At the end of last week supermarket giant, Asda, revealed that it will be investing £700 million in expanding its business in the UK, with chief exec, Andy Clark, revealing just how important multichannel retail and safe shopping online have become to the firm.
Sales were up by 4.5 per cent in 2013 and Clark said that while the company remains certain of its need to secure bricks and mortar dominance, it will not be focusing solely on real world retail.
He explained that Asda ultimately needs to be able to target customers wherever they happen to be, so this means making sure that they can shop in-store just as easily as they can online, whether via a desktop computer, a smartphone or a tablet.
The multichannel approach to shopping online means that consumers can benefit from things like click & collect to place orders via the web, which can then be collected at their local outlet of choice.
Asda is currently the UK's second most prominent online grocery seller, sitting behind market leader, Tesco. But with significant growth in e-commerce sales over the past year, this state of affairs may not endure for long and Asda has its sights on taking the crown.
In 2014, the firm will be creating a service called Collect+, which means customers will be able to order items to be delivered to a nearby convenience store or even a petrol station. This makes it easier for them to collect products which they would otherwise have to remain at home to receive.
