Belk's Omnichannel Journey

To address these wants, Belk allocated $600 million to help it become an omnichannel organization. Forty-two million was budgeted for branding, $14 million for customer service excellence, $270 million for store expansion and remodels, and $263 million for technology investments.

Belk cited three phases of the company's digital journey, all of which are ongoing:
Phase 1: Accelerate e-commerce sales. With its roots as a brick-and-mortar store, Belk has been a late bloomer when it comes to e-commerce. Last year, e-commerce accounted for 3.3 percent of the company's overall sales; the goal is for that number to be 10 percent by 2015. To help it reach that goal, Belk has optimized its website for mobile devices, launched mobile apps, implemented a drop-ship program with select product suppliers and increased the size of its e-commerce fulfillment center. These moves have not only helped Belk grow its online sales, but its comparable store sales have seen a boost as well.