Our website. Yes, we have agreed for some time that the
current one is lacking. In fact the re-specification and development of a new
site has been high on our Advisory Board’s agenda for some time. We will be revealing
more about the site on June 5th as well as presenting a sneak preview. First
though, we need to introduce another imminent change that has been percolating
over the past 12 months. That change is a re-brand for CatEx itself.
For the past ten years CatEx Direct Commerce Association has
made a unique contribution to the success of UK direct and retail businesses.
Our core activities have revolved around a constantly evolving programme of knowledge
sharing and networking unmatched by any other organisation. Famous names such
as Boden, Direct Wines, Charles Tyrwhitt, N Brown Group, Damart, Scotts &
Co, Hotel Chocolat – and even Harrods, John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, and Next – have
all enjoyed the benefits, alongside several hundred equally inspiring
enterprises which are success stories in their own right.
From the roots of the association most linked to catalogue
expertise, our members are also leading the way in eCommerce and mobile, with
many also operating retail stores, expanding internationally, exploiting TV
shopping, and developing wholesale distribution channels. For this reason, this
June, we are re-launching as Direct Commerce Association (DCA) to reflect our active
focus on all of the channels – established and emerging – that our members –
current and future – are deploying or exploring.
Excitingly, just as we have seen our members adopt multiple
channels to market, pure bricks and mortar retailers are now selling
successfully online as well as producing catalogues and customer magazines.
Those who started out as pure-play online retailers are now busy working on customer
magazines and catalogues, space & TV advertising, and pop-up stores, in a
bid to recruit, and retain customers. The model for the future is customer
centric. Our customers will choose how they wish to communicate and shop with
us, and choose how we communicate with them. With a membership which embraces
multi-channel and online retailers, large and small, as well as those from the
business to business community, our name has evolved as have our goals for ongoing
development.
At our Annual Summit on June 5th we will reveal our new
Direct Commerce Association organisational set up, preview our all new website,
and present a new programme of events. All designed to address the pressing
issues confronting direct retailers in today’s marketplace. This is a time when
challenges are present around every corner, whether marketplace competition, the
complexity of choosing the right suppliers, or such unwelcome burdens as
impending EU data legislation. This coupled with the need to continually refine
and perfect the customer experience places us all in a cycle of ongoing
development and only the DCA is equippedand ready to help on every front. In
short the DCA offers constantly growing value to all member companies regardless
of scale as well as access to meaningful support for each of their team members
across all disciplines and at all stages of individual development.
What sets the DCA apart is the freedom it gives to share
information and learn from others about the tools and the techniques needed to
get ahead and stay ahead in today’s market. Marketing, fulfilment,
international trading, merchandising,business development, and all other key
business activities. With so much knowledge to share, membership is of proven
value to businesses of all sizes, from start-ups to established players, for
those who own and direct member businesses and to the teams who underpin them.
And as an inclusive not-for-profit organisation we are able to keep the costs
of membership and event places attractively low.
Do come and meet with members of our Advisory Board on June
5th.
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