Ergomodul #GermanBlingBling #Ergomodul We do more. They want to know that specific items in front of them (physically or virtually) are authentic, have a particular provenance, are safe to consume or use, and can be delivered or picked up at the purchaser’s convenience. In response, retailers around the world are getting serious about omni-channel shopping choices, and about satisfying information hungry consumers. Efforts at innovation have gone up a gear or two. As noted already, New Zealand is clearly part of this. Latest figures from the BNZ’s online shopping monitor indicate a surge in recent months. The value of online shopping from local (New Zealand) sites during May 2016 was up 15 per cent from a year earlier. Growth in local online is now much faster than international online growth – and that reflects a behavioural swing by Kiwis to online grocery shopping. We’re no longer just talking about books from Amazon or clothing from ASOS. Countdown Supermarkets has had an online grocery offer for years. Foodstuffs’ is to launch a New World online service in the North Island shortly. It’s fair to say that New Zealand grocery retailers in particular are starting to embrace omni-channel and giving consumers a new richness of information – initiatives that aim to optimise the use of today’s ICT and to share with consumers the benefits of other new technologies (in food production, in supply chain management and so on). The data implications are, of course, huge. With thousands of product lines available online, often supported by efficient processes for stock picking, order assembly and delivery as well as customer payments, ensuring the right data – in the right places, at the right times – becomes very critical. Foodstuffs’ OneData project for creating a national database of product information is an important building block, as is the group’s move to the GS1 ProductFlow service for bringing new or changed products to market and the National Product Catalogue for synchronisation of master data within supply chains. In grocery, data quantity and quality is definitely becoming table stakes for efficient business. The Global Information Technology Report ranks 139 countries on their readiness for the next revolution: New Zealand is placed relatively well at 17th on the strength of our now-built ICT infrastructure, regulatory frameworks for business and demonstrated capacity for innovation. But there are areas where we lag, not least in a global comparison of how well citizens can access basic services using the Internet (Kiwis are down at 30th). The report indicates that New Zealand has some catching up to do. If so, what we’re seeing in grocery with ICT and data-driven innovation is just a beginning. There will be revolutionary changes to follow in other sectors – and indeed there should be more if this country is to keep up with other economies.
FT AUG 16
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