Shortlisted in the highly sought after category – Brandbank Multichannel Retailer of the Year, Halfords are up against fierce competition from other retail giants including, Argos (also a Salmon customer), Debenhams, House of Fraser, John Lewis, New Look and Tesco.

Sue Pratt, Head of Marketing at Salmon said, “Halfords and Salmon have worked together to develop their multi-channel proposition over the past few years. We are delighted that this work has been recognised by the judges.”

Halfords have a strong multi-channel offer, combining store, online, mobile and apps to deliver a compelling customer experience. They provide an excellent case study in how to ensure different channels perfectly complement each other.

Other Salmon customers also shortlisted at the awards include, Homebase, Boots, Pets at Home, Lloydspharmacy and Kiddicare – good luck to all.

The winners will be announced on the 15th March 2012, at the Grosvenor House Hotel, in the heart of Mayfair. More information on the awards can be found here.

* Update 30/05/2012 The ICO’s latest guidance is here and provides additional information around the issue of implied consent.

* Update 22/05/2012 Econsultancy post on  ‘EU cookie law: ICO to contact 50 UK websites about compliance’ is ‘ here and link to their guide to compliance is here.  The Direct Marketing Association and Interent Advertising Bureau’s how to guide on email and cookie legislation  is here.

In principle the regulations are right but how practical are they?  Remember back to when 3D Secure came about, originally this was seen as an inhibitor to online shopping but is now seen as a necessary evil. Although, by comparison, the cookies compliancy will have a much bigger impact.

On May 26^th 2011, the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 came into force.  Under the new Regulations a subscriber or user has to give consent to the use of cookies, having been given clear and comprehensive information about the purpose of them.  Under the previous law, organisations only had to inform users how they used cookies and how the user could “opt out” if they objected to their use.   The aim of the Regulations is to increase transparency for consumers.

So what do you need to know?

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Argos has had a bit of a rough ride with the press recently but it’s not all bad news, that’s for sure.  Yes, sales are down by 6% on last year, but that’s not surprising with the prevailing economic conditions.  Positively, they are still leading the way when it comes to multi-channel expertise and leadership, with multi-channel sales continuing to grow.  News Salmon is pleased to hear, as we’ve been working with them since 2002 to help them deliver and support their website,  and most recently, to deliver their mobile optimised site.  

The latest figures show that multi-channel sales are now 46% of total sales.  Total sales from mobile shopping are now at 4%, (that’s about £2.6m per week), with total internet orders, including Check & Reserve comprising 33% of Argos’ total sales, that’s approximately £21m per week. The remaining 13% of sales classed as multi-channel are for products ordered in-store for home delivery or by telephone.

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