The rise of multichannel signals a seismic shift in retailing, and the directors leading the change are ever more prominent.

Left to right: Zia Zareem-Slade, Andy Harding, Jon Rudoe, Dan Lumb, Simon Forster, David Worby, Simon Holder, Susan Aubrey-Cound, Robin Phillips and Gareth Jones

Charlotte Hardie gathers together 10 multichannel chiefs to hear their views on working in a world changing at lightning speed

Five years ago, multichannel was hardly discussed. Five years ago, even some of the most successful retailers had transactional websites that barely functioned. Five years ago, ecommerce directors were given little prominence in retail companies. Five years ago, this photo shoot probably wouldn’t have taken place.

But in those last five years, retail has witnessed a revolution that has barely begun. The advent of multichannel has meant it has changed more than bricks-and-mortar retailing has in the last century. And the people leading adaptation in that revolution are becoming ever more critical to retail success. As Debenhams.com director Simon Forster says: “Three to five years ago it might have been a twinkle in some people’s eyes, but wasn’t on most boards’ agenda. But now, recognising and serving the multichannel customer is or should be a big part of retailers’ strategies.”

While the profile and prominence of ecommerce and multichannel has shot through the roof, have the day-to-day workings of ecommerce and multichannel evolved as dramatically?

In many ways it is different, but as Sainsbury’s director of online Jon Rudoe points out, “the fundamentals are very similar”. House of Fraser ecommerce director Andy Harding agrees; Google is still the principal driver of traffic and sales, conversion is still king, and the customer must still be at the heart of every decision. However, the breadth of disciplines involved has kept on growing. “The complexity and power of handset devices, the evolution of social media and online communities, the development of web interface technologies – these have all made huge leaps forward and this presents massive opportunity for retailers,” says Harding.

Another aspect that has changed almost beyond recognition is the usability and look of sites. Shop Direct Group retail director Gareth Jones says: “If you looked at the websites from five years ago, most of us would probably laugh. It’s changed so much. Customers absolutely expect personalised journeys and so on. Their expectations are so much higher.”

So what about these people who are driving the multichannel strategies? Retail is a fast-paced world anyway – online and multichannel even more so. Those attracted to working in it are lured by the challenge of not quite knowing what’s around the corner. Test and learn is the name of the game and an analytical, problem-solving mind is essential. Everything is measurable – be it customer behaviour or logistics.

Tech wars

A few years ago, being good at ecommerce was about having good tech skills. All that has changed. Fuelled by the unerring focus on multichannel, now it’s actually simply about being a good retailer. And part of that involves being an expert communicator and motivator of people. Susan Aubrey-Cound, who last week left her role as director of new channels at Marks & Spencer to pursue a multichannel career, explains a common obstacle experienced by those who work in this area of a retail business. “You’re greeted with: ‘Oh, it’s the tech people’.” But actually, it’s essential that individuals are a people person. Part of the role is to spread understanding about multichannel,” she says. Waitrose director of ecommerce Robin Phillips agrees: “A lot of time is spent explaining to internal stakeholders that the whole business needs to take into account the fact that our customers don’t differentiate between channels. They just expect it to be Waitrose.”

The roles of ecommerce and multichannel are finally becoming recognised as disciplines in their own right. Because of its infancy, most of those taking part in today’s shoot have ended up working in the field, rather than setting out to do so. In fact, in many retail businesses, those at the ecommerce and multichannel helm wouldn’t even have known it was an area that would exist when they started out in their career.

Multichannel teams are in a transition phase. In the early days, few people had the requisite mix of ecommerce and senior management experience to lead the teams but, now, increasing numbers of the new generation of senior directors have come up through a single discipline such as online marketing. Harding believes that those further down the career ladder are actively choosing a career in ecommerce. Reiss ecommerce director Dan Lumb has worked in this area for his entire retail career, but says that finding people with the requisite skills can still be a challenge. “There needs to be some education behind it,” he says.

Board buy-in

Providing they are in the right business, board-level support for the multichannel function has transformed in recent years. Wickes multichannel director Simon Holder says it is now run as part of the overall business. The board now wants to know much of what is going on and is actively involved in decision making. “It’s about building an infrastructure that’s future proof,” he says. Serving the multichannel customer is or should be a major part of retailers’ strategies. Debenhams, for instance, now ensures that it communicates its multichannel strategy to shareholders and investors.

But board-level buy-in hasn’t always been easy. Jones recalls his time spent working at Phones 4U, which he left in 2009. “When I was working in a bricks-and-mortar business, trying to have conversations about ecommerce and getting the board to sign anything off was incredibly difficult,” he says. When Selfridges head of online Zia Zareem-Slade was working in online consultancy, she encountered many senior retailers who had “absolutely no interest in it”.

Alarmingly, in some businesses, such resistance may still be the case.

In some it is still outside the comfort zone of the top brass. Harrods Direct director David Worby says: “I believe it’s still true today that many traditional retailers don’t put ecommerce at the heart of their thinking. Customer behaviour has changed and it’s taking some time for businesses to adjust to this rapid change.”

For those working in retail businesses that wholeheartedly embrace, support and invest in their multichannel future, it’s a dynamic place to be. Providing that true board buy-in is in place, rallying the entire business behind the multichannel strategy is far easier. “Without it, life can be very hard, as people will be reluctant to invest in something that they don’t understand,” says Worby. With it, many ecommerce and multichannel teams are provided a welcome and refreshing amount of freedom. Zareem-Slade says: “It’s so fast-moving, we’re afforded the opportunity to try things.”

And trying new things is what working in this area of retail is all about.

Forster says you have to be prepared to adopt a test-and-learn type attitude. “You can’t act with total certainty about what the future will bring, but as long as you have a business that can embrace change you can better understand shoppers if you constantly test that. It’s about a way of thinking.” Aubrey-Cound says that ultimately, it requires a start-up mentality. “You need permission from the business to go and play a bit, but the challenge is you can’t position it like that because it sounds unprofessional.”

Staying flexible

Ultimately, a difficulty for those heading up the teams is that some things won’t work, but at this early stage in the ecommerce and multichannel game, those things can be impossible to predict. Mistakes, though, can be costly. And because the future is so unclear, working out where to invest can be very difficult. Holder highlights the problems posed by IT, for instance: “You need to build an infrastructure that allows you to be flexible and not hold you back, but how do you build something that allows you to account for something you don’t know is going to happen?”

Investment in multichannel is absolutely critical. This may bring added pressure on teams to justify that investment, but without it, businesses will quickly become left behind.

And with the ongoing debates about how to breathe life back into the high street, multichannel provides bountiful opportunities to inject some excitement and innovation into the shopping experience. “But you have to invest,” warns Jones. “It can’t be on the periphery.”

What multichannel will look like in even a year’s time is impossible to predict. However, in terms of how it needs to evolve, all of the directors here are clear about one thing; it cannot be positioned as a standalone domain. Integrating it into the business so that it becomes central to the way in which everyone thinks and acts will be critical. As Zareem-Slade says: “Having multiple channels doesn’t necessarily make you a multichannel retailer.”

It also needs to be viewed in perspective. Multichannel may be where much of the growth is, but shoppers will still go out and experience all that bricks-and-mortar has to offer. “Multichannel and online will enhance that experience,” says Lumb. Rudoe agrees. “Supermarkets aren’t disappearing. Within food, it’s not this dramatic channel shift, it’s complementary. It’s sizeable, but in our industry, it isn’t making the physical disappear.”

These are exciting times. New buzz words will continue to appear on the horizon that will need to be embraced or discarded. No one knows what the future of retailing will look like, but Lumb sums up the scale of the opportunity for those charged with steering a retailer’s multichannel strategy: “There’s so much more to do, and I want to be a part of it.”

Zia Zareem-Slade, head of online, Selfridges

Zia Zareem-Slade

Zia Zareem-Slade

“What motivates me is identifying new and different ways of engaging people and getting them to experience your brand in a way I don’t think bricks-and-mortar could necessarily do,” says Zareem-Slade. She has been involved in online retail for more than a decade with her background in consultancy, working for companies such as EMC Consulting – formerly Conchango – alongside a number of retail clients that ranged from Asos to Tesco. She moved to Selfridges last year. Key to multichannel success, she says, is ensuring it permeates thinking throughout the business.

The facts and figures Selfridges’ online revenues rose more than 100% for the 2011/12 financial year. Since launching its mobile site in December 2010 more than 15% of its traffic now comes from mobile devices.

Jon Rudoe, director of online, Sainsbury’s

John Rudoe

John Rudoe

Rudoe was introduced to ecommerce after working on retail-related projects during his early venture capital career. After leaving Ocado as head of retail, he joined Sainsbury’s in July last year, where he is responsible for the online grocery and non-food business. “Ecommerce at Sainsbury’s is a part of a very big store business, and so you have to draw on the strengths of the core business, use the physical location to your advantage,” he says. Having started out in online retailing at Ocado six years ago, Rudoe has witnessed a dramatic shift in the profile of online: “Ultimately, multichannel and online has become important enough to talk about. That wasn’t always the case.”

The facts and figures Sainsbury’s receives more than 120,000 online grocery orders each week. It has more than 10,000 products available on its non-food website.

Andy Harding, ecommerce director, House of Fraser

“I had to learn on the job,” says Harding about his introduction to online.

Andy Harding

Andy Harding

As Carphone Warehouse programme manager, he had been overseeing the building of its new website. He hadn’t intended to enter ecommerce, but had spent five years on Bhs’ graduate training programme, during which time he was seconded onto an IT project which gave him a systems background. “I had a good grounding in the mechanics of how websites work before I ran them.”

The facts and figures House of Fraser was among the earliest retailers to launch a mobile-optimised website. Mobile sales now account for 13% of multichannel sales. 

Robin Phillips, director of ecommerce, Waitrose

Robin Phillips

Robin Phillips

“The growth of online is what makes this job so enjoyable. Growth is a good problem to have,” says Phillips. He joined the John Lewis Partnership seven years ago, initially in business development, before moving to Waitrose where he became ecommerce director in June 2010. He has a background in venture capital and corporate finance. Part of the challenge of the role, says Phillips, is helping the business understand just how quickly shoppers are changing their habits.

The facts and figures Each week, Waitrose has more than half a million daily unique visits to its website. In 2011/12, online grocery orders grew at nearly 35%. Ecommerce now accounts for more than 3% of total sales.

Simon Forster, director, Debenhams.com

Simon Forster

Simon Forster

“The most challenging thing has been the speed with which customers are adapting to things we put in front of them,” says Forster. “Technology will help keep you ahead for a brief period of time. What will keep you ahead in the long term will be the strength of your brand and the ability of your business to anticipate changing customers’ needs.” Holder started his career at the Burton Group in buying and merchandising, before moving to catalogue shopping company GUS, where he was very involved in the early development of the internet as a transactional channel.

Since joining Debenhams in 2010, its ecommerce business has grown by more than 300%.

The facts and figures Debenhams’ online sales have grown by 350% over the last two years. Growth this year is 35%, and the website now gets more than 3.3 million visits per week.

Susan Aubrey-Cound, former M&S new channels director

Susan Aubrey-Cound

Susan Aubrey-Cound

Working out what is an opportunity and what isn’t poses one of the conundrums of working in multichannel, says Aubrey-Cound. “It’s easy to be seduced by the latest gadget or software trial,” she observes. She says the challenge of multichannel is simpler than some assume: “Actually it’s just a human challenge. You have customers who want to experience the brand at a variety of different touch points.” With a background in marketing, she was previously director of Marks & Spencer multichannel. Since this photo shoot, she has left M&S to pursue her multichannel career.

The facts and figures Having launched its website in 1999, Marks & Spencer clocks up more than 3 million online visitors per week. At its post-Christmas trading statement, direct sales were up 22%, with average weekly sales via its mobile site up 120%.

Dan Lumb, ecommerce director, Reiss

Dan Lumb

Dan Lumb

There aren’t many ecommerce and multichannel directors who have worked in online for their entire career, but Lumb is one of them. He joined Schuh in 2000 to set up the UK’s first online shoe store. “It wasn’t even called ecommerce at the time,” he recalls. “In the first few weeks it made a couple of hundred a week. By three months it was making £5,000 a week, at six months it was £15,000 a week, and on it went,” he says. He moved to Boux Avenue in 2010, where he was charged with setting up the multichannel operations for Theo Paphitis’ new launch, before moving to Reiss last year.

The facts and figures Reiss receives more than 300,000 visits a week to the website, on average dispatching 3,000 to 4,000 orders per week.

Gareth Jones, group retail director, Shop Direct

Gareth Jones

Gareth Jones

“Ecommerce is so exciting,” says Jones. “Making even the most minor changes to a website can drive massive changes in sales.” Around 80% of Shop Direct’s business is online, and so Jones’ role as group retail director means he oversees the business’ ecommerce operations.

He joined Shop Direct in 2009 after working in telecoms, where he became managing director of Phones 4U Direct. Jones says that while multichannel affords many retailers extensive growth opportunities, “it needs to have disproportionate investment and time and energy spent on it to get that growth”.

The facts and figures Shop Direct has 10.5 million customers on its database, with 5 million trading accounts. During the 2010/2011 financial year, 53 million products were sold and it delivered 25 million parcels.

David Worby, director, Harrods Direct

David Worby

David Worby

Worby says part of the joy of multichannel is it is “pushing the boundaries of what was previously thought possible”. After spending 16 years at M&S, where he worked in areas from international franchising to buying, Worby moved to Debenhams in the late 1990s to develop its home shopping business. “It felt as though a huge change in behaviour was likely to mean that retailers had to adapt fast. That opportunity excited me,” he says. After becoming head of online at Debenhams, he moved to Harrods in early 2010.

The facts and figures Harrods is unable to provide any facts or figures about its ecommerce operations.

Simon Holder, multichannel director, Wickes

Simon Holder

Simon Holder

Holder was first exposed to online when he was asked to build a website 16 years ago. When he joined Wickes in 2005 as head of non-store retail after leaving an ecommerce role at parent group Travis Perkins, the retailer didn’t have a website. He became multichannel director three years ago, and thinks the fact its site was launched only a few years ago makes life easier. “My role is to guide the business through the change needed for multichannel. Because of the success in internet and catalogue, there’s a belief in what we’re doing.”

The facts and figures Online percentage sales growth at Wickes has doubled every year for the last four years.