Technology

Sears has unveiled Connected Solutions powered by Shop Your Way — experiential shops that bring together an assortment of smart, connected home and personal automation products. "With a presence in more than 13 million homes annually, dominance across the appliance, fitness and tools categories, and knowledgeable associates, Sears is uniquely positioned to lead this category," said Jim Pearse, vice president of consumer electronics for Sears Holdings. "We're presenting products ‘up and running,’ enabling our customers and Shop Your Way members to discover and learn how they connect, work and fit into their daily lives."

Leveraging mobility and new digital technologies is a smart move for the retail industry, especially as it seeks to engage younger consumers accustomed to using mobile devices to communicate, browse and play. But as with any new endeavor, retailers should proceed with caution and pay heed to the following:

Every retailer from small local boutiques to global superpowers has tried to keep up with the exploding demand for shopping online. However, in the past year, retailers and brands are understanding more and more the need to deliver a memorable in-store experience that elevates shopping to an activity in itself while strengthening the relationship between the consumer and the brand. This experience is integral in turning shoppers into customers that will stay loyal to your brand no matter what new channels technology may bring.

Nordstrom remains focused on its defining organizational characteristic — service. Recognizing technology is changing the definition of what good service is, Nordstrom is focused on harnessing technology to drive growth. The company is striving to pay even greater attention to the customer experience, whether the customer is shopping in-store or online. Nordstrom management determined, for instance, that 25 percent of all online shopping was done via mobile phones in 2013, so it's quickly prioritized enhancing mobile service for 2014. Moving forward, mobile phone apps will be enhanced to make shopping easier and more exciting.

Nordstrom has launched nordstromrack.com, a new e-commerce site and mobile app, built on a shared platform with HauteLook, Nordstrom's flash-sale business. The new site gives consumers access to Nordstrom Rack merchandise alongside HauteLook flash-sale events. The site experience is designed to offer an integrated way for consumers to browse and buy merchandise either through a persistent Nordstrom Rack offering of on-trend apparel, accessories and shoes at discount prices or through limited-time, limited-inventory flash-sale events powered by HauteLook. Consumers are able to shop both sites through a single login, shopping cart and can combine items into one easy checkout.

Walgreens announced an iBeacon pilot at 10 New York City Duane Reade locations at the Mcommerce Summit last week. The pilot looks to build on the brand's growing online and mobile presence and bridge the gap between the in-store and online experience. The technology is being implemented into the Duane Reade mobile app and will be used in conjunction with the brand's mobile coupon program. Currently, users of the app can virtually clip and save coupons while browsing the app out of the store, and can present them via their smartphone at checkout to activate the savings.    

Sears has added two new features to its multichannel Shop Your Way social and shopping platform: Get Advice and Member Assist. Available on both the mobile app and www.ShopYourWay.com, the Get Advice feature lets shoppers ask questions about specific products. Questions are broadcast to appropriate store associates, who then chime in with answers. Questions are visible to other members of Shop Your Way, who are also able to provide answers. In addition, those other members can rate products and provide specific recommendations and advice to their fellow shoppers.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is moving forward with the creation of a program that will provide retailers access to information on cybersecurity threats identified by retailers, government, and law enforcement agencies and partners in the financial services sector. The program, developed in consultation with the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), will launch with the establishment of an information-sharing platform for retail industry information security specialists, and plans call for a retail ISAC to be established in June. 

Google has developed a way to match the ads you view online to the purchases you make offline by developing a program that tracks you all the way to the store. The In-Store Attribution Transaction Reporting in AdWorks’ pilot program lets Google tell online advertisers — which spend the majority of their budgets on Google — which digital ad views convert to direct in-store sales. "Clicks are just the beginning, and everyone knows that there's more value to tying ads to purchases," advertising technology company myThings CEO Benny Arbel said in a Wall Street Journal report. 

For all the talk about showrooming and Jeff Bezos mercilessly pursuing world domination, e-commerce remains a fraction of the size of the good ole' brick-and-mortar industry. But times are changing. Physical retail in the U.S. deals in trillions of dollars, while e-commerce dabbles in mere hundreds of billions. Americans are expected to spend $304.1 billion and $4.1 trillion on e-commerce and physical retail, respectively, in 2014. By 2017, those figures are expected to increase to $440.4 billion and nearly $4.9 trillion, according to eMarketer.