Ian Jindal: How Retailers like Fat Face and eBay are Responding to the Pandemic

In this podcast episode, Ian Jindal, Founder, and Editor-in-Chief of InternetRetailing invited Mark Wright, Director of Operations at Fat Face, and Murray Lambell, the VP of Trading at eBay UK to share about their experience on how the UK’s retail industry is coping during the pandemic outbreak. 

In the first half of the episode, Mark Wright, Director of Operations at Fat Face shared his experience working in the family retail business. Wright noted that the pandemic-driven digital push had improved internal communications and had sped up the decision-making process.  

“When you go from e-commerce representing 20-25% of the business to 100%, it really sharpens the focus on everything,” said Wright. “One challenge for most clothing retailers will be returns.“

Research conducted by RetailX found that 53% of all consumer visits begin from a marketplace. In the second half of the episode, Murray Lambell, VP of Trading at eBay UK, provided insights into how e-commerce marketplaces can be used by major retailers and brands to their advantage. More specifically, how businesses can reach 27 million users shopping on eBay.

“There’s still lots more inventory out there from lots of brands and lots of retailers that they need to get in front of customers in a cost-effective way. Physical stores aren’t the way to do that, some online channels aren’t a profitable way to do that. And a marketplace offers an economic and scaled way to get in front of customers without all the marketing costs associated with it.”

To find out more about these retail leaders’ experiences, listen to the full podcast here: RetailCraft20.

About Ian Jindal 

Ian Jindal is a consultant, publisher, and advisor in eCommerce and multichannel retail. Ian co-founded and is Editor in Chief of InternetRetailing, providing insight and research for Europe’s etailers and multichannel retailers – www.internetretailing.net. 

Ian also co-founded RetailX, a research organization that provides competitor perspectives, performance data, and insightful analysis into the retail industry. 

About RetailCraft

The RetailCraft podcast series looks at the who and how behind the performance of the Top 500 retail companies in the UK, and those who influence and inspire them.

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