Omnichannel

West Elm is expanding into the hospitality business. The furniture and home goods retailer announced the expansion of its signature modern aesthetic, West Elm Hotels, in partnership with DDK. The first properties are expected to open in late 2018 starting in Detroit, Minneapolis, Savannah, Charlotte and Indianapolis. In addition, each hotel will offer a unique…

Dave Brandon, CEO of Toys“R”Us, took a walk through one of the company's stores recently and decided there needed to be a change. “It kind of reminds me of a garage sale," Brandon said as he looked at bins of cheap toys at the front of the store. "We’re not the dollar shop. We’re a…

Merchants were once the only critical players in the retail industry. Their ability to drive the business by understanding the customer and predicting customer behavior made them invaluable to their organizations. However, now that “omnichannel” retailing is the new reality, the merchant’s role is rapidly changing. A merchant must now also be able to absorb enhanced analytics and work even more closely with design and marketing applications to understand and adapt to trends that satisfy quickly changing customer tastes.

Macy's is getting a piece of the on-demand beauty market. The department store has partnered with beGlammed to deliver an at-home or in-store primping service for your big day — or just because. Leveraging beGlammed's footprint of more than 1,200 stylists in 22 markets in the U.S., the partnership offers a new level of convenience…

It’s been a rough year for retail. The department store model has derailed into irrelevance, traditional brick-and-mortar stores have had to make massive investments in e-commerce, and customers’ needs have continued to change at breakneck speed. Despite some surprising (and some not so surprising) developments across the industry, the majority of retailers are looking forward…

PetSmart, the largest specialty pet retailer in North America, is taking steps to grow its long-term omnichannel capabilities. The retailer announced it will leverage Demandware's Commerce Cloud platform to allow its customers to shop and engage how, when and where they wish. Mike Goodwin, senior vice president and chief information officer for PetSmart, explains that…

Learn 6 actionable steps, using insights from industry experts, to help you better plan, execute and measure retail marketing projects.

If you’re like most retailers, the fourth quarter accounts for at least 40 percent of your total annual revenue. Holiday performance can easily make or break the year. How do you make sure consumers spend with you during the busiest shopping season? One of the biggest challenges during the holiday season is retail planning, and…

The traditional thinking has been to look at in-store success to determine an e-commerce and m-commerce strategy. However, by evaluating successful e-commerce and m-commerce strategies, brick-and-mortar retailers can create a seamless shopping experience and help meet consumers’ ever-heightening expectations. Brick-and-mortar stores are evolving as consumers expect a more compelling and personalized customer experience. While online…

It's not a secret that customers that purchase in multiple channels (i.e., omnichannel customers) are more valuable to brands than their single-channel counterparts. Therefore, it makes sense that retailers would do everything in their power to convert single channel customers — particularly those in-store — into omnichannel customers. In episode 50 of Total Retail Talks,…