Omnichannel

Jessica London, a plus-size women’s fashion brand in the portfolio of Redcats USA’s OneStopPlus Group, announced that it's the first U.S. apparel brand to feature image recognition technology on its iPhone app.

Oriental Trading Company, a direct retailer of value-priced party supplies, arts, crafts, toys and novelties, has introduced new digital catalogs that busy consumers may access via their iPads.

While you’re probably in the middle of the busy holiday season right now, 2012 is closer than you think. As you begin to look forward to the year ahead, I’ve put together a list of predictions for what cross-channel retailers can expect come next year.

Menswear retailer Topman is delving into the world of media with a new monthly digital magazine. Topman Generation launched yesterday and is accessible globally through a link on Topman’s website so you don’t need to download a dedicated app.

Searching online wish lists, guessing or just directly asking people what they want as gifts is so 20th century, therefore Wal-Mart is launching a new approach for the holidays — its Shopycat app that scours Facebook profiles, updates, comments and likes to come up with gifts for your friends.

Google is taking its Street View map service indoors, enabling users to see 360-degree images of the interior of various businesses including retail stores and restaurants. The internet giant rolled out pilot projects of the service in London and Paris last week, as well as in other cities across Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

Steve Yankovich is engrossed in a televised hockey game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks. Though he’s a hockey zealot, he cares less about the score than the attire of Ryan Kesler, a Canuck center. “See his jersey?” the eBay executive said, pointing to a TV that almost covers a wall of his office. As he talks, the uniform pops up on a tablet computer in front of him, along with vintage sportswear and tickets to upcoming games — all available for purchase.

eBay announced plans to open its first physical store in London next month. The shop will feature display models of the shopping site’s 200 most popular items, all embedded with QR codes to allow shoppers to instantly find the item online.

The new empowered consumer has high expectations for retailers. A consistent, relevant and engaging shopping experience no matter when, where or on what device or channel they're shopping is demanded. In order to remain competitive, retailers need to think about how to not only meet these expectations, but to exceed them.

Gap has deployed the Google Wallet pay-by-smartphone capability in more than 65 of its California stores, joining leading retailers including Macy's, OfficeMax, Toys"R"Us and American Eagle in using the technology. Gap is promoting usage of the app with a 15 percent discount off customers' entire purchase through February 2012.