Speaker John Fernie. The online shopping revolution - the logistical challenges

The speaker at the Club's weekly meeting was member John Fernie, Professor Emeritus St Andrews University and Hon. Professor at Heriot Watt University. John's subject was retail marketing and the on line shopping revolution. From 1% in 2005 online sales now exceed 15%. The logistical problem called "the last mile problem" of how to get the product delivered to the customer is the greatest. Globally retail sales now exceed 13% with UK in the top 5 countries and probably the most advanced although other countries are now catching up. Methods of purchasing are changing as well as more people are forsaking pcs for smart phones. Tesco is the world leader in online grocery sales because orders are made up and delivered from local stores. Other supermarkets tried to operate more centrally but this proved unsuccessful and now follow Tesco's model. On line fashion sales now exceed 50%. Retailers incur high costs in delivery and with also perhaps the need to redeliver. Click and collect is now becoming more popular particularly with working people. France is developing drive through collection centres and these are becoming more popular. However one of the problems being experienced is the amount of goods being returned, often caused by over ordering. John talked about a very successful Scottish company, Schuh, which retails shoes. From a turnover in 2005 of £81m to £264m in 2016 the company has more than 30% more of its products available online. The company has been so successful it has now been taken over by a US company but its operations in Scotland have been so effective they have remained unchanged. Wilda McKinnon gave the Club's thanks for an excellent and very interesting talk.