The 100 Fastest-Growing Omnichannel Retailers

By The Retail Online Integration Staff

#27 Fossil
The Fossil Group, Inc. has come a long way since Tom Kartsotis founded it in 1984 as Overseas Products International. At the time, the company imported moderately priced fashion watches made in the Far East and sold them for a reasonable price. Today, Fossil is a $3.3 billion global fashion accessories business. Its products are sold to department stores, specialty retail stores, and specialty watch and jewelry stores worldwide through co-owned foreign sales subsidiaries and independent distributors. Fossil also has more than 540 company-owned and operated retail stores as well as a strong global e-commerce presence. Here are some highlights from Fossil's 2013 fiscal year, according to its website: 

Net sales of 3.3 billion, an increase of 14 percent compared to $2.9 billion in fiscal year 2012;
wholesale net sales and direct-to-consumer net sales increased 14 percent; and
operating income increased 15 percent.

Fossil is also uniquely poised for future growth. Earlier this year, the company announced it would work with Google and its Android Wear operating system to create a designer brand smartwatch as a first step into the world of wearable technology. 

"We believe we're uniquely positioned to develop and bring to market products for our fashion customers that marry the beauty of our designs, the promise of our brands and now the function of new technology," said Greg McKelvey, chief strategy and marketing officer for Fossil, in a company press release. — Melissa Campanelli

#42 ValueVision Media
ValueVision Media, parent company of ShopHQ (formerly ShopNBC), a multichannel electronic retailer via TV, internet and mobile, has undergone a transformation over the last year. The biggest (and most noticeable) change was the rebranding of the name as a result of ValueVision Media's acquisition of NBCUniversal's financial stake in the company.  

"For 23 years we have been a trusted resource and shopping destination, the last 12 of which were under the ShopNBC brand," said Carol Steinberg, ValueVision chief operating officer, in a company press release. "As ShopHQ, we plan to further enhance and build upon what our viewers have come to love and expect from us, including engaging hosts, exciting products, great values and a convenient, informative watch and shop anytime, anywhere experience."

The renaming of the brand has not only helped ShopHQ reclaim its retail identity, it's also eliminated $4 million in licensing fees as well.  

Founded in 1991, ShopHQ originally started as a home shopping network specializing in electronic retail. However, over the last two decades, the company has acquired a loyal community of over 1.4 million customers, and now sells everything from beauty treatments to consumer electronics to fashion and jewelry. In addition, ShopHQ has expanded its retail channels to accommodate its growing audience, including an e-commerce website, mobile apps on both the iOS and Android platforms, and social media communities on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube.  

Below are some highlights from ShopHQ's 2013 fiscal year:

net sales increased 12 percent;
gross profit in the fourth quarter increased 14 percent; and
the total number of customers purchasing over the last 12 months rose 20 percent to a record 1.4 million. — Caitlin Sullivan

#59 CDW
CDW is a newcomer to this list for the simple fact that the brand only became a public company (again) in June 2013, six years after being purchased by private equity firms Madison Dearborn Partners and Providence Equity Partners for $7.4 billion. The omnichannel retailer of technology solutions to businesses, government, education and health care reported total net sales in 2013 were $10.769 billion, compared to $10.128 billion in 2012, an increase of 6.3 percent. Gross profit in 2013 was $1.760 billion, compared to $1.670 billion in 2012, a 5.4 percent increase. 

Corporate sales led the way for CDW in 2013, increasing 8.1 percent from the previous year. In particular, medium and large businesses proved to be CDW's most valuable customer segment. The education market, however, is CDW's fastest-growing customer segment, with net sales to those buyers growing 21.5 percent year-over-year. 

In addition to selling computer hardware to its B-to-B customer base, CDW wants to be their trusted partner. In March, the retailer announced the launch of its App Marketplace, an online destination that helps organizations cut through the challenges of today's highly fragmented mobile application market. The CDW App Marketplace connects organizations with vetted, proven developers of industry-leading mobile apps for key business functions such as sales support, customer relationship management, human resources systems and more — across all industries and job functions. 

"The App Marketplace is a key addition to CDW's Total Mobility Management portfolio, which simplifies mobility management and empowers customers to realize the full promise of mobile technology," said Andrea Bradshaw, CDW's senior director and general manager of mobility solutions. "The marketplace also presents significant opportunities for developers. This is the only destination that matches qualified developers with proven apps and development capabilities to an equally qualified national market that's actively looking for the development services they offer." — Joe Keenan