Holland & Barrett is launching a new e-commerce website next week in the latest stage of a £16m IT upgrade.
The Health food retailer said the new Oracle-based site would complement the new tills it had installed in recent weeks.
“The tills are great and the functionality they have brings us into the 21st century… but the real sexy stuff comes when you get the new website working and then we start to become truly omni-channel,” said Peter Aldis, CEO of Holland & Barrett owner NBTY Europe.
He said the retailer would be able to give holders of its Rewards for Life card - currently more than four million active users - personalised offers redeemable in stores and online.
“We would recognise you when you come in store or shop online with something tailored and specific to you,” he said.
He added that the new technology would allow Holland & Barrett to launch a click & collect offer - provisionally planned for October.
Holland & Barrett currently sells about 3,500 products online - equivalent to the range available in a large store - but it has plans to broaden the range significantly.
Aldis said the retailer had the capability to expand its online offer to more than 12,000 products. “We’re now working very hard to bring additional products in and to become specialists in things like allergies and specialised foods,” he explained.
“We’re going after ranges that are synonymous with what we do but physically we don’t have the space to stock in our stores.”
