Deloitte

Always-connected, digital omnivores present brands with the opportunity to build richer and stronger relationships with customers, but competition for their attention is fierce. In order to connect with digital omnivores and meet their expectations, retailers must provide consistent, tailored and content-rich experiences as consumers jump between tablets, phones and desktops. Here are five simple tips to help retailers engage digital omnivores across any online touchpoint:  

We may be in the dog days of summer, but retailers and brands are hard at work gearing up for one of the busiest shopping periods of the year, back to school (BTS). Second only to the winter holiday season, BTS shopping marks the start of a mad dash for retailers as parents look to stock up on new clothing, school supplies and even electronics. In 2012, parents spent approximately $689 per child on back-to-school items.

Leading analysts like Forrester and Deloitte predict that online retail sales in both November and December will increase double-digits year-over-year. This might come at a steep price for smaller retailers however because of increased competition among merchants in the form of aggressive discounting, free shipping and other promotional offers. With holiday sales accounting for as much as 30 percent of total annual revenue for some businesses, it's time for e-commerce merchants to up their game.

Smartphones currently influence 5.1 percent of annual retail store sales, translating into $159 billion in forecasted sales for 2012, according to new Deloitte research. For the first time in the industry, the in-depth study measures the "mobile influence factor," or impact of smartphones on in-store sales. The mobile influence factor captures the in-store sales driven by consumers' store-related smartphone activity such as product research, price comparison or other mobile application use.

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