Digital Innovation

I was walking through a store recently when I stumbled upon an old standby — the gift card section. In recent years, gift cards have become a staple of retail endcaps, providing the ideal grab-and-go item for those looking for a last-minute token, a present for a distant relative or a thank-you gift. This wasn’t…

Two years ago, innovation expert Tom Goodwin penned an article for TechCrunch in which he observed the following phenomenon: “Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no…

The struggles of brick-and-mortar retailers in 2017 have been well-documented. Iconic brands such as J.C. Penney, Macy's and Sears have all announced store closures this year, and other mall-based retailers such as The Limited, Wet Seal, and American Apparel have gone out of business. Why? A common reason cited is less in-store traffic, the result…

It’s all very well waxing lyrical about Sears, Macy’s and J.C. Penney, but let’s be honest, they’ve let things slide. Having fallen behind the times, they no longer relate to today's consumers. In the last decade, Sears has closed 22 percent of its stores. We’re witnessing the death of the mall because traditional retailers failed…

Secrets for optimizing inventory to maximize profits and best practices for inventory data management for multi-channel sellers.

Signet Jewelers announced its plans to acquire e-commerce diamond company R2Net, parent company of JamesAllen.com, a millennial-friendly online diamond shop. Bloomberg reports the corporate parent of the Kay and Zales jewelry chains has agreed to pay about $328 million for the acquisition. News of the deal came as Signet Jewelers surprised investors with an increase in…

The romance of in-store shopping hasn’t fizzled out just yet, and thanks to social media, it has new meaning. According to Forbes Insights, consumers today conduct shopping research online, but prefer to make their purchases in a physical storefront. Still, they’re not ditching their digital resources once they go inside. Data management platform SessionM found…

As the second-largest spending season among consumers — and, at three months, the longest — back-to-school (BTS) brings big opportunities for retailers to connect with shoppers. RetailMeNot recently released a study conducted by Kelton Global that found 85 percent of retail marketers plan to invest more in their BTS marketing in 2017 compared to the…

2017 has been a whirlwind of a year for retailers to say the least, with most of the conversation surrounding how brands need to think digitally first. However, this morning in a panel discussion at eTail East, Drew Green, CEO of Indochino, a made-to-measure menswear company, ended the session with a telling statement. “I think…

With the back-to-school season upon us, retailers are struggling to stand out in the digital world. It’s getting harder for brands to differentiate themselves without being borderline abusive to consumers. Let’s face it, most of what’s being done in digital today is being overdone. Efficacy is failing, so marketers are focusing on efficiency to do…