Mark Raskino

I’ve noticed a distinct change of business attitudes to e-commerce in Europe this year. A lot more companies that didn’t take it seriously in the past are now making it key to their strategies. For example in September Inditex said it will be bringing its Zara brand into e-tail next year and H&M made a similar announcement soon afterwards (apparently, for H&M,  growing at a rate of one store a week isn’t enough!).

It’s hardly surprising. In a recession, consumers hunt hard on price and this is the first  recession in which the web is  ready for business prime-time. If you think back to the mini-recession of 2001/2 – most people weren’t on broadband and women were still underrepresented online in most countries.

But it is not just the intent to use e-commerce as a core part of business strategy that is changing.  Companies are a lot less coy about the channel proposition than they used to be.  In the UK,  DSG has been running some witty ‘in your face’ outdoor adverts recently, that really show the web’s time has come and the gloves are off.  The example below contains  a thinly veiled reference  to premier London department store Selfridges  (others in the series take on Harrods and John Lewis ).  As it says at the bottom of the poster – the website is the ‘last place you want to go’… because that’s where the sale is transacted.