With a three million-strong workforce and consistent year-on-year growth, the retail sector is a significant contributor to the UK economy.
The move from store-based retail to multi-channel retail and now to a more tailored, customer-specific ‘omni-channel’ model of retailing means that retailers must be able to personalise the mass market and provide opportunities for people to shop away from the traditional spaces; indeed, retailers must give opportunities to purchase anywhere that customers choose to shop. Innovations in this space have seen the use of QR codes to link direct from bus stop advertisements to mobile product pages, and for users of social streams such as Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest to seamlessly purchase goods without having to leave the app.