E-Commerce
October 12, 2017 at 11:16 am
In today’s fast-changing landscape, retail brands face an escalating number of challenges, from shifting consumer behaviors to the imperatives of digital transformation. In years past, many would consider multichannel as just having a brick-and-mortar store and an online presence. Today, retailers must adopt more robust multichannel strategies and deliver a cohesive brand experience to remain…
October 11, 2017 at 2:13 pm
Beauty retailer Sephora has promoted Mary Beth Laughton to executive vice president of U.S. omni retail. Previously, Laughton was senior vice president of digital. “Mary Beth is a visionary and strategist with a deep understanding of how customers are evolving,” said Calvin McDonald, chief executive officer and president of Sephora Americas. “During her time at…
October 11, 2017 at 1:50 pm
Diamond and fine jewelry retailer Blue Nile has announced the appointment of Frédéric Cumenal, the former chief executive officer of Tiffany & Co., to its board of directors. Cumenal held various executive positions of increasing responsibility at Tiffany and served on the company’s board of directors. Prior to his work with Tiffany & Co., Cumenal…
October 11, 2017 at 9:38 am
Ikea will soon sell its products through third-party online retailers in an attempt to reach more customers. A pilot program is scheduled to start sometime next year, the Swedish furniture retailer said Tuesday. The company is "curious" about what will happen as it plans to gather new insights from the pilot, Ikea spokesperson Josefin Thorell said…
October 9, 2017 at 3:57 pm
In Q3 2017, SLI Systems found expectations for increased online revenues steadily increasing year-over-year, brick-and-mortar forecasts upbeat, but geographic expansion plans waning. In addition, many retailers have concrete AI plans for the next 12 months, yet VR/AR, voice-activated apps and virtual buying assistants remain elusive. Lastly, the study found customer experience taking second place among top priorities for the first time — trailing only replatforming as the top initiative in Q3. The full report is available for download.
October 9, 2017 at 11:53 am
Costco announced last week that it's offering customers same-day grocery delivery. On Thursday, the company announced two new delivery options: two-day delivery for dry goods, and same-day delivery for orders that include fresh foods. The same-day service will be powered by grocery delivery company Instacart. The same-day delivery option, available in “most metropolitan areas,” lets…
October 9, 2017 at 11:32 am
In its ongoing effort to compete with Amazon.com, Wal-Mart announced a new way of handling in-store returns of online purchases that it claims could shrink the processing time to 35 seconds. Starting next month, Mobile Express Returns will enable consumers to begin a return process on Wal-Mart’s app before bringing the item in question to any…
October 9, 2017 at 9:39 am
This new whitepaper from internet service provider Plusnet seeks to understand the ways in which retail will change in the future. Focusing on how faster and more widely available internet connections will change e-commerce, retail destinations and mobile, this study looks at the Internet of Things, intelligent shopping, artificial intelligence and more. The study features insights from industry experts from across the retail and digital spectrum, with CEOs, inventors and a host of marketing, e-commerce and web design experts offering their predictions on how the future of the internet will influence retail.
October 6, 2017 at 12:07 pm
Amazon.com has been ordered to pay 250 million euros ($294 million) to Luxembourg after the European Commission (EC) found that the online retailer received illegal tax benefits. The EC says Amazon received tax advantages between 2006 and 2014 in the country without any "valid justification." Margrethe Vestager, the EU's commissioner for competition, said in a statement,…
October 3, 2017 at 11:47 am
The National Retail Federation (NRF) forecasts a 3.6 percent to 4 percent rise in holiday retail sales during the November-to-December period for a total of $678.8 billion to $682.0 billion, the trade association said Tuesday. This would put 2017 in line with last year's holiday sales, which increased 3.6 percent year-over-year (the five-year average is…
