We know that you're all interested in how your competition is doing, and since we hadn't seen a true ranking of cross-channel retailers year-over-year after a lot of research, we decided this year to roll up our sleeves, polish up our Excel spreadsheets and do it ourselves!
While our ranking of the fastest-growing cross-channel retailers features some of the biggest players in the industry, Retail Online Integration is well aware that there are thousands of other private retailers out there making their own strides. As a result, our staff selected five exceptional private retailers to highlight.
Backed by an improving economy, a recent surge in jobs and 10 consecutive months of rising retail sales, a broad range of retailers are poised to fill up empty retail spaces over the next 12 months to 18 months, according to Colliers International.
Barneys New York, the luxury specialty retailer, announced today that its e-commerce website, Barneys.com, has introduced international shipping to 90 countries including Canada, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Australia and China.
Continuing with its global expansion strategy, Gap announced plans to open its first store in an outlet center in Italy: a Gap store at the Vicolungo Outlet Center near Milan.
Stevie Koerner sells silver pendants on Etsy. The pendants come in the shapes of states with little heart-shaped cutouts. Cute, right? But maybe too cute, because the pendants caught the eye of Urban Outfitters, which now sells pendants in the shapes of states with little heart-shaped cutouts too.
In what's pretty much an unprecedented move by any major retailer, Old Navy is releasing a line of gay pride T-shirts this summer. The designs will be sold in all 1,035 Old Navy locations, which means that teens, moms and families across the country will encounter the shirts in malls, practically the modern equivalent of the town square.
Ash, one of the fastest-growing contemporary shoe and accessories brands, has made its way to America. The first U.S. Ash store location opened in New York City's SoHo district at 44 Mercer Street.
Apple is moving forward on plans to put iPads to work in its retail stores, not just as display models, but as tools to sell its other products. In Australia and other countries, Apple stores have opened with a new setup that makes use of iPads as informational tools to customers around the store, taking the place of the paper-based informational signs next to the company's products.
Newegg Inc., the largest tech-focused pure-play online retailer, announced the official opening of its first-ever "Will-Call" pickup location. Customers of Newegg.com and NeweggBusiness in the Los Angeles area now have the opportunity to save time and money by ordering online and then picking up their orders directly from the Newegg warehouse.
