Tesco Says 'Barely Scratched Surface' Of Mobile

Supermarket giant Tesco's newly appointed online boss has said the retail industry has only begun to seize the of the opportunities of mobile technology. 

Group multichannel director Robin Terrell, who arrived two months ago, spoke out yesterday for the first time in a blog on the supermarket's web site. 

He said: 'As an industry, we have barely scratched the surface.'

He said the break-through for mobile technology in retail came in 2010. 'Every year since 1999 was going to be the year of the mobile. In 2010 it probably was, but even then retailers were only thinking about how to sell from a mobile device.' 

'Subsequently, retailers have started to experiment with mobile and tablets as customer engagement devices. Some have started integrating loyalty schemes and trialled various methods for interaction in the physical environment, but as an industry, we have barely scratched the surface,' he said. 

Terrell was previously multichannel and international director at House of Fraser as  which has been credited among traditional retailers as having a forward thinking online strategy. He was managing director of John Lewis Direct for two years until 2010 and was at Amazon for six years. 

Although he stops short about being specific on Tesco's strategy, he goes on to say: 'Customers have a relationship with their mobile phones and tablets that is closer and more intimate than any other technology.' 

'It’s powerful technology too and through harnessing it we will be able to offer a truly personalised, location aware experience that will genuinely add value for customers. This will be through the whole journey from inspiration, discovery, research, the purchase decision and ultimately payment as well – across all channels. It will be transformational for all of retail, not just online – it will change the whole shopping experience,' he said. 

'Mobile is also challenging many traditional ways of thinking, for example, our whole design philosophy is changing so that instead of designing for traditional keyboard and mouse based interactions, we design for touch first. Beyond the UK, in many countries, customers will skip the PC era and go straight to mobile so this truly will transform the entire shopping experience worldwide.' he said.