In July 2021, Alan Williamson joined Miconex in the role of Ecommerce Manager. Alan has extensive experience in ecommerce, including at Scobie & Junor, suppliers to 6000 butchers around the world, where he was involved in building a new ecommerce site in-house and taking turnover from £0 to £4 million. It was in this role that Alan developed his understanding of the challenges for high street businesses, as he worked to support retail butchers in their efforts to attract and retain customers. One of the schemes Alan worked on was a points based loyalty scheme, Alan said:
“Most of the butchers were family businesses, they were very nervous at the thought of having to do anything extra at the till to be part of the loyalty scheme in case it slowed down the transaction. Then there were the butchers that invested in the look of the shop and in social media, often second generation businesses, and were really popular. The priority was helping the butchers to develop their customer proposition, which in turn meant the business could order more seasonings, sauces and products from Scobie & Junor.”
From Scobie & Junor, Alan moved to Kent Foods, one of the largest bulk foods suppliers in Europe, where he was involved in developing a bespoke online ordering portal, before moving to Campbells Prime Meats, the largest independently owned butchers in the UK, as Head of Ecommerce. When I joined Campbells, they were turning over £1million. Through optimising its offering to customers, Alan helped increase basket value, customer retention and overall margins, with an initial target of £3million. Like most businesses, Campbells was hugely impacted by the pandemic says Alan:
“When covid hit, sales went through the roof, increasing by over 700%. We did more revenue in the first 6 weeks of lockdown than in the previous year. With that came logistical issues, like using 6 months’ worth of the specially crafted packaging boxes within 2 weeks and the subsequent shortage in craft cardboard. Pandemic challenges aside, I got to work with influencers like Nick Nairn and The Stoltman Brothers as part of our sponsorship deal with them, developing the 52oz Stoltman Steak. Tom Stoltman, from Invergordon, won the 2021 World’s Strongest Man contest.”
Alan’s experience working with small retailers means he has an affinity for supporting the high street and was able to see the benefits of Mi Rewards and Town and City Gift Cards for merchants and customers:
“All of my career has been in the food industry but it has also been working with small retailers, understanding the pressures that retailers have, and what they will and won’t do. I also learnt what customers expect from their transactions and their experience with the company, whether they explicitly state those expectations or not.
“So when I started researching Miconex, I could instantly see the benefit of Mi Rewards for retailers, with loyalty linked to payment cards rather than a separate loyalty card. And when I researched Town and City Gift Cards, I could once more see the value for retailers, no cost to them and no extra hardware. It’s a great message too for users. I’d been given a Shawlands Gift Card at Christmas 2020, and we used it on a meal out. We loved the experience and the chance to get back to Shawlands where we used to live, so I had that experience as a customer too. If you’re given money as a gift, even if you set it aside to use, it doesn’t have the same call as a gift card.
“I think of my role as an Ecommerce Manager as being a shop manager. Like any shop manager, I need to make enough money and ensure my customers have a positive experience. The only difference is that my shop is my laptop. My role at Miconex is to look at the in depth information such as how people are interacting with the website, to make sure the website is growing and developing. Plans for the short term include technical updates and working on conversion rates. It’s a really exciting time to be joining Miconex and I’m enjoying getting stuck in.”