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Asda has revealed that it has completed the first phase of its web-to-mobile integration strategy following launch of online grocery apps and mobile web sites for food, general merchandise and its George clothing range.
The supermarket now expects more than one-in-ten of its online orders to be placed via a mobile device by the end of 2012, as more of its customers choose to shop on the move with their smartphones.
Asda also revealed that over 10 million customers have registered online and that more than 40% of all orders placed on Asda Direct and George.com are now fulfilled in an Asda store. The supermarket said its iPhone app has been downloaded by more than half a million people in the last six months, and its new Android app has attracted 75,000 downloads in just a month. As a result 6% of the supermarket's grocery orders are now placed on a mobile device with Asda expecting this figure to double in the next six months.
Judith McKenna, Asda’s chief operating officer, explained: "Gone are the days when we could label a customer as either a traditional or a dotcom shopper. Customers don’t think in terms of channels or devices, they want to shop with ease, compare prices at the touch of a button, and pick up a product or have it delivered with the minimum of fuss. As a result, the world of retailing is being transformed at a remarkable rate and opening up exciting opportunities for retailers like ourselves.
"In addition social media is changing the way that we interact with our customers. Our Facebook fans are the most engaged in retail globally, which means the conversations we are having are equivalent to word of mouth wildfire. This is beginning to make a real difference to our business, in terms of what we sell and how we sell it."
Asda is now planning to deploy in-store QR codes to enable its customers to obtain additional product information and see other customer’s reviews and ratings when they are in-store.
Tagged as: asda | mobile retail | multi-channel retail
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Source: www.theretailbulletin.com
Asda parking still causing problems - Luton News
AN irate Asda customer has contacted the Herald&Post to say that parking is still an issue at the Wigmore store.
Phill Upton, who lives behind the supermarket, received a parking fine of £60 last week which stated he had been on the site for almost six hours.
“This is disgusting,” he fumed. “I live at the back of Asda so wouldn’t need to park there that long.”
He claimed he made two separate credit card transactions on the day in question and added: “If the cameras are incorrect, it’s not the customer’s fault.”
The Herald&Post highlighted a similar problem in July last year.
Several customers complained that they had received penalty charge notices (PCNs) of £60 after they had visited the store twice in one day.
National parking enforcement company Town and City Parking was forced to apologise, blaming a “system glitch”.
We were unable to get in touch with the firm yesterday, but an Asda spokeswoman said: “We introduced number plate recognition in our Luton store to ensure our 8,000 valued weekly customers could find a space.
“The system is designed to deter people who aren’t using the car park for shopping from taking a space from a customer. If anyone feels they have been issued a parking notice in error, then we’d encourage them to contact the store directly so that we can investigate on their behalf.”
> Have you had problems parking at Asda? Our contact details are on page 2.
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Print this pageSource: www.lutontoday.co.uk
Mick causes a stir as row brews over coffee - Portsmouth
PENSIONER Mick Harrington is taking on supermarket giant Asda over the price of a jar of coffee.
Mick, 66, of Fort Fareham Road in Fareham, spotted a 200g jar of Nescafe coffee on the shelf of his local Asda for £3.
But right below it and priced at £4 was a 300g jar of the same coffee marked ‘50 per cent free’.
Mick realised that the second jar should cost the same as the first if it really did contain 50 per cent ‘free’.
He took staff at the store in Speedfields Park, Fareham, to task but none of them were able to explain why the two jars were not the same price.
Mr Harrington said: ‘It’s not 50 per cent free if they’re charging you more money for it, is it? I probably spend about £1,500 in that store each year, so it makes me very angry that they are doing things like this.’
The pensioner contacted the supermarket’s headquarters. He said: ‘They were putting the blame on Nescafe, saying they set the prices. But I didn’t buy it from Nescafe, I bought it from Asda. I told the lady there that I will pursue them for trying to defraud their customers and if Hampshire Trading Standards won’t, I will issue a summons myself at Portsmouth County Court.
‘I’m not poor, so I will fight this with my own money.’
Consumer rights expert Richard Thomson said: ‘This isn’t that unusual. It’s very annoying for shoppers to find an obvious swizz is being run on them.
‘You rarely get a week that goes past where you won’t find there’s been a mistake like this with the prices somewhere, and it’s not just with Asda.
‘There are trading regulations in place which make it an offence to put misleading prices out like that, but the regulatory authorities have tended to let them get away with it as they will say they deal with so many prices a week and it’s not done intentionally.’
An Asda spokeswoman said: ‘Unfortunately, despite our best intentions, with over 35,000 individually priced products in our stores, honest mistakes can sometimes happen. We’re very sorry for any upset caused as a result of this error which has already been rectified, and have offered a full refund as a gesture of goodwill.’
by CHRIS BROOM
The News
chris.broom@thenews.co.uk
Source: www.portsmouth.co.uk
Essex Fire Crews Call on Fire Chair Hedley to Step in and Break Dispute Deadlock - Market Wire
ESSEX, ENGLAND--(Marketwire - May 31, 2012) - Essex fire crews are calling on Councillor Tony Hedley, Chair of Essex Fire Authority, to step in and break the deadlock in the bitter fire dispute over unnecessary frontline cuts and changes imposed without agreement. The union says that industrial relations are so problematic that senior managers can't even bring themselves to allow the highly respected national fire service conciliators (NJC Joint Secretaries) to be called in to assist talks.
The FBU wrote directly to Councillor Hedley over a week ago proposing the fire authority simply lift the block on the involvement of the national fire service conciliators (NJC Joint Secretaries) and agree instead to join the FBU in asking both ACAS and the NJC Joint Secretaries to suggest a way forward for talks. The FBU have not yet received a reply from Councillor Hedley.
Mick Rogers, Essex FBU Secretary:
"All we keep being told by the chief fire officer is 'NO' to calling in the NJC Joint Secretaries for conciliation talks. But the lawful trade dispute is actually registered with the fire authority and the responsibility for resolving it rests with the Elected Members of the Essex Fire Authority. The councillors - and Councillor Hedley in particular - have the power and elected authority to step in and break the deadlock.
"No-one can understand why the senior managers in Essex are so determined to exclude the NJC Joint Secretaries. Only yesterday, the South Yorkshire Fire Authority and the FBU have averted the imminent escalation of their dispute by agreeing to the mutually beneficial assistance of the NJC Joint Secretaries as the conciliators of choice. This is an ideal time for Councillor Hedley to step in, to lift the block and allow the professional conciliators to come in and suggest the way forward for talks."
"Essex fire crews are furious at what is going on and will be giving their verdict on cuts and imposed changes. There is still time enough to resolve the issues between us and we are now asking the Chair to the Fire Authority to use his good offices to remove the barriers to serious talks getting underway. But if there is no genuine intention or positive moves to resolve the very real concerns of the frontline professionals then strike action becomes an ever increasing prospect."
The FBU's ballot for strike action closes on 13th June. The law then requires at least seven days notice of any strike action after that date.
The union says the ballot is necessary because the fire authority is imposing changes whilst also planning further cuts. 100 full-time fire station based crews have been axed since 2008 with retained 'on call' crews cut by 60. Further cuts now being planned will bring total losses of around one in five frontline firefighters since 2008. The latest budget review shows underspends of £1.3 million on wholetime firefighters, £206,000 on retained and £136,000 on control firefighters.
Source: www.marketwire.com
Essex Police/Fire: Red Gate woods under watch - Gloucester Daily Times
ESSEX - A resident called police at 4:01 p.m. Tuesday and reported that a woman who was walking down Red Gate Road with a bag of clothing had disappeared into the woods.
The resident reported seeing two men disappear into the woods earlier as well. Police said they are watching the area.
Officers responded to a parking complaint at the intersection of Main Street and Southern Avenue on Tuesday at 3:35 p.m.
A school bus driver told police that a large box truck was parked at the intersection and made it difficult to make the corner. Officers told the truck driver to move.
Steven Fletcher may be contacted at 1-978-283-7000 x3455, or sfletcher@gloucestertimes.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stevengdt.
Source: www.gloucestertimes.com
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