Retail Stores

The omnichannel moment has arrived in retail. Just as cable providers are now pursuing a "TV everywhere" strategy, letting you watch your shows online or on mobile, "retail everywhere" is changing how you shop. Anywhere, anytime, with any device, you can browse, compare, learn, experience and buy your favorite brands and products. As with cable and its legacy core distribution channel (TV), the catch for retailers will be how to integrate brick-and-mortar retail into a seamless "retail everywhere" consumer experience. 

For those of you who love to shop on Gilt.com — the New York City-based online retailer specializing in offering high-end designer apparel and accessories, home goods and more for up to 60 percent off retail every day — but always wanted to try on the dress or shoes of your dreams before buying, then your ship has come in. From June 28 through July 28, Gilt will open its first-ever designer pop-up outlet in Louisville.

The printed catalog is the main driver of traffic to the web. However, with all of the other touchpoints available to consumers today, how do we really know the impact of catalog mailings on web sales? And why do we give so much credit to the print catalog? There are a few reasons why:

Improved consumer confidence and spending helped drive retail sales in May. According to the National Retail Federation, the world's largest retail trade association, May retail sales (excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants) increased 0.6 percent seasonally adjusted from April and increased a strong 4.8 percent unadjusted year-over-year.  "The American consumer continues to drive the U.S. economy," NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. "In spite of fluctuating gas prices, severe weather in much of the country and fiscal policy uncertainty, consumers continue to demonstrate an inherent resiliency and flexibility.

In my previous post, I shared the first four of eight best practices that online retailers can use to power up their Product Listing Ads (PLAs). PLAs are getting to be as competitive as standard paid search, so it's important to manage them closely in order to get the best results. The following are my second set of four best practices that retailers use to improve their PLA campaigns:

Technology is cool, but shoppers want service. Retailers need to modernize and respond to industry and consumer trends with an array of shopping and fulfillment options. They need to deploy new technologies. But shoppers also want the basics. Whether they shop in-store or online, the top influencers of purchase decisions are price and product selection. Out-of-stocks is the No. 1 in-store dislike, as it has been every year since Cognizant and RIS partnered together for the annual Shopper Preference study.

Costco CEO Craig Jelinek is eliminating self-service checkout from the company's stores because he says his employees do a better job. "They're great for low-volume warehouses, but we don't want to be in the low-volume warehouse business," he told Brad Stone at Bloomberg Businessweek.

Having had a couple of days to regroup and recover from last week's Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition (IRCE) in Chicago, I wanted to take the opportunity this space provides me to offer my thoughts on the event. So, in no particular order, here they are:

Consumers often turn to search engines when they begin their shopping research. Search engine results pages now include not only the organic and paid text ads, but also Product Listing Ads (PLAs) that can be a powerful way to engage consumers with pictures and prices of the products you sell. Smart retailers jumped on the PLA wagon early and they're already making tweaks — large and small — that help these ads work better for them. In the next two posts, I'll be sharing eight best practices that successful online retailers are using to power up their PLA results.

Five Below founders David Schlessinger and Thomas Vellios have so far learned to avoid the pitfalls that undid their last business — the bankrupt Zany Brainy toy company. Still, the real test lies ahead. The duo are expanding the chain that sells teens discounted items, from tie-dyed T-shirts to bedazzled iPhone cases, at a breakneck pace, with a 72 percent increase in its store base helping more than double sales in the past two years.