Belk Taps Deloitte Digital as Mobile Agency of Record for Upcoming Tablet Initiative

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Belk, Inc., the nation's largest privately owned mainline department store company, today announced that Deloitte Digital has been selected as the retailer's tablet agency of record for its upcoming tablet effort in support of the company-wide Omni-channel Retail initiative.

"Deloitte Digital's creative and technical mobile knowledge and experience made it the best fit for our tablet initiative, which will play an important role in communicating the modern, Southern lifestyle to our customers," said Ivy Chin, Belk's senior vice president of eCommerce. "Together, we are creating a distinctive tablet experience—not another 'me-too' retail app—to delight our customers with the hospitality, service, and style they expect from Belk."

Tablets offer a uniquely visual and personal experience from other platforms, and use is growing rapidly—more than 55 million Americans already own a tablet device.¹ In Adobe's recent study on retail website visitors in 2011, it found that tablet visitors spent 54 percent more per purchase than smartphone visitors, and 21 percent more than traditional visitors.²

"Tablets are obviously an important piece of the omni-channel retail model, but just building a tablet-specific experience may not be enough to increase brand value, earn customers' trust, and drive sales," said Kasey Lobaugh, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and Omni-channel Retail Leader, Deloitte Digital. "Users expect—and reward—tablet experiences grounded in simplicity, usefulness, and eye-catching aesthetics."

As connected consumers' expectations for functionality at the point of need continues to rise, so too does the tablet's status as a critical  component of Belk's omni-channel strategy.

About Belk, Inc.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Belk, Inc. (www.belk.com) is the nation's largest privately owned mainline department store company with 302 Belk stores located in 16 Southern states. The company was founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, N.C., and is in the third generation of Belk family leadership. Its belk.com Web site offers a wide assortment of fashion apparel, shoes and accessories for the entire family along with top name cosmetics, a wedding registry and a large selection of quality merchandise for the home. To connect with Belk via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blog, mobile phone text messages or by email, go to: BelkGetConnected.

About Deloitte Digital

From strategy to delivery, Deloitte Digital combines cutting-edge creative with trusted business and technology experience to define and deliver digital solutions. Deloitte Digital creates digital experiences for the connected enterprise. From B2B, B2C, or B2E, Deloitte Digital delivers strategy, mobile, social, web, and digital content management solutions that will help strengthen clients' brands and evolve their businesses. For more information, please visit www.deloittedigital.com.

As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte Consulting LLP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.

Sources:
¹ http://www.mivamerchant.com/images/blog-images/ecommerce-tablet-shopping.jpg
² http://success.adobe.com/assets/en/downloads/infographics/18011_digital_index_infographic_tablet.pdf

SOURCE Deloitte