In the digital age, shoppers want social engagement online, vastly improved functionality, payment security and a seamless cross-channel shopping experience.
“The trick for etail decision-makers today is not just to closely follow how the technology is developing, but to also track and react to how customers are using it,” says Aurora Fashions group multichannel director Hash Ladha. “Social trends are changing so fast and expectations of where, when and how you can buy products are rising ahead of what we’re able to offer. People are arriving at websites and saying ‘why can’t I do this or that?’ So the pressure really is on to keep up.”
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You can learn a lot wandering around the EXPO Hall and talking to exhibitors. For example, the UN World Food Programme has partnered with PayPal to fight world hunger, and retailers have an opportunity to help through www.wefeedback.org. One trend Monetate had heard in the hall is the need for retailers to be able to make changes to their website faster. RichRelevance said mobile had been a big topic among their booth visitors.
Last weekend, I had the great opportunity to attend and speak at the DDi (Display and Design ideas) forum in Sonoma, and it was a great eye opener.
It’s a topic that is on the forefront of every one of our agendas: mastering the art of cross-channel optimization. Whether you are a big box retailer or a specialty chain, we are all confronted with the same core issues of delivering seamless customer experiences across our channels of business.
It’s never too late—or too early—to plan for a bigger and better holiday shopping season.
To say that the holidays spike sales is a huge understatement at Wine.com, where customer traffic and orders surge 1,000% during the Christmas shopping season—and account for 80% of annual sales.Putting even more of a squeeze on things is that most holiday traffic crowds into the 11 days from Dec. 10 to Dec. 20, as shoppers rush to send their gifts of wine and wine accoutrements in time for pre-Christmas delivery.
The naming of Amazon.com as the top-performing brand in the US by market research firm Millward Brown is truly a watershed moment for e-commerce players who have neither the long standing history nor seeming reach of many traditional multi-channel retailers.
I’m almost tired of the word. It hasn’t reached the status of “robust” or “ubiquitous”, but everywhere I turn the term convergence is being thrown around. It does wrap around the concept it describes like polar fleece on a cold New England night.