The quest to make online shopping as quick and convenient as possible has accelerated this year as retailers excelled themselves with slick fulfilment and innovative partnerships.

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Shopping online is undoubtedly becoming quicker and easier, especially as technologies such as tablets, smartphones and wi-fi connectivity become more widespread.

But it is delivery that has become the most irksome part of the online experience, and that is where many retailers have invested and innovated this year to rip down the barriers to shopping on the web.

Speed of delivery has become a critical front in the online fulfilment battle. Next leads the pack since launching same-day delivery last Christmas and House of Fraser plans to emulate that this year.

Online giants eBay and Amazon have quickly struck back. EBay is bringing its one-hour delivery service to London this autumn and Amazon wooed customers throughout October with a free month’s trial of its one-day delivery option, Amazon Prime.

Across the spectrum retailers have been vying to shave time off their next-day delivery cut-off times in an effort to court shoppers browsing on their tablets in the evening.

House of Fraser went one step further in its bid to make home delivery convenient by launching guaranteed next-day evening delivery. The department store’s group multichannel boss, Andy Harding, says he recognised that even next-day delivery meant people still need to take time off work and wait around all day for their parcel to arrive. The service will make that tedious wait a thing of the past.

However, it has been click-and-collect that has gained the most traction this year and given multichannel retailers the edge on their pure-play rivals.

Last Christmas 40% of all shoppers used a collection service - picking up coveted items at customers’ own convenience has clear appeal. This Christmas that number is expected to grow even more.

Argos boss John Walden argues that few UK retailers are geared up for click-and-collect and that’s where the retailer’s efficient distribution network and 700-strong store estate could give it an advantage.

In the past year many retailers have sought to up the convenience factor of their services by partnering with Collect+.

Access to the local store network, which used to be primarily used by pure-plays such as Littlewoods and eBay, allows customers to pick up items from more than 5,000 stores. Retailers such as John Lewis and Asda have bolstered their offer by signing up to the service.

Stores are not the only convenient pick-up point though. Asda, for example, has created collection areas at business parks and petrol stations, and is even planning to open some in railway stations and universities.

Perhaps the most groundbreaking click-and-collect development occurred in September when Argos and eBay inked a collection tie-up. EBay customers can now collect their online purchases at 150 high street stores.

The initiative follows the advent of Amazon’s collection lockers, which allow customers to pick up parcels in locations such as shopping centres, office blocks and Co-op stores.

The fact that global online giants Amazon and eBay have sought out high street space to offer click-and-collect indicates the trend shows no signs of disappearing soon.

Online and offline partnerships of this nature are expected to become more commonplace and high street retailers have an opportunity to gain incremental revenue from their store estates, which many had previously viewed as a hindrance in the multichannel age.

Retailers are not just tying up to share space, they are also sharing online expertise. Latecomer to the online arena Morrisons signed a groundbreaking deal with etailer Ocado in May in an effort to ensure a successful and speedy debut.

The deal raised some eyebrows, because Morrisons is paying Ocado handsomely for its services and technology. Not only has Morrisons paid £170m for Ocado’s warehouse, it will pay an IT fee of 1% of sales up to £1bn, plus 25% of any cash profits generated by the website, declining to 10% after 15 years.

It may seem a hefty price for Morrisons to pay but the need to be online quickly and efficiently is more pressing as the race for physical space comes to an end.

Going mobile

Just three years ago, etail leader and Asos founder Nick Robertson declared that mobile devices would account for 30% of sales by 2013. This year, Robertson said Asos had already hit what at the time seemed a more distant target, and the big question now is how big can m-commerce get?

Analyst Gartner forecasts that tablet sales alone will outstrip desktop sales by 2015 and evidence suggests that this is already happening. Online growth is now being driven solely by mobile, according to IMRG and Capgemini’s e-Retail Sales Index.

Desktop sales flatlined in the second quarter of the year 2012 and 23% of all online retail sales came from tablets and smartphones.

Confidence has also risen in making transactions via mobile devices - people are no longer just browsing, they’re buying too. Consumers are seeking the accessibility and convenience that mobile brings and they are now able to shop wherever they may be.

Tablets account for 85% of mobile sales, and as uptake of the devices grows, so will m-commerce.

Etailers have been investing in mobile for a while but it has now understandably become a priority. House of Fraser has overhauled its multichannel strategy this year to put mobile at its heart. Harding says more than half of House of Fraser’s online traffic now comes through touchscreen devices and the retailer designs for mobile and tablets before desktops, a practice he believes will soon become the norm in ecommerce.

The UK’s biggest retailer, Tesco, followed M&S’s creation of a ‘digital hub’ by opening an office near London’s
Silicon Roundabout.

The Tesco office will house a team of mobile app developers to help the grocer identify and cater for future smartphone trends.

Tesco boss Philip Clarke said earlier this year that in the future “app development is going to be just as important as property development”. Tesco’s strategy will help position it at the heart of digital innovation and enable it to recruit top talent.

In the app development arena, online giant Amazon is not resting on its laurels and has launched an incentive scheme for developers to integrate adverts for its products into their apps.

Through the scheme app owners can earn up to 6% in commission from Amazon when users buy a product promoted on their app.

Now that smartphones are the most treasured possession of the next generation of shoppers, continued investment is necessary to ensure retailers continue to keep up with their customers.

Movers and shakers

Online has become the most fast-paced and fast-growing part of retail, which has put ecommerce specialists in high demand.

Much is made of the skills shortage in the sector and that has made those with etail experience an expensive commodity.

Tesco pounced on one of the most experienced operators in the industry when it hired former House of Fraser director and Amazon UK boss Robin Terrell as its multichannel director. Terrell, who is thought to have landed a seven-figure salary for the role, joined the Tesco executive board in January.

The increasing importance of ecommerce, which is many retailers’ only growth channel, has led to rising pay packets.

Marks & Spencer started the trend when it handed Laura Wade-Gery a £4m golden hello to ensure the grande dame of ecommerce jumped ship from Tesco. Since then, salaries across the sector have shot up.

In its Ecommerce Salary Review 2013, recruitment firm Cranberry Panda reported that an ecommerce director’s salary now ranges from £100,000 to £200,000, up from £80,000 to £180,000 last year.

It’s no surprise then that there have been many multichannel moves across the high street. Debenhams’ respected multichannel boss Simon Forster decamped to Selfridges and was replaced by Argos’ Ross Clemmow. Meanwhile, former eBay UK and delivery service Collect+ boss Mark Lewis nabbed one of the most sought-after jobs in etail when he joined John Lewis as online director.

However, a higher salary only goes so far. Wade-Gery says more retailers need to put multichannel directors on the main board to ensure investment is made in digital initiatives, which will help drive future growth.

In the past few years, multichannel roles have become more senior and are now generally considered to sit just below the main board. Sally Elliott, senior client partner for search firm Korn/Ferry Whitehead Mann, believes that the job of multichannel director “will emerge as a starring role” in future as the “de-facto number two role”.

The UK’s ecommerce talent is much in demand abroad and has caught the eyes of international brands. Most notably, Aurora Fashions group omnichannel director Ishan Patel crossed the Atlantic to join Victoria’s Secret.

There has also been a lot of movement in the world of home shopping retailers as two of the biggest companies, Shop Direct and N Brown, underwent leadership changes when their longstanding bosses Mark Newton-Jones and Alan White decided it was time to step down.

Former banker Alex Baldock took over the helm at Shop Direct, perhaps a nod to its credit-hungry customer base, while Original Factory Shop boss Angela Spindler took the helm at N Brown.

Meanwhile, Asos endured a raft of departures over the past year. The etailer’s phenomenal growth has put its personnel at the top of many headhunters’ wish lists. Many of its longstanding team members, including ecommerce director James Hart, international director Jon Kamaluddin and product director Rob Bready, departed.

The biggest shock came when Asos’ big-name signing Kate Bostock, formerly of M&S, resigned after just six months in the role of executive director of product and trading. Boss Nick Robertson said they had agreed Asos wasn’t the “right platform for her talent”, proving the transition from high street to fast-paced etail business can be difficult.

Since Bostock’s departure, Asos has continued to thrive and has bolstered its management team, hiring Amazon finance boss Shaun McCabe as international director and promoting four senior executives to retail director roles.

Entrepreneurial etailers

It is not just the big multichannel players that are grabbing headlines - a new breed of etail entrepreneurs have also taken centre stage this year.

Fast-growing companies such as multi-brand etailer The Hut, Manchester-based young fashion etailer Boohoo.com and white goods specialist Ao.com are seeking to emulate Asos, one of the greatest success stories in UK retail, by gearing up for stock market flotations.

Bolton-based Ao.com, formerly known as Appliances Online, seems to be furthest down the line, having hired investment banks Jefferies and JPMorgan. It is thought that it will float with a valuation of as much as £300m early next year.

Investors have long circled disruptive etailers - The Hut’s investor roll reads like a who’s who of retail with Sir Terry Leahy, Sir Stuart Rose and Terry Green just some of its backers - and the renewed appetite for retail IPOs could see more pure-plays debut in the City.

The ongoing success of Asos, which is valued at £4bn, has undoubtedly whetted the City’s appetite, and investors are keen to spot the next etail superstar early.