personal endorsement.


ThinkGeek
ThinkGeek sells the kind of stuff that makes the Internet go wild: geek staples of zombies and bacon, clever baby onesies and pretty much everything Star Wars, the site has plenty of fodder for Internet fame. One might sat that this alone is innovative, simply the idea of creating a collection of products that online geeks can’t resist sharing and buying, but ThinkGeek certainly hasn’t stopped there. They know that geeks love to show off their geekiness (in the right circles, anyway), and the site gives them an opportunity to show off not just geekiness, but their love of ThinkGeek products. With Customer Action Shots, shoppers take clever photos, videos, and more that are shared right on the site, right along with their enthusiasm for ThinkGeek and geek culture.

Overstock.com
Launched in 1999, Overstock.com is another oldie but goodie that’s stuck around due to smart thinking and innovative changes. At its launch, the idea of selling excess inventory online was fairly new, but it’s not hard to see that now, plenty of other sites have jumped on the bandwagon. In order to survive and compete in the marketplace, Overstock.com had to innovate, or get left behind. The problem with selling excess inventory is often that it’s the leftover stuff people don’t really want to buy, which is a problem if you (in this case, Overstock.com) wants to actually sell it at some point. Instead of simply selling items that no one wants to buy, Overstock.com took a look at the needs of their customers and found smart ways to meet them while still maintaining off-price sales points. For example, they took a look at no-results search terms to find out what customers were looking for and not finding, as well as discovering ways to sell high-demand products (or suitable replacements) that are difficult to find off-price, like Uggs, designer purses, and other luxury items. But perhaps one of the smartest things Overstock has done is use third party fulfillment, using retailers and wholesalers to drop-ship partner products directly to customers, eliminating a huge amount of necessary overhead, and leaving room for more innovation from the big O.

PriceGrabber.com
One of the best things about shopping online is the sheer amount of products available to you at once. But what can be a blessing is also a curse, because with so much available, you could spend days working through search results trying to find the perfect item for the perfect price. With all that time wasted, why not just forget online shopping and just go to the store? PriceGrabber recognized this problem, and found an innovative way to make online shopping more streamlined. Using the site, shoppers are able to compare the prices of over 13,000 retailers online, and even see tax and shipping cost information up front to make a fully informed decision.


Threadless
There’s no shortage of t-shirts for sale online, even those that are powered by customer designs as Threadless is. Shirt Woot! has done a great job, as has Designed by Humans. The customer-designed social commerce model is innovative all on its own, and in 2008, Inc. magazine highlighted Threadless as the most innovative small company in America for that very reason. But Threadless found a way to stand out with innovative marketing. At Threadless, their tees are both the product and the content, and through email marketing, they’ve been able to both retain and entertain customers. In fact, when faced with too many dormant subscribers, Threadless sent out a re-engagement campaign that was pretty bold and risky, but paid off. The confrontational email gave unresponsive subscribers one more chance to engage with Threadless, or “say goodbye forever,” a move that added 2,400 active subscribers back onto their list.

Angry Birds opens retail store

Rovio, creator of the global smartphone game phenomenon Angry Birds, is to open a world-first retail store in China.

The Finland-based company chose China for its retail debut after seeing huge volumes of counterfeit Angry Birds merchandise selling to a loyal fan base.

Rovio marketing officer Peter Vesterbacka said the company is targeting retail sales of about $100 million in the first year of its operation and will also showcase its other games and merchandise in the store.

“China is our fastest-growing market, so we are taking it very seriously. We want to be more Chinese than the Chinese companies,” Vesterbacka said.

To become more appealing to Chinese consumers, Rovio is designing games tailored to Chinese traditions including the "Moon Festival" game version to honour the China's Moon Festival which is also called Mid-autumn Festival.

Inside Retailling

Rovio will introduce products that are 'pirate merchandise inspired' such as mylar balloons containing game's unlicensed characters. Merchandise comprises 10 to 20 per cent of Rovio's business.

At present, Rovio is selling flip-flops, stuffed toys and costumes via an online store.

First Virtual Pop Up Store - Debenhams UK

Bit of a gimmick but entertaining and engaging none-the-less and quite frankly we need a bit of fun bought back into shopping don't we?

Debenhams in the UK has this week unveiled virtual pop-up stores at some of Britain's most famous landmarks including Trafalgar Square.

The stores are open for two days from today in George Square in Glasgow, Centenary Square in Birmingham, Albert Square in Manchester, Cardiff Castle in Wales and Trafalgar Square.

iPphone or iPad2 users who head down to the locations will see Debenhams’ top party dresses on their screen when they point their devices at the landmarks.

Shoppers will be able to virtually try on the items and order via their mobile devices.

An app, designed by GoldRun, needs to be downloaded for shoppers to see the clothing. Those who take part at the event receive a 20% discount.

See how the virtual store works in the video below.

RFK's change of colours

Beautiful print campaign by Chilean ad agency SIMPLE for RKF outdoor clothing stores.

Recently launching its Spring 2011 collection, RKF stores created a print campaign inviting their customers to change into more colourful clothes, just like some animals do, from one season to another by changing the colour of their fur or feathers.

Uniqlo's Happy Machine

As part of the Regent Street relaunch, Uniqlo have added some interesting little features to attract talkability and repeat visit in their newly refurbished store.

Not at least of which includes the ‘happy machine' which appears in the middle of the Uniqlo store.



Shoppers are confronted by a structure mounted on a low, varnished wooden plinth. It is, principally, a transparent column in the shape of a cross. Each arm of the cross is divided into three, vertically, with a different style in each section. What marks out what the ‘happy machine’ offers is the astonishingly low price of the garments that it contains. Different styles are timed to be dispensed at various points throughout the day – providing a reason for multiple visits, if you happen to be close to the store during opening hours.

As a tempter, a piece of retail design and a fresh idea, this is pretty good and it has the additional merit of potentially getting people talking about Uniqlo, which should also be the objective of any promotional vehicle.

Advertise to your own customer.

Great article I read today by Jay Habegger about how Retailers Are Creating Media Properties That Will Revolutionize Marketing.


Online retail, by its very definition, exists so that companies can sell products and turn a profit on those sales. The model has grown steadily over the past decade as consumers become increasingly comfortable purchasing goods online. But savvier online retailers aren't merely consumer-facing stores anymore; they're evolving into media companies that can sell advertising and profit off their audience. In the process, they are creating a myriad of new digital co-operative marketing opportunities for themselves and their suppliers.

Retailers become media companies
On-site ad sales remain the most common way for retailers to dabble with transforming assets into paid media opportunities for suppliers. Similar to their use of retail signage or TV display ads at their brick-and-mortar locations, online retailers are transforming online real estate into digital media opportunities. Suppliers and third-party advertisers can purchase ad placements on the retailer's homepage, or within specific product category pages. On-site ad inventory gives advertisers the opportunity to push their message in front of online consumers as they are close to making purchase decisions. What better time for a product manufacturer to target a consumer than when they are already on the retail site? It's a great opportunity for the advertiser, and can boost the retailer's revenue.

The next evolution of digital co-marketing is an upgrade of re-targeting. Retailers have historically used retargeting to boost sales by driving traffic back to their websites, and it's a very effective tool for doing so. They place a cookie within a consumer's browser, and when that consumer leaves the site, the retailer pays for "retargeting" impressions on other sites with the goal of getting the consumer to return and complete the sale. Acting as a media company, the retailer now has the opportunity to sell that cookie and the associated audience data to its suppliers. Thus, it can still generate sales and conversions from retargeting programs, but now it can also transfer the media and creative costs. This approach reduces the retailer's digital advertising expenditure and creates a new revenue stream.

Influencing sales
These retailer-supported ad opportunities also benefit manufacturer advertisers. The ad techniques provide suppliers with a better targeting option that's comparable to today's popular ROI strategies — e.g., search or standard retargeting — and much more effective than standard behavioral targeting. Retargeting based on browsing data from retail sites helps manufacturers find consumers who are further down the purchase funnel, and enables them to directly influence sales within their online channel partners. Which type of impression do you think an advertiser would rather purchase: a generic "in-market TV buyer" via a popular data exchange, or an impression from a major retail partner for a consumer who just visited its TV section?

Watching Amazon, Best Buy
Amazon recently announced that it would sell media impressions across the web, via a DSP, powered by its own customer-browsing data. BestBuy's online cookie program segments its 30 million online shoppers into consumer categories — categories that can be addressed with display ads across large publisher partner sites. As more retailers explore the potential of selling media, their interest will revolutionize co-operative marketing. Whether it's on-site advertisements for co-marketing partners, or the sale of retargeting inventory through a retail audience network, the ad is reaching a consumer who is actively looking to purchase in a supplier's retail channel. As more retailers focus on building audience networks, they will open the door to a powerful advertising tool unmatched by anything else online.

Bodum has opened a new interactive store in Paris dubbed Bodum-lab.

The new concept store is located on the high profile Avenue de Opera and will provide customers with the opportunity to test kitchen equipment inside the store. Experience and involvement were the key concept of the new store, says the kitchenware brand.

"Handling and using the kitchenware is very different from just looking at it in its box. Just as when you buy a new shirt. You want to be certain that the shirt looks good and that it fits you," said Jorgen Bodum, CEO of Bodum.

The new store also features professional chefs who demonstrate the kitchen equipment. Also, demonstration films are displayed on screens while customers test the equipment.

Once the customer finds the perfect equipment they are looking for, they can order it online, while they are in the store, and the store will deliver it directly to their home addresses.



The new store also gives the customers a chance to make comments, criticism and feedback.

"Our great confidence in the quality of our products means that we are not afraid of direct feedback from our customers. We have already benefited greatly from suggestions from our customers through channels such as Facebook and Amazon. Bodum-lab is a natural next step in our direct dialogue with customers," said Bodum.

Bodum is a tableware and kitchenware family owned company that was founded in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1944. The company was founded by Peter Bodum. Its first store was established in London in 1986.

Currently, Bodum has more than 300 stores globally which includes stores in Sydney, Copenhagen, Paris, Lucerne, Zuerich, New York and Tokyo. The company also sells its products in more than 55 countries.

Bodum has already produced a total of 4000 product lines, including vacuum coffee maker Santos which became a worldwide hit, and the French coffee press Bistro. Its products also include tea pots, textiles, kitchen equipment, BBQ's and more.

Bodum said the new concept will be a trend in all stores that will be set up in the future. The introduction of the new lab interactive store is expected to attract both Parisians and tourists visitors.




Inside retail

Net-A-Porter pop up interactive store

Luxury fashion etailer Net-a-Porter.com made its first move into bricks-and-mortar last night with an augmented reality pop-up window shop.

It opened two stores, one on Mount Street in London and the other on Mercer Street in New York, that allowed customers to scan pictures of products on the wall using their phones, and buy or win the items.

The stores were open for one night as part of Vogue’s Fashion Night Out event. After downloading the Window Shop application, which has augmented reality technology called Aurasma embedded, customers’ mobile phones were able to recognise product images.

After scanning a particular image the phones took customers to multimedia content related to products, and to Net-a-Porter’s online shop. Any purchases were sent by next day delivery to shoppers.

Net-a-Porter, which worked with software company Autonomy, said it is keen to help customers use their mobile phones to shop.

VP of marketing and sales Alison Loehnis said: “With the Window Shops concept, we found a way to participate in the excitement of Fashion Night Out that is true to our brand with the innovative use of technology, shopping on the go from one’s mobile device, our edit of the most relevant and sought-after fashions of the moment, and the added bonus of having the opportunity to win prizes.”

Rebecca Thomson - Retail Week

The largest inner city shopping development in Europe - now open.

Marks & Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland opened proceedings at the new Westfield Stratford City shopping centre yesterday declaring that the M&S store will “carry the torch for the best of UK retailing”.

Continuing the Olympics analogy, Bolland likened the crowds outside the store facing the M&S Stratford team to a “rugby match”.

Crowds grew so big that security at the shopping centre asked some retailers, including US fashion giant Forever 21, to open before its official 10am opening.

Both Westfield chairman Frank Lowy and Mayor of London Boris Johnson made speeches to mark the launch of the centre, before an energetic performance by singer Nicole Scherzinger.

Lowy said: “This is a very proud day for Westfield but an even more momentous day for east London. The 2012 Olympics will be a fantastic launch for this centre. It will do so much for the revival of east London.

“This wonderful shopping centre is certainly for the long term, for next year and beyond.”

Retail leaders including Sir Philip Green, Marc Bolland and Charlie Mayfield helped cut the ribbon to officially open the centre – the largest inner city shopping development in Europe.











Retail Week

Shoppable videos

Target’s collaboration with Missoni, debuting in stores next month, also marks the retailer’s first use of “shoppable videos.” A range of brands have been testing this technology, which enables consumers to click on items within a video; then they’re either redirected to an e-commerce page or able to add the item to a shopping cart without leaving the video. Some videos are visually arresting (Gucci and high-end men’s retailer Oki-Ni), some use music video-style storytelling (Canadian sportswear brand Roots) and others use basic stylist tips.

These videos engage shoppers in a way that static shots can’t and let viewers quickly transition into a transaction, perfect for today’s instant-gratification temperament. Expect more shoppable videos as seasonal shopping gets under way later this year.

Patty Orsini for JWT Intelligence

Interactive engagement

When the going gets tough – INNOVATE

That's my view of retail and I think over the coming years we are due to see a lot more of it on Aussie shores. As the retail sector suffers and the country sits on the brink of a recession it's no secret that the coming months are set to become a challenging period. We’ve seen it in the Northern Hemisphere but if we are smart we can at least learn from their experiences.
What’s interesting is that the one thing nearly all retailers forget with diminishing revenue and cut budgets, is innovation. And that innovation and creativity is what will set them apart.

As Australian Retail Outlook deftly notes, “the money is there for the taking. It is up to retailers to create a compelling reason for them to part with it… Apple, JB Hi-Fi, Zara and Super Retail Group are all examples of retailers who are unzipping consumers’ wallets in supposedly bleak times.”

ALDO and Topshop are both great examples of retailers putting back a sense of fun, a sense of joy into shopping. Because quite frankly, it should be fun, I think we've just forgotten how to sell that.

This week Topshop teamed up with gaming app SCVNGR to provide an interactive store experience for students in the UK and US. By doing so Topshop bring cute challenges students can play to unlock exclusive rewards. For example, 20% off, a shopping spree, competitions and giveaways. Students are asked to simply download the app, do the challenges set to earn points and collect badges to receive rewards and prizes.

ALDO also revealed a new campaign called 'Shoes For Life'. An online competition where users are encouraged to play 3 games. Once completed (assuming you win each round which, quite frankly who cares if it's rigged that way or not) you receive a discount voucher to redeem against your next ALDO purchase, plus the chance to go into the draw to win shoes for life (well, 2 pairs per year for 25 years). A simple fun engagement piece that gives consumers a reason to shop there over Wittner or NineWest for example.

Selfridges - The shop of everything

What can the shop that has everything offer to customers this season but The Museum of Everything.

Selfridges Oxford Street kicks off a two-month exhibition created by The Museum of Everything in its Ultralounge in the store’s basement tomorrow. To mark the occasion it has cleared all of its Oxford Street windows of stock, replacing this with enlarged images and cutouts taken from the show. This is the first time that the deparment store has chosen not to show any product in its Oxford Street windows and was the subject of considerable debate, according to a spokeswoman.

The Museum of Everything will run in Selfridges until the end of October and shoppers wishing to buy something from the exhibition will be able to purchase limited edition prints amd t-shirts taken from the show in the store’s Wonder Room.







John Ryan For Retail Week

Ocado’s virtual shopping wall opens for business

The integrated window display at London’s One New Change shopping centre was erected overnight and allows shoppers to purchase groceries on their mobile phones, then have them delivered to their door.

The move gives Ocado its first physical presence on the high street.

The shopping wall mirrors an experiment by Tesco earlier this year in South Korea. Tesco circulated footage of how a shopping wall would work in a subway, prompting consumer excitement.

The Ocado virtual store, at Unit 23 in One New Change, will be accessible 24 hours a day and customers just have to download the Ocado app and start scanning barcodes.

Mobile devices are now used in 15% of Ocado checkouts.

Ocado co-founder Jason Gissing said: “The virtual shop window is a bold move for Ocado and something we are very excited about.

“We hope this trial is a hit, and based on its success, we’ll be looking at options around continuing this ‘virtual window shopping’ approach in other locations UK-wide.”

Jennifer Creevy for Retail Week