Virgin overhauls e-commerce platform

Virgin Retail plans to launch a new e-commerce platform by the end of this summer, which will make its online store much easier to use and more in tune with the Web 2.0 world.

The move will also see the retail giant bringing all site development and management back in-house for the first time, ensuring it is able to take advantage of the new platform by building new features and functionality.

The company worked with retail and e-commerce consultancy Javelin Group to select suppliers to help create the new site, ultimately deciding to work with hybris for the underlying e-commerce platform, Mercado for its search and merchandising expertise and design agency Underwired for the interface and usability aspects.

"The vastly improved site, geared towards the needs of today's online customer will form a major pillar of Virgin's multi-channel strategy", comments Steve Kincaid, Virgin's marketing and e-commerce director.

As well as revamping the site, the retailer plans to expand its product range to incorporate more CDs, DVDs and games in addition to beefing up related entertainment offerings.

Maggie has been a journalist since 1999, starting her career as an editorial assistant on then-weekly magazine Computing, before working her way up to senior reporter level. In 2006, just weeks before ITPro was launched, Maggie joined Dennis Publishing as a reporter. Having worked her way up to editor of ITPro, she was appointed group editor of CloudPro and ITPro in April 2012. She became the editorial director and took responsibility for ChannelPro, in 2016.

Her areas of particular interest, aside from cloud, include management and C-level issues, the business value of technology, green and environmental issues and careers to name but a few.