A whopping 81 percent of senior retail executives are satisfied with the return on investment of their ecommerce activities and now many are planning to reinvest in their digital store operations, according to a new report from the E-tailing Group.

The report, based on the responses of approximately 150 senior executives, noted that 29 percent of those polled were "very satisfied with their ecommerce ROI and 52 percent were "somewhat satisfied." Meanwhile, 8 percent were "neutral," 10 percent were "somewhat dissatisfied" and 1 percent were "very dissatisfied."

In that regard, many respondents plan to invest more capital in the development and improvement of their ecommerce activities. Nearly three-quarters (71 percent) said they would be spending more on their ecommerce platform, with 27 percent planning to invest "significantly more" and 44 percent intending to allocate "somewhat more." Only 5 percent said they would spend less money on ecommerce.

Key metrics used to track the performance of ecommerce activities include revenue (86 percent), traffic to a retailer's home page (81 percent), average order size (65 percent), conversion (60 percent) and units per order (47 percent).

For 2012, the E-tailing Group believes merchants will spend more money developing mobile commerce initiatives as well.

"We anticipate that this will be a chaotic year with retailers sorting out emerging channels and device growth; yet all the while relying on their websites to serve as the mainstay of the shoppers’ experience," explains Lauren Freedman, president of the E-tailing Group. "Holistic thinking and gaining an understanding of one’s evolving customer will be essential to personalize and prioritize experiences in the connected world in which we find ourselves today."

Reaching consumers through digital means will be crucial to electronic and mobile commerce. Nearly one in five respondents believe developing these fledgling channels will be a top challenge in 2012.

"This certainly makes sense in our omni-channel world where merchants are universally selling on the Internet (99 percent) and 61 percent already have an mcommerce presence," the report added. "Notably from a channel perspective, among those surveyed, 86 percent are deploying email, 54 percent also have a store channel and 48 percent run catalog-based business models."

According to data from comScore, ecommerce expenditures have grown steadily over the past year. In the fourth quarter of last year, for example, Americans spent 14 percent more shopping online than they did a year prior.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, April 16th, 2012 at 10:29 am .

Rather than conducting a greater number of transactions online, many shoppers are spending more money per order less frequently, new research from Dydacomp suggests.

The Dydacomp SMB Index, prepared for Internet Retailer, suggests the number of online transactions has declined by 7 percent while simultaneously, total expenditures have grown by 4 percent. This data was compiled by observing more than 1.7 million orders per month at upward of 1,500 ecommerce retailers.

In particular, books, sporting goods and auto parts were the big gainers. Only tobacco and alcohol products are selling less often online.

"The index showed a slight decline in sales, 0.84 percent, last month compared with March 2011, while year-to-date sales through March increased 3.85 percent year over year," the news source added.

Online shopping has changed how many retail merchants conduct store operations. Now many brands are offering price matching initiatives to encourage shoppers to spend in-store rather than buying goods online.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, April 13th, 2012 at 9:56 am .

Deloitte's Consumer Spending Index, which evaluates tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices, was up 1.8 points in March, marking only the third time the index has risen in the past 12 months – a good sign for retailers banking on better sales this year. Consumers aren't quite back to their pre-recession spending habits though, and Deloitte was quick to note that several factors may be impeding further spending growth.

Most notably, real incomes fell 0.1 percent in February even though consumer spending grew and is up 0.3 percent this year. Additionally, the savings rate has declined from 4.7 percent to 3.7, which accounts to approximately $110 billion in consumer spending. Without that drop-off, consumer spending may have fallen. Real consumer spending is up 1.8 percent.

Additionally, commodity prices are also rising, which impacts how much disposable income consumers have to spend on retail. Gasoline prices, for example, rose 4 cents last week and are up 68 cents as a whole since mid-December. Food prices are also climbing, and the more consumers spend on these two staples, the less they will have to spend at retail locations.

"The warmer weather is helping consumers shake off the winter doldrums, but they remain vigilant about their pocketbooks, particularly in the face of rising gas prices this spring," said Alison Paul, vice chairman of Deloitte LLP and retail and distribution sector leader. "In our third annual spring survey of U.S. households, consumers told us they are feeling slightly better about the economy and their finances, compared to a year ago."

Deloitte also noted that mobile devices and the internet are becoming more important to the retail sector. Consumers are using these two communication channels to research products and services before they buy. However, not all retailers are leveraging these mediums, and merchants may be able to get a leg up on the competition by integrating the web and mobile into promotional strategies.

As recent data from comScore has found, more than 104 million Americans now own smartphones. To put that into perspective, that is approximately half of the country's mobile subscriber base.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, April 13th, 2012 at 9:54 am .

Whether merchants are a part of an international chain such as Walmart or Target or they own a small one-off specialty store, they are a part of the American retail sector, which Research and Markets anticipates will hit upward of $4 trillion this year.

The research group's projections include auto dealers, web sellers and catalog retailers, although it does not count food and drinking establishments such as bars. Three key things will drive retail demand this year, according to Research and Markets: Personal income, consumer confidence and interest rates. Merchants need to watch these three signals as they plan for the year ahead.

"The profitability of individual companies depends on efficient supply chain management and effective merchandising and marketing," the report adds. "Large companies have advantages in purchasing, distribution and marketing. Small companies can compete effectively by selling unique merchandise, providing superior customer service, offering a distinctive shopping experience or serving a local market."

Worldwide, the retail industry has flourished, although it isn't without some hiccups. For example, Australian retailers have to adjust to increased competition from internet sellers.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 at 8:45 am .

According to new data from the Commerce Department, consumer spending in the United States was up 0.8 percent in February – the biggest monthly increase recorded since last July.

While that is good news for many retail merchants, the report was also quick to note that the income of many Americans barely grew and the saving rate fell to the lowest point since 2010. This means that the improvement may have just been a temporary growth rather than a long-term trend.

"The report led economists to upwardly revise their economic growth estimates for the January-March quarter," Retailing Today reports. "Paul Dales, an economist at Capital Economics, now expects annual growth for the first quarter to be around 2.5 percent, compared with earlier estimates of about 2 percent."

Additionally, many economists were quick to point out that rising gas prices may have contributed to the growth in retail sales, rather than the actual purchase of goods.

In other parts of the world, similar improvements were noted. For example, the Australia Bureau of Statistics recently reported that domestic retail sales improved 0.2 percent during February.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 at 8:43 am .

Retailers looking to employ radio frequency identification technology as a means for improving store operations are driving growth of the RFID industry in general, according to a new report from RNCOS.

RFID tags can be placed on shipping crates and containers, allowing retailers to better track and manage their inventory. Some merchants are expanding on that use, leveraging item-level tagging to reduce stock-outs and improve stock replenishment speed and customer service. In turn, increased use of this technology has been a boon to the RFID industry, which is now producing more of these tags in response.

"It is expected that the overall growth in the RFID industry will outpace other automatic identification technologies, like barcode," the report notes. "The entry of new players, technological advancements, mergers and acquisitions, and increasing government support will keep on benefiting the global RFID market, which is estimated to grow at a CAGR of around 18 percent during 2011-2014."

Walmart, for example, uses RFID technology to track specific pairs of jeans and underwear, helping the company keep track of inventory levels.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 at 8:42 am .

While a number of retailers leverage Facebook as a means to promote goods and services, few are making use of it as a customer service tool. A recent survey from customer service vendor StellaService suggests as many as one-quarter of retailers failed to respond to inquiries and questions written on their Facebook pages' walls and in the comments section.

Five major retailers, including J. Crew and RadioShack, failed to respond within 48 hours of a wall post, while 13 merchants didn't respond to an inquiry published in the comments section. Even worse, a number of retailers, such as Victoria's Secret, even deleted the comment without a response – a critical mistake for any social media-savvy business.

"For service and support-oriented companies to open themselves up and extend themselves to their Facebook brand page, they have to accept that their customers are there," says Wendy Lea, CEO of StellaService’s Get Satisfaction Inc. division.

More than 850 million people have Facebook accounts, so it's pivotal that if retailers decide to leverage the social site as a marketing tool, they also commit to conducting customer service on it.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 at 2:48 pm .

Gift cards have been a huge boon for the retail industry over the past few years. According to the National Retail Federation, approximately eight in 10 Americans gave gift cards as presents over the 2011 holiday season, with shoppers spending $155.43 on the gift type. Overall, more than $27.8 billion was estimated to be spent on gift cards last year, hitting pre-recession levels.

Gift cards are particularly popular among retailers for two reasons. First, few people spend the exact amount on their gift cards and frequently will spend more than the allotted amount. Secondly, if shoppers don't spend the specified value, that's essentially free money for the retailer.

However, retailers in New Jersey are being forced to contend with new legislation that is discouraging many from even offering gift cards in the state. As New Jersey 101.5 notes, the bill states that after two years, instead of leftover gift card balances going to the company, the state will collect the remaining value. This means retailers need to go through a quagmire of red tape to collect this money, which adds several administrative costs that wouldn't make the process worth it.

Retailers would also need to begin collecting shoppers' ZIP code information to keep track of which buyers are from New Jersey to help the state collect the money, another administrative obstacle course that makes the sales of such products more difficult.

While the bill is two years old, the state just recently began acting on it, collecting millions of dollars in balances in 2011 alone. Rather than deal with the issue, many retail brands and third-party gift card networks are simply pulling their products out of local stores. American Express has stopped selling gift cards in the state, and many retailers are considering doing away with their own gift card programs.

"We're fearful that this could be just the tip of the iceberg," John Holub, president of the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association, told the news source. "That many more retailers and gift card issuers could also decide that they can no longer operate in the state."

Holub believes the widespread abandonment of gift cards could have a negative impact on the retail sector – no longer will consumers head into store with a gift card and spend a few extra dollars as well.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 at 2:47 pm .

The retail sector has long been heralded as a creator of jobs, especially during the economic recession that eliminated so many employment opportunities. However, according to a new report from Kronos' Retail Labor Index, fewer Americans are looking to get involved in the retail sector.

The Index, which Retailing Today describes as being "defined as the ratio of hires to applications within a given month, expressed as a percentage," was observed at 4.3 percent. While this is still a solid number, it is the second reading higher than 4 percent and only the third reading of 4.0 or higher in the past four years.

Kronos' sample noted the number of applications received by retailers fell 10 percent to approximately 784,900 in March, down 250,000 compared to the same time last year – a time applications hit near-record highs.

"With overall labor market conditions improving, potential applicants are likely seeking job opportunities in sectors outside of retail, consistent with the recent declining trend in applications for retail positions," said Chris Varvares, senior managing director and co-founder of Macroeconomic Advisers.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, April 9th, 2012 at 9:30 am .

Many merchants use social media as a communication channel to interact with shoppers, but a new study suggests it can be just as effective for engaging employees. As Retailing Today reports, leveraging social media as a part of internal communications can have a significant impact on sales.

A number of businesses use email for internal communications, but for a retail sales associate who is supposed to be engaging customers on the floor, it often isn't an efficient use of their time to read long, drawn-out messages. Instead, quick bursts of social media messages gets the point across while having a minimal impact on their time.

"In addition, don’t forget about mobile technology for reaching retail employees during the workday," the news source adds. "Much of the engagement you might hope employees will get at home via computer can just as easily be done at work with a smartphone. Applications for Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn all enable retail employees to check in on company news on their breaks."

More than 850 million people worldwide have Facebook, conveying the reach these channels can provide to merchants.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, April 4th, 2012 at 9:36 am .