Omnichannel

Staples Advantage, the B-to-B division of Staples Inc., launched a new program in March designed to better serve the needs of the office supply retailer's business customers. Print-to-Store enables customers to order print jobs through staplesadvantage.com and pick up the finished product at their closest Staples store. The program caters to the omnichannel shopping behaviors of Staples' B-to-B customers.

Lumber Liquidators says it will probably lose $10 million on criminal charges filed against it by the Department of Justice regarding the safety of some of its wood-flooring products. Investors may beg to differ. On a conference call with analysts on Wednesday, Lumber Liquidators indicated that customer testing and the legal and professional fees associated with the Chinese-made wood-flooring issues highlighted in a "60 Minutes" report last month have already cost the company more than $5.5 million, on top of the $10 million it set aside for the government's criminal investigation.

Tell a group of science fiction writers to imagine the future of retail and what will they come up with? It's shaping up to be a world entrenched in virtual reality, robotic sales associates and now, the ability to 3-D print custom items for your home, Lowe's Innovation Labs has learned. In the latest project to come out of the home improvement store's innovation labs, Lowe's Orchard Supply Hardware store in Mountain View, California, on Wednesday will debut 3-D printing and scanning services that let shoppers customize their home accents and fixtures.

Apple just revealed a huge boost for its mobile payment offerings from retailer Best Buy. On an earnings conference call late Monday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Best Buy would begin accepting payments via Apple Pay on Best Buy's iPhone app now, and in Best Buy's physical stores later in the year. Apple Pay, the service that lets folks pay for goods with the iPhone or the new Apple Watch, has struggled to add high-profile retailers since its launch in September with Whole Foods, McDonald's, Subway, Panera Bread and others.

With consumers increasingly using their smartphones for shopping, particularly in-store, retailers have been forced to develop strategies for integrating the digital shopping experience into their brick-and-mortar locations. Steve Green, product evangelist at Vee24, a live video assistance solution provider, discusses this trend as well as how retailers can best serve today's omnichannel shoppers in this exclusive interview. For more from Steve on how your brand can take the steps necessary to thrive in today's omnichannel retail environment, register for next week's Retail Online Integration webinar, Unlocking Online Conversion: Bringing Your Best Web and Store Features Together.  

The retail industry is in the midst of an omnichannel revolution, led by increased consumer confidence in web and mobile shopping, said John Kalinich, senior vice president of omnichannel and e-commerce at Deckers Brands, parent company of brands such as UGG and Teva, in his keynote address at the Demandware XChange conference in Las Vegas yesterday.

The digital disruption of retail and commerce is transforming retailers' customer interactions. It's evolving into a far more flexible, seamless omnichannel fulfillment model, which is critical for retailers' continued success, viability and relevance. Online and mobile commerce has grown significantly in size and scale, leading to the misguided perception that brick-and-mortar stores are becoming obsolete. Rather, it's simply become more important for retailers to revitalize the in-store shopping experience in a way that's compelling, interesting and personalized for an increasingly empowered, informed and socially connected consumer.

Wal-Mart has a message for its vendors: keep those trade funds and put them toward the cost of goods. Wal-Mart wants even lower prices from suppliers to put more distance between itself and competitors, many of whom depend on vendor dollars. While it's not unusual for a retailer to pressure manufacturers for lower prices, the move by Wal-Mart, first reported by The City Wire's Kim Souza in February and again last week by The Wall Street Journal, is significant because of increasing competition from a wide range of rivals, including Aldi, Costco, Dollar General and Kroger.

Frank & Oak, a retailer of men's apparel and goods, implemented a tablet solution from Tulip Retail in its Toronto flagship store earlier this month. In this exclusive interview with Retail Online Integration, Ethan Song, CEO of Frank & Oak, and Ali Asaria, CEO of Tulip Retail, discuss how arming the store's sales associates with a mobile solution is helping affirm Frank & Oak's status as an emerging omnichannel brand.

Adidas has extended its supply chain processes and best practices into the marketing funnel. The company is using radio frequency identification technology to track its products from manufacturing facilities to store shelves, and near field communication technology from the shelf out the store door and to customers’ homes. The extended supply chain allows the sports brand to aggregate the data to achieve a more detailed picture of its customers.