Cash's role as the top payment method is being challenged by new formats such as contactless cards and mobile wallets. According to a new survey from Research and Markets, NFC-enabled mobile payments and contactless credit cards are positioned to rival cash by 2016.

The report asserts that approximately 80 percent of smartphones in Canada will be NFC-enabled by 2016, which allows them to be used at contactless point-of-sale (POS) terminals. This will drive usage of the payment type over cash and other currently popular means of paying for retail goods. Meanwhile, contactless credit cards are also expected to gain prominence as a means of buoying safety.

"Cash is still expected to remain the most frequently used form of payment in Canada over the next five years, but will suffer substantial erosion from contactless debit and credit payments," explains Contactless News, citing the report.

Similar changes could be heading to the United States as well, with a recent report from Pew Research suggesting mobile wallets could rival more traditional payment avenues by 2020.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, June 11th, 2012 at 10:31 am .

When consumers have to spend their money on other necessary commodities, such as food and gas, retailers tend to suffer as a result. For the past few years, shoppers worldwide have been cost-conscious and as a result, merchants have had difficulties growing their businesses.

However, things are beginning to look up in the United Kingdom. According to a new report from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), a large number of domestic retailers are showing renewed confidence as Britons begin spending more money at retail locations. However, the organization was quick to note that it isn't all clear sailing from here – some challenges do exist.

"It's encouraging to see high street sales up compared to a year ago, and that business sentiment about the next three months has improved," Judith McKenna, chair of the CBI distributive trades panel and chief operating officer of ASDA, told Brookson. "However, sales are still below the average for the time of year."

While consumers are always looking for a good deal, it's crucial that retailers don't offer too many promotions. This will train shoppers to only buy when there is a deal, rather than becoming regular customers.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, June 11th, 2012 at 10:30 am .

Mother's Day was widely heralded as being one of the reasons retail sales grew in May, with Americans going out in droves to purchase gifts for their moms. Now, Father's Day is expected to create a similar bump in sales for retailers in June, according to a new report from the National Retail Federation and BIGinsight.

While Americans don't spend quite as much on dad as they do mom, Father's Day expenditures are expected to be up nonetheless. The average consumer anticipates spending $117.14 on gifts for their fathers this year, which is up 10 percent from the average of $106.49 last year. Father's Day budgets are slowly closing the gap compared to Mother's Day, with the difference shrinking to approximately $30.

Overall, the National Retail Federation and BIGinsight expect Americans to spend $12.7 billion on gifts, ranging from golf equipment to restaurant gift certificates.

"He may not ever expect the 'royal treatment' on Father's Day, but this year dad doesn't have much of a say as it's evident his loved ones want to make sure he has a great day," said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay. "For those looking for the perfect gift idea, retailers will have specials on everything from patio sets and grills to ties and gardening tools in the weeks leading up to the holiday."

Popular gifts among shoppers are just what you would expect, including consumer electronics (expected to account for $1.7 billion in expenditures), apparel ($1.7 billion), gift cards ($1.7 billion), sporting goods ($641 million) and books or music ($645 million).

The audience for Father's Day is also broadening, which may be why expenditures are growing. For example, while 53.9 percent of respondents said they are buying primarily for their dads, 29 percent are celebrating their husbands, sons (9.7 percent), grandfathers (5.3 percent) and brothers (6.8 percent and friends (5.7 percent) as well.

Overall retail sales grew 3.9 percent in May, according to a Commerce Department report, with many retailers crediting Mother's Day and Memorial Day weekend for the small bump.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, June 11th, 2012 at 10:29 am .

Consumers are casting their recessionary spending habits aside as the economy continues to recover, with many opening their wallets and spending more money. In response, clothing retailers are similarly investing more into operations to capture consumer spending, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

According to a new report from Fitch Ratings, the retail industry is expected to boost capital spending to $35 billion this year – a 20 percent increase compared with $29 billion in 2009. However, that doesn't necessarily mean opening new brick-and-mortar locations. Instead, many are focusing on raising same-store sales and investing in other ways to make store operations better, such as mobile point-of-sale (POS) terminals.

By implementing new technologies and other innovations, merchants are hoping to improve the in-store experience. In the eyes of many major retail brands, brick-and-mortar is no longer competing with ecommerce – it's growing increasingly difficult to provide the same prices in-store that consumers can get wherever they shop online.

Instead, retailers are trying to make shopping at physical locations a unique experience. Many are taking inspiration from Apple in that regard and focusing on personalized service made specific to the shopper. Merchants want to make shopping at brick-and-mortar stores a truly engaging experience compared with ecommerce.

"What really good retailers around the world are now looking at is how do they create a unique experience in the physical store that gets people [to] come in and want to participate in that," Wendy Liebmann, chief executive officer of WSL Strategic Retail, told the news source.

"There are so many reasons for people not to come or not to come as often. It becomes really important to create more compelling and easier to shop environments that people feel is theirs, their store," she added.

As consumers becomes more optimistic in their financial standing, they are growing increasingly willing to spend more money. This means higher costs in-store may not be as much of an issue, provided they feel like they are getting a better value from the shopping experience.

"We think the consumer is getting more confidence, and with that, the stores are getting more confident to expand," said Laura Pomerantz, founder of commercial real estate advisory firm PBS Real Estate. "Stores have to be entertainment, they have to be service-oriented, which has clearly become very, very important to the consumer."

One way many retailers are boosting sales is through ShopKick initiatives, which encourage customers to come in and spend points earned through loyalty programs.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Sunday, June 10th, 2012 at 9:50 am .

Many retailers began using Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social media sites as a way to engage consumers, promote new products and sales as well as conduct customer service. However, it appears some shoppers are beginning to grow disillusioned with poorly implemented social media plans, with a new report from Shop.org and the National Retail Federation suggesting fewer people are following brands via social media.

According to the research, 51 percent of respondents follow a retail brand on at least one social network, which is down from 58 percent during the same timeframe last year. While this doesn't represent a huge drop off, it does suggest that some retailers are losing followers. Whether it's because of new privacy issues stemming from social media usage or ineffectual engagement strategies, retailers need to ensure they are providing meaningful value to consumers.

That said, the NRF was quick to note the efficiency with which retailers have adapted to new players in the social media landscape. A number of brands have already integrated Pinterest into their social media strategy, which is a picture-sharing site that can be used to disseminate photographs of new products, store locations and other company-related achievements.

"Retailers have done a commendable job embracing social media – engaging their customers where it makes sense while keeping their brand relevant, interesting, appealing and exciting on each platform," said Shop.org executive director Vicki Cantrell. "Specifically, Pinterest has given retailers another channel to listen to and interact with both existing and new customers."

Social clicks

Social media has also been pivotal to the generation of website traffic. After visiting a retailer's social profiles, many consumers will click through to the actual website. This gives merchants the opportunity to sell products and other retail services to visitors.

"Company blogs, YouTube and Facebook command the majority of consumers' social activity," the report added. "In particular, seven in 10 (70 percent) of those who follow a retailer's blog click through to the website, and though sometimes overlooked in the overall social media mix, more than two-thirds (68 percent) of consumers use YouTube to browse and research a retail company."

Facebook is home to more than 800 million users, while upward of 200 million people have Twitter accounts. Social networks give retail merchants a huge audience to work with. It's crucial that companies take advantage of this potential customer base.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, June 8th, 2012 at 10:03 am .

A number of retail merchants have noted the increased popularity of online shopping. Data from comScore suggests consumer ecommerce spending grew by double digits during the first quarter of 2013. This has lead many merchants to scale back on brick-and-mortar expansions while investing more into online shopping platforms.

According to Forbes, many retail landlords have fought back by offering new leasing and promotional products designed to complement the industry. For example, Kimco launched the KEYS program to assist startup retailers with operations through the first few years of business.

"Weingarten has also developed a proprietary communication platform where the company provides innovative leasing, consulting and operational support for existing and proposed tenants," the news source explains. "This SHOPCENTRIC platform is designed to assist customers with simplifying certain business-related procedures and enabling Weingarten’s tenants to remain competitive."

Best Buy is one of the many retailers looking to become more involved with online sales. The company's new management team recently announced plans to scale back on its brick-and-mortar presence while continuing to improve its online shopping platforms.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, June 6th, 2012 at 10:32 am .

Amazon, one the largest ecommerce internet retailers in the world, has reached an agreement with the state of New Jersey to begin collecting sales tax from residents who make purchases on the website by 2013. This helps local retailers gain equal footing with the ecommerce giant as consumers now have less incentive to purchase from Amazon.

On July 1, 2013, Amazon will begin taxing purchases made by New Jersey residents. The company will also build two warehouses in the state to expand distribution operations. Amazon has similar deals in place with other states, including Virginia, Indiana and Tennessee.

"I’m pleased Amazon is committed to helping New Jersey grow and create quality jobs," Governor Chris Christie said, as quoted by Internet Retailer. The new distribution centers are slated to create upward of 1,500 full-time jobs and will cost $130 million to build.

Many retail merchants have found Amazon's practice of not charging state taxes to shoppers to be unfair, claiming it gives the ecommerce retailer an unfair advantage at a time when many brick-and-mortar businesses are struggling.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, June 6th, 2012 at 10:31 am .

A recent report suggests retailers performed better than anticipated in May, with many Americans taking advantage of heavy Mother's Day promotions.

Major retailers such as Macy's and Target all noted stronger gains than many analysts had projected. This followed a dismal April, during which retailers posted some of the worst results in nearly three years. The influx of sales was credited to Mother's Day and the launch of new summer styles.

"The pent-up demand is continuing to pour out a little," Ken Perkins, president of research firm Retail Metrics, told USA Today. "I wouldn't say it's happening in droves. But consumers are updating their wardrobes."

As the economy continues to improve, retailers expect this trend to continue. According to a report from the Commerce Department, the economy grew at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the first three months of the year, which means consumers' financial positions are slowly improving.

Still, many merchants fear that higher commodity prices – namely, gas and food – will discourage consumers from spending more at retail.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, June 6th, 2012 at 10:30 am .

Wal-Mart hopes that shoppers will use the company's mobile applications in-store and even recently announced some specific features made just for customers in the brand's brick-and-mortar locations.

One such feature is an aisle locator, which tells shoppers precisely where they can locate any item they are looking for within the store. Consumers can add various products to their mobile shopping list, and the app will provide information on which aisle that product is located in, Internet Retailer reports.

Another new feature is In-Store Mode, which enables shoppers to scan barcodes on products to get prices or other product information. They can also look for any discounts the brand may be running.

"Wal-Mart also added a tool to its app that lets consumers select the store they visit most often and create a shopping list at home by scanning, typing or speaking items to buy," the news source adds. "The app then pulls the price for each item from the selected store and calculates the total price for all items on the list."

A number of retailers fear consumers will use their smartphones in-store to find better prices elsewhere, which makes Wal-Mart's new initiative unique in that it is encouraging shoppers to utilize these devices.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, June 6th, 2012 at 10:29 am .

Best Buy, one of the most popular electronics retail brands, recently suffered through a difficult first quarter. Interim CEO Mike Mikan believes the chain will need to radically rethink its position in order to stay relevant to consumers worldwide, Internet Retailer reports.

Mikan recently told analysts the way the company will do this is by scaling down brick-and-mortar operations in favor of ecommerce. Best Buy looks to be going the Apple route, meaning it wants smaller stores that serve specific needs, while offering more robust selections online.

"The annual rate of growth of ecommerce transactions is far outstripping traditional retail sales,” Mikan told analysts on the company's first quarter earnings call. "Consumers have needs and preferences that are new and changing rapidly. Today, they need virtual products and services as much, if not more, than they need hardware."

Best Buy's traditional focus on customer service is no longer the unique draw it used to be, according to Mikan, which is why he is looking toward new business models.

A separate report from comScore highlights the rapid growth of ecommerce spending, which experienced double-digit growth during the first quarter of 2012.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, June 5th, 2012 at 9:50 am .