E-Commerce

Consumers often decry the early appearance of holiday shopping commercials and decorations. For retailers, however, preparing for the holiday shopping season has become a year-round effort, especially when it comes to fulfillment center staffing. With e-commerce continuing to grow in popularity, much of today’s labor demand has shifted from brick-and-mortar stores to fulfillment centers. As…

I surf e-commerce sites daily both professionally and as a consumer. While the overall user experience has improved greatly over the years, I'm shocked at what I find (or don’t find) in this day and age, specifically as it relates to product returns. Why does this matter? Because returns are killing margins for most e-tailers!…

In a press conference yesterday at the Shop.org conference in Los Angeles, a panel of speakers spent an hour telling assembled media not to believe the stories they're reading and hearing about the death of retail. In fact, the opposite is true: while there have been some high-profile retailers that have closed stores this year…

Debates flare and facts fly when talking about brick-and-mortar retail. Some experts say it's reached its end. Within the past year alone, 18 retailers have declared bankruptcy. National brands from Ralph Lauren and BCBG Max Azria to Payless and Sears have closed thousands of stores across the United States. Others, however, say brick-and-mortar sales are…

Study after study of online shopping behavior has repeatedly confirmed what you already know intuitively: When consumers reach your e-commerce site for the first time, they expect to find some sort of independent verification that your company is reputable and trustworthy. New visitors might scan your site for testimonials, for example, to reassure themselves that…

Online shopping has hit its stride. But with all the things that set it apart from traditional retail — more convenience, options and ways to buy — there's one facet that won't ever disappear: retail giants. Just as mom-and-pop shops watched department stores and big-box retailers spring up and seemingly take over, independent online sellers…

Think for a moment of the last time you shopped in a store. A real, physical store with shelves and thousands of products. If it was a grocery store, you probably grabbed a cart and went up and down the aisles grabbing things you needed from a mental list of stuff. If it was a…

Most companies think of optimizing lifetime value (LTV) as a post-sale initiative, for example, focusing on activities such as expansion, retention and upselling. This may sound like a reasonable strategy, but waiting until after a prospect becomes a customer is a mistake when it comes to increasing average lifetime account value. In reality, optimizing LTV…

With reports swirling about the uncertain future of the retail industry, retailers are working to stand out in a highly competitive market, deciphering what customers really want from the brands they interact with, and delivering those things in a timely manner. While determining what consumers want may seem daunting to retailers, according to a recent…

Although the majority of consumers still prefer to shop in-store, 72 percent admit to showrooming in the last 12 months. Smartphones are changing the way people shop, challenging retailers to adapt to the changing times. In August, Salesfloor, a technology platform for omnichannel retail associates, announced a mobile messaging feature that connects customers to their local store…