According to a new survey of more than 115 eCommerce & multi-channel executives from major global retail brands, European retailers see mobile as not only the biggest growth opportunity, but also the area that will change the most in the next one to two years.

1. 2 0 1 2 / 2 0 1 3 e Ta i l E u r o p e T r e n d R e p o r t

2. etail 2012/2013 benchmarking report
Table of Contents
About this Report 3
Study Results 4
About WBR 10
About eTail Europe 11
Be a Part of eTail Europe 2013, Register Now! 12
The goal of the 2012/2013 eTail Europe Trend Report is
to establish an industry benchmark
for digital marketers at multi-channel retail companies
in Europe or with international business presence

3. etail 2012/2013 benchmarking report
“As always it’s full of interesting
people and subject matters. For us,
About this Report
it’s the exact location and crowd The team behind Worldwide Business Research’s eTail Europe conference – with help from
we would like to address and be an advisory board of senior-level executives from international retail companies – created
a benchmarking questionnaire distributed to eTail Europe’s 2012 audience of multi-channel
[around] and will definitely be retail marketers. The survey was distributed at the London conference, where more than
there next year!” 115 marketing executives from retail brands answered questions about what channels were
growing, the challenges of internationalization and mobile commerce, and more.
Nile Younis, Sales Manager/Business
Development EMEA, Global Collect “Very clearly the biggest hurdle in Ecommerce remains change [and] change
management,” said Thilo Bendler, VP, Otto Group, in his analysis of the results of the
following report. Otto Group is a worldwide retail trust with 11.6 billion EUR revenues from 123
companies. “For most this is the unwillingness to change within the companies and less
from the consumer side,” Bendler continued.
The goal of the survey was to understand where digital marketers in Europe (or those
looking to expand to Europe) stand on some of the retail industry’s biggest issues. The
report also delivers analysis of the revealed trends from executives at companies like
Forrester Research, Schuh and Waitrose. Results to this study determine trends and
marketing successes, as well as areas in need of further development and investigation in
the multi-channel retail market across Europe.
The roles of those answering the questionnaire ranged from Chief Marketing Officer to
President to SVP of Direct Marketing and Manager of Social Media Marketing, to name a
few. Respondents represented companies like House of Fraser, Vonage, Hotels.com, Tesco,
TopMan and more.
See how your firm compares to your peers and competitors by viewing the results and
analysis throughout this report. Results begin on page four.

4. etail 2012/2013 benchmarking report
1 What do you see as the
biggest growth area for
online retailers in general
over the next 24 months? 10% 37% 54%
Social International Mobile
Media Growth
The majority of those surveyed say mobile as
the biggest growth area for online retailers,
though international growth was a close second
2 with many retailers viewing that as a potential
What are the biggest 41% for investment in the next one to two years.
barriers the industry Too many choices
faces in the next 24 32%
months? Cost of technology
27%
People’s willingness to change
“I don’t know why 41% of respondents might see
too much choice as a barrier to progress in the
industry, but some people cannot prioritise.”
Sean McKee,
Head of Ecommerce and Customer Services, Schuh

5. etail 2012/2013 benchmarking report
3 Which of the following
channels do you think
will change the most in
the next 24 months?
22% SOCIAL MEDIA
27% TELEVISION
51% MOBILE
European retailers see mobile as not only the “On what mediums will change over the next 24
biggest growth opportunity, but also the area months, I’m not surprised to see mobile as the biggest
that will change the most in the next one to but I think that Internet TV will really start to take
two years hold during this period – and also that it will be used
increasingly in tandem with tablets in the home.”
Robin Phillips, Director of Ecommerce, Waitrose
4 Where do you think
will be the biggest
international growth 72% 17% 9% 3%
area in the next 24 Asia Latin
America
Western
Europe
US
months?
When asked which countries or regions had the most potential for growth
for retail in the coming 24 months, online retailers overwhelmingly chose
Asia. Latin America was the next choice, but only 17% chose this region
while 72% chose Asia.

6. etail 2012/2013 benchmarking report
5 For what purpose do
you find social media
most beneficial? 37% Customer Service
30% CRM Strategy
“I don’t see enough good social CRM
technology to actually see CRM as an end
26%
goal. There are a few options, but very
expensive and still require moderate tech Customer
know-how for now.”
Xavier de Lecaros-Aquise,
Acquisition
Co-Founder/COO, Girl Meets Dress.com
7% Sales
Channel
While Twitter and Pinterest are
certainly gaining ground with
online retailers, Facebook still
dominates, with 64% of retailers
6 Which social platform saying that it will continue to be
the most significant for the next
do you think will be one to two years.
the most significant
for retail in the next
24 months, in terms of
influence over revenue
and/or profit?
4% 14% 18% 64%
Foursquare Twitter Pinterest Facebook

7. “Social initiatives need to get more
sophisticated if they are really going to
drive sales. While social media marketing
campaigns are a common component of any
marketing strategy now, social selling has
still yet to make a mark. Social initiatives
need to become more product-specific,
building on the social merchandising
approaches that leaders such as Marks
and Spencer and French Connection have
adopted.”
Martin Gill,
Principal Analyst, Ecommerce and Channel Strategy,
Forrester Research

8. etail 2012/2013 benchmarking report
80% of retailers
7 Which of the surveyed predict
that consumers
following will will use mobile
devices mostly
consumers be most for social media
inclined to use mobile and online
shopping over the
devices for over the next 24 months.
next 24 months?
“Although mobile buyers are still early
adopters right now, and may only
represent a tiny portion of overall sales
at least for the next couple of years, many
e-Business executives are reporting a
significant uplift in traffic to their sites
from mobile devices. Mobile will rapidly
become a core touch point for shoppers
as they browse and explore products.
2% 17% 39% 41%
Revenue alone cannot be taken as an
indicator of importance.”
Martin Gill, Principal Analyst, Forrester Scanning Mobile Online Social Media
Products Payment Shopping
in Store
8 What is your biggest
challenge in terms of 41% Logistics
international expansion?
32% Regulations, Taxes, Tariffs, etc.
18% Marketing
The biggest challenge for retailers wanting
to expand internationally continues to be
8% Payment logistics. 41% of those surveyed said they
Systems
still struggle with it. 32% said regulations
and taxes are the biggest hurdles to
international expansion.

9. etail 2012/2013 benchmarking report
9 Where are you 64%
currently focusing
your mobile efforts and
resources?
14% 14% 8%
Mobile Site Tablet Site Linking The Mobile App
Development Development Experience with Development
the In-Store
Experience
10 How long do you
think it will be before
the industry sees a 15% 3%
12 Months 5 Years
mainstream uptake in NFC,
cloud or other mobile 53%
payments at POS? 29% 24 Months
36 Months
“I think mobile will increasingly blur the
distinction between traditional in-store
retailing and online retailing. As smartphones
become enabled with payment [technology],
customers will increasingly incorporate them
into their repertoire of shopping missions and
will be disappointed if retailers don’t facilitate
for them across all their channels. I think what
this will drive retailers to do is to develop
a single view of the customer across all
channels and be able to recognise and reward
their loyalty at all touch points.”
Robin Phillips, Director of Ecommerce, Waitrose
said that it will
The large majority of retailers surveyed
il industry sees
take at least 24 months before the reta
the point of sale.
an uptake in mobile payment types at

10. etail 2012/2013 benchmarking report
About WBR
“The meeting has been “A really interesting
great. I met with a lot of my assortment of information,
vendors, and being a B2B speakers and suppliers to
company, it has been fantastic convert a wide breadth of
collaborating with B2C innovation in the Ecommerce WBR is the world’s biggest large-scale conference
companies to compare and world.” company and part of the PLS group, one of the world’s
contrast!” Hayley Meenan-Wilkin, leading providers of strategic business intelligence
Daniel Peters, Head of Web Operations,
with 16 offices worldwide. Our conference divisions
Onsite Marketing Manager Europe, Tesco.com
consistently out-perform their industry sector
Office Depot
competitors on the quality of the events we produce
and the relationships we nurture with both attendees
“As always it’s full of interesting people and subject matters. and sponsors. Every year over 10,000 senior executives
For us, it’s the exact location and crowd we would like to from Fortune 1,000 companies attend over 100 of our
address and be [around] and will definitely be there next year!” annual conferences – a true “Who’s Who” of today’s
Nile Younis, Sales Manager/Business Development EMEA, Global Collect corporate world. From Automotive events in Bucharest to
Logistics conferences in Arizona to Luxury conferences
in New York and Finance summits in Hong Kong, WBR
is dedicated to exceeding the needs of its customers
around the world. In addition to our industry leading
conferences, our professional services marketing
division, WBR Digital, connects solution providers to their
target audiences with year-round online branding and
engagement lead generation campaigns.
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11. About eTail Europe
eTail is the premier Ecommerce event in In just three days, attendees will learn to create a consistent and personal experience
Europe, featuring 60 sessions and 400+ across all channels, enhance their conversion rates, improve customer loyalty,
senior level attendees in the UK and and drive sales. The complete agenda, list of speakers and registration details are
European retail market. available at www.etaileurope.com.
“I’ve been coming to eTail Europe for
four years now. It is the best conference
of its kind. With the thought leadership
and senior level of the attendees, it is
the best Ecommerce event out there!”
Vincent Potier, Managing Director, Vonage
w w w. e t a i l e u r o p e . c o m • e t a i l e u r o p e @ w b r e s e a r c h . c o m • + 4 4 2 07 3 6 8 9 5 9 0

12. 24 – 26 June, 2013,
QEII Conference Centre,
London
Want to be a part
of next year’s
Click here to Register Now!* GO
eTail Europe Why else should you attend
eTail Europe 2013?
Trend Report? 4 After hearing more thanto come backfrom more than 60 retail
50 sessions
speakers, you’re bound with something that can
Make sure you’re help your business.
there in 2013 4 With 26 countries represented at the conference in 2012, it’s a truly
international event where you’ll learn to rethink your marketing
strategies.
4 93%think thatattendees saidlike it in recommend it to colleagues.
We
of 2012
means you’ll
they’d
2013 too.
*Call our customer services team to get the best available discounts for your firm at + 44 2 07 368 9590, or email us at etaileurope@wbresearch.com