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J.C. Penney is bolstering its mobile strategy by teaming up with visual product search platform Slyce, following in the footsteps of Amazon.com, Macy's and other retailers that are leveraging image recognition to enable consumers to snap photos and view similar items. J.C. Penney has had a relatively quiet start to 2015 in terms of mobile, and is likely aiming to keep up with other retailers by ensuring that its products are easily searchable via mobile devices. Slyce predicts that visual search options will become requisite for brands in the near future, as it ultimately provides instant answers to time-strapped consumers.

As we rapidly move from old media to the new media of the internet, retailers must shift to also take advantage of the digital economy where their customers are now shopping. This digital transformation is the greatest opportunity in the history of trade and commerce. For the first time, the internet creates a digital democracy of marketing and advertising because few retailers can afford consistent advertising, while the internet makes multimedia affordable and creates a revenue center.

You've probably heard this one before: When you're trying to get a visitor to your site, you should be screaming for attention. While they're on your site, you should quietly let them shop. The shouting stops at the entrance. Nobody wants a bazaar while browsing. At least, in theory, nobody wants a bazaar.

Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, a retailer fighting for every sale, has evidently found a weapon in Google's Local Inventory Ads that it says works to drive consumers to its stores. The digital marketing product is still fairly new from the search giant, launched last year, and holds the promise of finally helping brick-and-mortar brands take advantage of the online world rather than always getting beaten by it. With that in mind, the Sears spinoff company has been running Google's shopping ads that target by location and reveal whether a product is actually in a location.

Apple Pay made its much awaited debut in October 2014, and as with everything Apple does, the conversation on alternative payment mechanisms has gained center stage. Is there even any credence to all the clamor about new payment mechanisms? What happened to good ole' cash, checks and credit cards?

Out-of-date inventory is holding many retailers back. This issue can strike at any time of the year and keeps warehouses full of the wrong products. Inventory costs can account for up to 90 percent of business expenses, and no retailer wants that. So what's the best way to get those products moving at a price that's appealing to customers, but still makes enough margin for retailers? There are four main ways to address this:

With more and more money being thrown at digital marketing every year, now is a great time to look at ways to maximize the impact of your print campaigns and restore balance to your marketing efforts. Why? Events like Valentine's Day in February, Mother's Day in May, along with Easter in April mean that the first two quarters of 2015 are practically crying out for personalized communication!

The ongoing rise in searching and shopping from mobile devices has gained plenty of attention and has resulted in changes ranging to how stores display on small screens to various competing payment methods vying to be the choice of mobile shoppers. But the biggest name in search may be the most influential driver of change. Starting April 21, Google will give mobile-friendly sites a boost in search rankings.

Google has opened its first ever store, located in London, as an increasing number of digital companies are looking to get closer to their customers. The Google Shop will be based inside U.K. electronics retailer Currys PC World on London's Tottenham Court Road - a street packed with tech and gadget retailers and a short distance from Apple's U.K. flagship store.

Streamlining the path to purchase and checkout process has been one of the key ways that e-tailers have been able to improve their customers’ online shopping experiences and drive conversions. Mobile consumers have come to expect the fastest, most seamless checkout experiences possible. They don't want to type their credit card numbers or shipping addresses into a small screen every time they shop a new site. They also never want to worry about the security of their data, which high-profile breaches at major retailers routinely call into question. New alternate payment options promise to accelerate this process, and merchants should take a hard look at implementing them for several reasons.