E-Commerce

The holiday shopping season typically generates around 20 percent of the average retailer’s annual revenue, but 2017 is difficult to forecast. Consumer confidence has increased, but continued economic and political instability could dampen shopper enthusiasm. In spite of potential instability, there are holiday shopping trends to expect as we move from Black Friday to year…

Retailers may see a bit more holiday cheer this year from online sales, at least according to holiday predictions released on Monday from Adobe. Based on Adobe Analytics data, the online holiday shopping season is off to a good start through Veteran’s Day weekend, with every day from Nov. 1 to Nov. 11 each surpassing…

Lord & Taylor will launch a flagship store on Walmart.com in spring 2018, according to a joint announcement from the retailers yesterday. As part of the agreement, Lord & Taylor will introduce a specialized “flagship store” on Walmart.com, which essentially will be a section on Walmart’s website and an app dedicated to goods sold by…

Alibaba has broken its own sales record for China's Singles Day, a 24-hour shopping extravaganza similar to Black Friday. Held on Nov. 11 each year, Singles Day was supposedly started in the 1990s to commemorate China's lonely hearts, a kind of anti-Valentine's day. Alibaba has helped turn it into the world's biggest shopping event. The e-commerce behemoth…

Vantiv and Socratic Technologies conducted an online survey with 1,001 consumers to learn about their upcoming holiday shopping plans. Shopping online for holiday gifts is catching up to in-store shopping. Consumers estimate that 43 percent of their holiday shopping will be done online this year compared to 47 percent in-store. Thirty-eight percent indicated they will shop more online this year compared to last year for holiday gifts, with convenience being the major reason why (66 percent).

This Saturday, Nov. 11, the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba will hold its annual Singles Day event, which last year grossed $17.8 billion (USD) in sales, up from $14.3 billion in 2015, according to a report from Fung Global Retail & Technology (FGRT). The 24-hour phenomenon has quickly become the world's largest shopping day, consistently surpassing…

Amazon.com has launched a pair of private-label furniture brands. The Seattle Times reports the online retailer unveiled the furniture brands — Rivet and Stone & Beam — this week. The brands will be sold exclusively on Amazon.com. This announcement represents the company's latest expansion into private-label brands. Amazon describes Rivet as “stylish and versatile mid-century modern furniture and…

I was excited to interview Tom Ebling last week, a true retail technology leader whose stint as CEO of Demandware from 2010-2016 included growing the software company into a $300 million public company that was acquired by Salesforce for $2.8 billion in 2016. Prior to Demandware, Ebling was the CEO of Lattice Engines, ProfitLogic and…

I was excited to interview Tom Ebling last week, a true retail technology leader whose stint as CEO of Demandware from 2010-2016 included growing the software company into a $300 million public company that was acquired by Salesforce for $2.8 billion in 2016. Prior to Demandware, Ebling was the CEO of Lattice Engines, ProfitLogic and […]

You can now rent clothes from Ann Taylor. Glamour reports the women's apparel retailer has quietly been piloting a new service called Infinite Style, in which customers can pick items to be directly shipped to them, worn at their leisure and then returned. For $95 a month, customers can expect three deliveries per payment. "At Ann…