Omnichannel

It's no secret that J.C. Penney has dealt with its fair share of challenges in recent years. Following the disastrous tenure of former CEO Ron Johnson, which saw the retail chain disenfranchise its loyal customer base by eliminating discounts and coupons, J.C. Penney has been left to pick up the pieces and start over again. In somewhat of an ironic twist, the traditional retail brand is counting on digital technology to get it back to its roots as The Golden Rule Store — a place that offers high-value merchandise at great prices and with great service.

In a session yesterday at the National Retail Federation's Big Show in New York city, three retail executives from leading brands Macy's, Lowe's and The Limited discussed how their companies have optimized omnichannel. R.B. Harrison, chief omnichannel officer at Macy's; Debra Ellis, CEO of The Limited; and Brent Kirby, chief omnichannel officer at Lowe's, participated in a panel discussion that broke down the multiple facets of being an omnichannel retail organization, from customer service to inventory to fulfillment and more.

Macy's announced a sweeping reorganization fueled by big changes in how Americans shop. Both Macy's and Bloomingdale's, the department store's upscale sister chain, are restructuring their merchandising and marketing functions so that one unified merchandising and marketing organization — a combination of store and online buying — will support the entire Macy's business. The changes are designed to accelerate both store and digital growth.

Palm Beach is just an aisle away. Retail giant Target announced Tuesday its latest designer partnership, with Lilly Pulitzer — sorority-girl favorite and the queen of bold American resortwear. The 250-piece collection, which launches April 19, will feature apparel, accessories and shoes for women and girls, as well as home decor in 15 exclusive prints.

Stuart Weitzman's strappy sandals have graced the feet of actresses Jennifer Lawrence and Lupita Nyong'o. The Duchess of Cambridge sports his wedge heels. Now, Coach wants in on the action. Coach, the New York-based luxury fashion house, said on Tuesday that it would buy Stuart Weitzman, the maker of midrange luxury shoes, for up to $574 million in cash. Coach also said it would retain Mr. Weitzman, the company's 72-year-old executive chairman and creative director, to lead the team whose styles have been in high demand on red carpets and in stores.

As rapidly as the retail industry has undergone change in recent years, there's no indication that it's likely to slow down anytime soon. In fact, I'd suggest that the coming year will see even bigger and faster changes for retailers across the globe. Mobile payment technologies, evolving customer behaviors, new and unexpected competition, and more will require retailers to continually evolve.

Amazon and other retailers are on pace to sell more products online than ever this holiday season, aided by early promotions and investments in delivery systems that helped avoid the widespread shipping delays of last year. Web sales rose 14 percent from Nov. 27 to Dec. 21, consulting firm ChannelAdvisor Corp. said in a statement earlier this week.

Looking to capitalize on the crafting craze, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores is partnering with the Craft Retail Group to launch TV programming dedicated specifically to crafting. The "TV shopping experience" with daily featured shows is scheduled to launch Dec. 29. "This partnership with Create and Craft provides an incredible opportunity to deliver exclusive product, projects and promotions to crafters and makers across the United States," said Riddi Kline, executive vice president of marketing and merchandising at Jo-Ann. 

The future of commerce is here, and it's omnichannel retail. Cyber Monday was the single biggest online shopping day ever. Mobile led the way, with a 27.6 percent increase in sales from last year. However, while mobile sales are on the rise, shoppers are still spending the bulk of their holiday budgets in physical retail stores. If you concentrate on one channel alone, you're going to lose out on potential customers. The best thing you can do is to take advantage of mobile, e-commerce, and brick-and-mortar retail this year. Here are four tactics for using an omnichannel approach to increase conversions among holiday shoppers:

There they are — the millennials — shopping in the stores of their choice and texting to their friends what's hot and what's not. The retailer has almost no sway in their merchandise preferences — much less color preferences. Trends in fashion are hard to define for them — they're more likely to be anti-trends. They were first called Generation Z, but that didn't fit their DNA. Now they're called "Cybrids." In a recent discussion with Erica Orange, vice president with consulting firm Weiner, Edrich, and Brown, she described the current youth as cyber hybrids, or Cybrids for short.