Digital Innovation

Signet Jewelers to Acquire R2Net, Parent of JamesAllen.com
August 25, 2017 at 11:09 am

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 New Age of Retail: Using Social to Digitize the In-Store Experience
August 25, 2017 at 10:00 am

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…

Retailers Ramp Up Social and Mobile Initiatives to Reach Back-to-School Shoppers
August 17, 2017 at 10:00 am

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…

The Future of Online Retail is … Offline?
August 16, 2017 at 11:51 am

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…

The Golden Rule of Back-to-School Digital Marketing: Respect the Consumer
August 16, 2017 at 10:36 am

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…

4 Ways Retailers Can Heighten Digital Transformation
August 15, 2017 at 9:58 am

Digital transformation is sweeping the retail industry. As such, it's time for retailers to brush up on how to turn this evolution into a competitive advantage. While most of today’s consumers seek a digital experience, many retail leaders lag behind, instead proffering traditional market tactics that work, but don’t help the business excel. How can…

Voice: The Next Frontier of the Retail Digital Experience
August 2, 2017 at 9:53 am

When it comes to interacting with retailers and brands, there are two things which customers crave: convenience and ease of use. Convenience, in that a customer expects to be able to reach the store or brand whenever they want to, wherever they are. They also want that point of contact to be uncomplicated and easy…

Could X-Data Save Retail?
July 26, 2017 at 4:27 pm

2017 has been a rough year for traditional brick-and-mortar retailers. As many as 8,600 stores may close by the end of the year, shattering the previous record of 6,163 in 2008, according to a Credit Suisse report. This is due in large part to more than 300 retailers filing for bankruptcy halfway through 2017, a…