Royal Dutch Shell is in the oil extraction business but it's also one of the largest single branded retailers in the world, with a footprint in 80 countries and 44,000 stations around the world. That makes it bigger than McDonald's or Starbucks, observed Oliver van Bilsen, Global Head of Digital - Retail, Fuels & Lubricants. Some 30 million people enter its stores every day and the brand has a digital relationship of some sort - via loyalty programs, CRM, social media - with 25% of them, he told the MMA London Forum.
In fact, he added, the digital customer experience...