Talking shop: Ian Woosey, Group IT Director and e-Commerce at Carpetright

With Retail Business Technology Expo just a few months away. Now's a good time to catch-up with leading industry figures on the future of retail. Carpetright's Group IT and e-Commerce Director Ian Woosey shares his thoughts on what's to come.

What's the next big thing in retail?

Proper mobile e-commerce combined with a really slick range of delivery options. People are talking about this now, it will be expected to be reality by shoppers in a year or two when mobiles are the preferred method of accessing the web.

Biggest challenge to current business:

It has to be the economy and a lack of consumer confidence.

What is your biggest headache in your job right now?

Keeping up with the rate of change and ever higher customer expectations.

Most exciting or promising technological developments:

All aspects of multi channel, online trading and social media. The latest mobile platforms really deliver a great user experience and I really think this is just the beginning.

How important is mobile, social networking, internet retailing and the cloud to retailers?

Massively important, this is where growth can come from if you get it right. You’ll see a huge amount of activity in all these areas, tomorrow’s customers will make more and more judgements based on social media rather than traditional advertising. Cloud computing will mature and become the norm.

What do you hate about exhibitions and wish would change?

I don’t like the hard sell; sometimes I just want to get some information without someone trying to sell me a project.

What, if anything, do you love about exhibitions?

They are a really good way of keeping up to date, stimulating ideas, meeting new people and catching up with old friends.

What would you like to see at Retail Business Technology Expo?

Genuine innovation.

Whose job would you most like outside of retailing/ hospitality?

Any of the presenters on Top Gear or I would love to be the CEO of any of the large technology firms and set about making business technology as good and attractive as consumer technology is to people today.

Best retail CRM example you have seen or experienced:

I am not sure anyone has really cracked this yet, despite all the hype. In my experience the smaller niche online retailers are often better than the large traditional ones.

What is your favorite 'gadget' (work or personal)?

iPod, Sky+ box, Blackberry…..there are so many great consumer products on the market now it is hard to choose.



To find out more about Retail Business Technology Expo go to:
www.retailbusinesstechnologyexpo.com