Omnichannel

Since the inception of commerce, it seemed customers were at the mercy of retailers in how the two parties would transact. COVID-19 has flipped this: customers are now in control, choosing how they move products from store to home. Buy online, pick up in-store is a perfect example, as retailers shift their operational model to…

Amazon.com's reported plan to open larger footprint department stores in the U.S. is hardly surprising. This move is consistent with what we’ve seen to-date: namely, that Amazon has a long-term road map to transform retail in the U.S. and the world. For the broader retail industry, this signals that physical retail stores are still an…

The future of retail, and the CPG brands that fill its shelves, has already arrived. If you're not yet omnichannel, your chances of survival are slim. If you're not working with data in real time, your decision making will be restrained and ill-informed. If you're not adopting a platform-centric orchestration mindset, your growth will be…

Consumer demand for contactless service and curbside delivery was already on the rise before 2020. But when the pandemic began, it skyrocketed. Since then, 85 percent of consumers increased their use of curbside pickup; 60 percent now cite a lack of contactless services as a deal-breaker for whether they do business somewhere. This all points…

Digital commerce has emerged as a winning business strategy since 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe. While a number of retailers such as Nike and Williams-Sonoma successfully reached consumers without being able to physically interact with them, most retail brands had to find new and innovative ways to connect with their customers. A…

The coronavirus has brought forward two significant trends in retail. One is to have a more integrated approach to omnichannel retail, and the other is to re-invigorate brick-and-mortar stores. The dramatic changes in how people have shopped over the past 18 months mean that neither trend will end any time soon. Consumers have become familiar with…

The omnichannel approach to customer experience (CX) has become an essential investment among companies focused on maintaining a strong brand reputation. It means providing a unified experience through all channels and platforms that consumers use to interact with the brands they shop. In other words, it’s become more important than ever to communicate the same messages across all channels in which customers choose to engage.…

In episode 314 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Jonas Stillman, director of store systems at Office Depot, a leading provider of business services, products and digital workplace technology solutions. Stillman discusses his role at the company, how his responsibilities shifted over the last year-plus of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the changes he's…

Like many industries, retailers are dealing with a shortage of labor at every level, from delivery drivers to store associates. As a result, they must often be prepared to do more with fewer resources, including handling irregular deliveries and replenishment schedules as well as managing available inventory for maximum efficiency and sales. Meanwhile, a new…

It isn’t easy to make an online experience empathetic — it requires all kinds of connections to deliver an exceptional and personalized connected experience. Forrester released a survey recently that says companies that create these connections across channels report dramatic benefits around revenue growth, innovation, cost reduction, customer experience and digital transformation. There are five…