Total Retail's Top 100 Omnichannel Retailers

I have some exciting news to share with you: Total Retail, in conjunction with Radial, a leading omnichannel commerce technology and operations provider, has just released its first-ever ranking of 100 publicly traded retailers by their omnichannel capabilities.

Why focus on omnichannel retail? Simply put, today’s digitally-savvy shopper wants seamless experiences online, in-store, and on their mobile devices — basically anywhere they choose to engage with retailers. Any retailer that can’t meet the omnichannel expectations of their customers just won’t survive.

Our Top 100 Omnichannel Retailers report offers a blueprint on how to deliver the seamless, quick and enjoyable customer experiences that today’s shoppers demand. It also helps retailers see where they stand in terms of the omnichannel experiences they’re providing their customers, as well as provide insight into opportunities that may exist in their product categories.

This report serves as a supplement to Total Retail’s annual Top 100 Fastest-Growing Retailers list, which ranks public retailers based on year-over-year sales. We’ve taken that list of fastest-growing retailers and scored them based on the omnichannel experiences they offer to their customers.

What is Omnichannel Retail?

The report answers the question by scoring the retailers on seven criteria — does it offer buy online, pick up in-store; does it offer the ability to search for in-store products via its e-commerce site; does it offer a shared cart across channels (e.g., mobile to desktop); are loyalty points able to earned and redeemed across channels; are products able to be returned across channels (e.g., return online purchases in-store); does it offer customer service in three or more channels; and is pricing consistent across channels.

Here are some of the key findings from the report:

• DSW, UGG, Urban Outfitters, and Zumiez tied atop the rankings, each earning a maximum score of 100;
• 63 percent of the retailers do not offer buy online, pick up in-store for their customers;
• just 50 percent of the retailers studied provide online shoppers visibility into inventory at their local brick-and-mortar location; and
• 83 percent of the retailers do have shared shopping carts across channels.

In addition to the top 100 ranking, the four companies that tied for first place —DSW, UGG, Urban Outfitters, and Zumiez — were profiled.

I'm both encouraged by the findings as well as aware of the many challenges retailers still face in delivering seamless omnichannel customer experiences. Some retailers have taken the lead and implemented successful omnichannel programs that are delivering positive results — e.g., increased revenues and profits, decreased costs. However, the majority of retailers studied are not yet offering customer-valued programs such as buy online, pick up in-store, as well as in-store inventory visibility via their digital properties. Hopefully this report will offer guidance and direction to those retailers that are at the beginning of their omnichannel journeys, as well as improve the strategies of those which have already begun theirs.

To see the complete rankings and view Total Retail’s Top 100 Omnichannel Retailers report, click here.