Omnichannel

Retail has certainly evolved over the past two years. Today, we're living in an omnichannel retail universe that must be catered to carefully by retailers. Store associates can’t be expected to carry the entire load and overwhelming task of the end-to-end sales process anymore, but we also can’t entirely lean on artificial intelligence (AI) to…

For the fifth time, NAPCO Research, in conjunction with Blackhawk Network, has undertaken a comprehensive review of the state of merchants’ gift card offerings. The 2022 review included an assessment of retailers’ e-commerce/digital, mobile, and in-store gift card offerings, providing a holistic view into the consumer gift card purchase and recipient experience. The full report…

Online shopping might be easy, convenient and prolific, yet it hasn’t erased the need for flagship brick-and-mortar retail establishments. In fact, retail real estate is undergoing a phenomenal — and some might say surprising — comeback. As REJournals reported, roughly 60 percent of businesses with physical retail assets plan to expand their footprints in 2022. What’s driving the momentum?…

Although retail was already shifting toward integrated physical and digital experiences, the pandemic accelerated the trend, disrupting incumbent business models. Moreover, agile competitors further widened these gaps in the traditional retail landscape, carving out profitable niches for themselves. Retail has changed drastically, and if organizations are to survive in this alien environment, they'll need to…

Today we all love — and have likely used — curbside pickup at some point over the last two years. But let’s be honest: there's no reason retailers couldn’t have offered this a decade ago. As we take stock of the many changes to come out of the pandemic, one of the biggest in retail…

As competition for consumer wallet share intensifies and shoppers get more digitally savvy, retailers and brands are constantly on the lookout for tools to boost engagement, conversion and sales. There’s never a shortage of tools that claim to solve it all, but when done right, social proof messaging stands out. It's a great conversion booster…

After a two-year hiatus, close to 10,000 retail innovators joined forces in Las Vegas last month for Shoptalk. The much-anticipated event focused on the future of retail, highlighting new technologies, trends and business models. Shoptalk offered a variety of engaging speakers, from small startups to the biggest brand names in the industry, along with original…

In recent years, retail businesses have come to realize just how closely linked their physical and digital shopping experiences are. Anywhere consumers shop, they’ll find the digital in the physical, and, thanks to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) as well as other emerging technologies, something that feels like the “physical” in the digital.…

During Shoptalk 2022 in Las Vegas last week, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviewed Antonino Guichard, chief digital officer of Liverpool, the leading department store chain in Mexico. In this video, Guichard discusses some of the challenges Liverpool has faced in growing its e-commerce business, as well as how the retailer's customers' behaviors have shifted as a result of some…

In a session earlier this week at Shoptalk 2022 in Las Vegas, Sam's Club CEO Kath McLay detailed how the retailer is delivering better experiences for its members across both physical and digital channels. Sam's Club, the warehouse club owned by Walmart, has posted an impressive 27 percent growth in its e-commerce business over the…