It is expected that American consumers will increasingly be taking to the internet over the next few months to purchase items and gifts for the holiday season. For this reason, it is becoming vital for retailers to increase their online efforts to meet the needs of online shoppers and bring in more revenue for their operations.

According to a recent survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF), 51.8 percent of shoppers stated they plan to go online to buy items and services from retailers for the holiday season. Last year, only 46.7 percent of consumers said they were using the internet to purchase products from retailers. Of those that are going online, the respondents said they would complete 38.8 percent of their holiday shopping through ecommerce sites this year. Separate research from the NRF estimates that online holiday sales will bring in around $96 billion this year, representing a 12 percent increase from last year.

To increase their online sales during the holiday season, retailers can focus on increasing digital engagement with shoppers, writes Kyle Priest in an article for Independent Retailer. As smartphones and tablets are now being used at purchasing tools, businesses should turn their attention to making their online storefronts more interactive for consumers. This can ultimately lead to increased sales and higher customer satisfaction, states Priest.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, October 25th, 2012 at 3:27 am .

Retailers that maintain websites for online sales are preparing for the influx of internet shoppers that will flood their pages in the coming months to purchase items and gifts for the holidays. Many are taking steps now to reinforce their ecommerce sites so that the pages do not crash or experience outages, which could lead to a decrease in sales.

Businesses are using a variety of methods to enhance their customers' online experiences for the holidays, including redesigning their websites, updating security measures and increasing computer capacity, according to recent research from Rackspace Hosting. More than three-quarters of retailers surveyed are focusing on reducing website downtime, as they believe it can result in a drop in sales. Last year, 18 percent of respondents stated they had problems with site downtime, which cost businesses between hundreds of thousands and tens of millions in sales.

In addition to eliminating downtime, there are also a few other elements that retailers need to focus on when developing an ecommerce site. The Huffington Post writes that every retail page should include contact information for the business, simple and easy-to-use features and secure shopping capabilities so that customers are assured their transactions are being handled safely.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, October 24th, 2012 at 4:06 am .

Internet retail sales in the United Kingdom have seen strong growth recently, as research has revealed that the totals for ecommerce throughout the country have significantly increased. This comes right after the nation's retailers saw better-than-expected sales amounts for the month of September.

Internet Retailer reports that a recent study by IMRG and Capgemini revealed that online retail sales have grown by 16 percent over the past year. For September, consumers in the U.K. purchased approximately £6.4 billion ($10.25 billion) in products and services through the internet. These strong numbers also represent an 11 percent increase from the previous month. The report anticipates that for this year's fourth quarter, ecommerce sales in the nation will jump to 15 percent year-over-year, according to the source.

These positive numbers come on the heels of solid retail sales in U.K. for September. Bloomberg Businessweek wrote that increased sales of winter clothing and school uniforms are one major contributor to the rise in sales. Although there are still many concerns on the minds of the country's consumers, economists are hoping that the solid numbers will continue over the next few months, as the nation looks to recover from the recession.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, October 24th, 2012 at 1:40 am .

Retailers are already gearing up for Cyber Monday, which takes place the Monday after Thanksgiving, this year falling on November 26. Cyber Monday is one of the biggest shopping days for online sales, and retailers are expecting an increase in the amount of traffic on their ecommerce sites, leading up to Cyber Monday.

Forbes reports that businesses are improving their websites to enhance their customers' experiences for online shopping, according to a recent study by Rackspace. The steps being taken include hiring more IT staff members, as 29 percent of survey respondents stated they plan to bring on more workers to handle the increase in internet traffic. Additionally, 28 percent said they are collaborating with their third-party hosting providers to ensure that periods of high traffic will not impact their consumers' online shopping experience, states the news source.

There are several other steps that retailers can follow to improve their websites and give their shoppers the best online experience. In an article for Customer Think, Tricia Morris writes that businesses should consider arming their sites with information that customers often look for. This will increase satisfaction and service quality. Additionally, retailers need to ensure their patrons' experiences are consistent through all of the channels provided by companies, states Morris.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012 at 1:43 am .

Retailers are looking for a sign that this year's holiday shopping season will be strong, and industry experts are saying the solid back-to-school sales are an indication that the next few months will see an increase in retail sales as consumers hit the stores to buy items and gifts.

According to recent research from the Great American Group, in August, shoppers increased their apparel and footwear purchasing to prepare for the back-to-school season, as many retailers reported strong sales throughout the month. Although September's retail sales were not as high as the previous month's, the study states that the totals were strong and met the expectations of retailers and economists. Great American Group reports that the successful back-to-school season could mean good news for retail holiday sales, but there are still many concerns on the minds of consumers which could impact the numbers, including increased food costs and fluctuating gas prices.

Despite the drop in retail sales for September, many industry experts have confidence for the coming months, reports The Day. For August, retailers saw a 6 percent increase in sales. That number rose only by 3.9 percent for September, but analysts are stating that the consistent growth is expected to carry over into this holiday season.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012 at 1:39 am .

Retail sales in the United States increased for the third straight month in September. Retailers and economists alike are hoping these positive numbers mean that economic conditions are and will continue to improve.

According to a report from the Census Bureau, retail sales rose by 1.1 percent from August, which represents a year-over-year increase of 5.4 percent, reports Retail Customer Experience. Throughout September, consumers spent approximately $412.9 billion. The previous month's total for retail sales was initially estimated to have increased by 0.9 percent from July, but the Bureau revised that figure to 1.2 percent. The three consecutive months of positive spending has many economists believing that it could turn into a continued trend, the source states.

On the other hand, some large retailers experienced less-than-expected sales during the month. Retailing Today reports that Macy's and Kohl's department stores did not bring in as much as anticipated. Despite this, economists are telling retailers to prepare for a successful holiday shopping season.

"This should set up to be a good holiday season," said Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics LLC, as quoted by the source. "Consumers needed to take a breather once the back-to-school season is over."

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, October 22nd, 2012 at 1:27 am .

Shoppers are already gearing up for the holiday season this year, and one indicator of how strong the next few months will be for retailers is the fact that more consumers are prepared to spend more money on gifts and items.

According to a recent survey by PriceGrabber, more than half of customers stated they are planning on spending at least $500 on products and gifts for the holidays this year. When it comes to what they will purchase, the study found that clothing items and gift cards continue to be most popular for the season. Clothing garnered 65 percent of responses, while gift cards brought in 49 percent. Consumers are also looking to save money by taking advantage of discounts and deals between November and December, the report stated.

These numbers correlate with recent research by the National Retail Federation (NRF), which found that the average shopper will be spending $749.51, up from last year's average of $740.57. The NRF also stated estimates that this year's holiday spending totals will reach $586.1 billion, representing a 4.1 percent increase from 2011's amounts.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, October 22nd, 2012 at 1:25 am .

Cambridge, England, October 2012 – Innovative technology productivity solution provider Herbert, has announced that the rakish and elegant Mayfair shoe designer, Marc Hare, who has a raft of A-list celebrity customers, has recently worked with Herbert for the supply and installation of and training on, Retail Pro software and HP hardware, so as to offer a fully integrated and seamless service experience to his discerning customers.

Regularly referenced in fashion circles, Marc Hare operates the Mr.Hare boutique shoe shop, which is fitted with the latest, discrete Herbert supplied retail equipment. The move to Retail Pro speciality retail management software, gives Mr.Hare important features for retail management applications such as point of sale, CRM, inventory management, merchandising and accounting. Retail Pro offers a point of sale system with store replenishment capabilities, product return management, and the ability to manage employee hours, attendance, and commissions. Customer information and loyalty can be tracked for marketing purposes, and orders can be placed for both special items and stock replenishment.

Retail Pro is used by more than 52,000 retail stores globally in markets such as fashion, luggage, footwear, collectibles, gifts, home furnishings, sporting goods, and accessories. With unparalleled functionality, flexibility and ease-of-use, Retail Pro has established itself as a trusted solution for today's specialty retailers worldwide, which includes major fashion house names.

Herbert is an established provider of leading-edge technology solutions to major organisations in fast moving industries in the UK, and is the official business Partner for Retail Pro, facilitating added productivity within specialty retail operations such as Mr.Hare.

Marc Hare, Store Owner, visionary and designer commented:

"For me, the customer experience is everything. The Herbert team pulled-out the stops for me, developing, installing and then training my staff on the exact, complementary solution that suits my business philosophy; that system is Retail Pro, supported by the latest HP hardware."

Raj Sangha, Business Development Manager at Herbert, said:

"our discrete end-to-end solutions for speciality retail enable us to offer full featured, truly integrated systems that offer a plethora of commercial benefits within the speciality retail space. Our 250 year Independent heritage provides confidence to our customers that we will recommend the most appropriate products, and can provide support to them throughout the lifecycle. Our skill in leveraging these relationships brings our customers the best combination of reliable service and implementation together with the latest technology."

As well as offering sales, support, onsite demonstrations and consultation, Herbert will be hosting on-demand product webinars and customer events aimed at showcasing Retail Pro's latest software solutions.

Background – Retail Pro
Retail Pro International, LLC is a leading global provider of Point of Sale, Store Operations, Merchandising, Business Intelligence, and Multi-channel software applications. For over 20 years it has been helping specialist retailers achieve their full potential by providing a unique, scalable, reliable, and highly customisable retail management solution.

With more than 90 offices across 47 countries, Retail Pro's network of business partners provides local support and service for its worldwide customer base in the customer's local language and time-zone. More than 52,000 retail stores in 86 countries using 18 different languages trust Retail Pro® to manage their operations; from single stores to prestigious, multi-national retailers, Retail Pro is the proven global solution for serious retailers worldwide.

More information?
For more information about Retail Pro, or other services offered by Herbert including nationwide servicing, implementation and repair services, please contact;
Jo Sherritt on 01440 711 408, Carly Robertson on 01440 711 413 or email info@herbertgroup.com

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, October 19th, 2012 at 6:24 am .

For the month of September, British retailers experienced better-than-expected sales from consumers, increasing by 0.6 percent from the previous month. This follows a 0.1 percent drop in August.

Bloomberg Businessweek reports that according to the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics, the results were higher than expected, as economists had anticipated only a 0.4 percent gain. Research by the office suggests that one of the main contributors to the increase was the amount of consumers who flocked to store to purchase winter clothing and school uniforms, the news source states. Clothing retailers saw a 2.1 percent rise from August.

The recent numbers are giving the country hope, as many believe it could be a sign that the U.K economy is improving, The Guardian reports. Since the retail results from this summer's London Olympics, along with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, were not as successful as was hoped for, the country is looking for some signs of growth.

"This is a marked improvement from the low growth seen over the past two years and suggests that after experiencing tough trading conditions for a prolonged period of time, retailing conditions could be improving now," Berina Urici, an economist at Barclays Capital, told the source. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, October 19th, 2012 at 1:53 am .

Despite the emergence of instant communications through social media sites and mobile messaging, retailers can still see a successful results by sending out emails to their loyal and new customers.

According to a recent survey by Listrak, 32 percent of consumers stated they have purchased items from a retailer in the past six months after receiving an email from them, reports Internet Retailer. The trend is significantly higher among older shoppers, with 38 percent of those aged 55 years or more buying items recently from retailers due to emails. Women are more likely to respond to these emails by purchasing items than men, as 35 percent of females stated they did so compared to the 30 percent of men. While the amounts may not seem incredible when considering that 83 percent of consumers open emails, there are still many opportunities for retailers when they make use of their email lists, the source says.

This strategy could be a contributor to the increase in retail sales that occurred in September, and it could lead to higher gains within the industry over the coming months. The Associated Press reports that overall retail sales rose by 1.1 percent during the month, representing some of the largest increases since October 2010.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, October 19th, 2012 at 1:52 am .