While the jury is out whether social shopping will eventually become a popular form of ecommerce, that isn't stopping major retail brands for experimenting with the platform. According to a recent report from the E-Tailing Group, approximately half of retailers (51 percent) allow shoppers to browse goods from their Facebook pages.

Moreover, 16 percent give their Facebook fans the ability to make purchases straight from their company pages. The rest link back to a traditional ecommerce website instead. However, the return on investment is not clear with these social shopping initiatives – many aren't seeing a strong payback on the money spent to develop these platforms.

The key will lie in whether brands can convince shoppers to buy via their Facebook pages.

"Retailers will follow the money and should results be forthcoming, you can certainly expect to find their participation to grow," E-Tailing Group's president Lauren Freedman told Internet Retailer.

Facebook has upward of 850 million users. Whether retailers leverage the site for customer service or ecommerce, it can have a big impact on store operations when used correctly.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, March 14th, 2012 at 8:40 am .

Typically, November and December are the busy holiday months for U.K. retailers, with sales falling in subsequent months. This year seems to be bucking the trend so far, with new data suggesting both retail sales and hiring have made significant gains in 2012.

According to a report from the Office of National Statistics, the retail sector saw sales actually rise by 0.9 percent in January. Meanwhile, data from recruitment firm Reed found that more than 3,500 new retail jobs have been posted on its website since the start of the year.

"The surge in new job postings may be in reaction to the healthy sales figures seen by retailers, meaning more are now willing to create jobs and take on new staff to further bolster returns," Reed said in a statement.

Many Britons appear to be excited to get involved with the retail industry – more than 96,000 individuals applied for these 3,500 jobs.

The retail sector in the United States has made similar gains, with a number of merchants crediting Valentine's Day and warmer weather with boosted sales in February.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, March 13th, 2012 at 9:44 am .

According to new research from Pew, a significant number of consumers don't want their past behaviors analyzed by retail companies.

More than two-thirds of Americans (68 percent) said they don't want to receive targeted ads because they dislike it when companies track their habits. Additionally, 65 percent believe Google shouldn't display search results based on their browsing history because they may miss out on pertinent information. Conversely, many do realize the benefits of tracking in terms of relevancy.

"More than half of American web users, or 52 percent, say search results have become more useful and relevant over time. 40 percent say they have not seen a change over time and about 7 percent say they find search results are getting less relevant," Internet Retailer notes, citing the report.

As retail merchants devise their marketing plans, it's crucial they consider how their campaigns could make consumers feel. They should avoid initiatives that make shoppers feel as if their privacy has been invaded.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, March 13th, 2012 at 9:42 am .

Many retailers anticipate 2012 to be a big year in sales, but American consumers aren't so sure. According to the Consumer Reports Index, shopper optimism slipped in March for the first time in three months, suggesting that many Americans aren't as confident about their financial situation as they were initially.

The index was most recently observed at 46.1, down more than three points from 49.6 in February, RetailingToday notes. Additionally, the Trouble Tracker – which analyzes consumer concerns – increased slightly from 49.1 to 52.2 over the same time frame, marking the highest reading since August 2011.

A significant portion of Americans are still recovering from the holiday season, when sales increased significantly over the previous year. Wavering optimism means shoppers will be more hesitant when it comes to making retail purchases.

"Consumers are not yet comfortable in their financial situation as the country limps into its fifth year of near-recessionary times," said Ed Farrell, director of the Consumer Reports National Research Center. "Weak retail is the symptom, not an underlying cause. Consumers will need a clear signal led by a greatly improved jobs outlook to resume spending."

If shoppers are spending less, merchants need to focus on bolstering efficiency. Retail software is one effective way of doing this.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Sunday, March 11th, 2012 at 10:41 am .

Many Americans are gearing up to spend more shopping online in 2012, but a significant portion of consumers will have to limit their ecommerce activities due to rising food and gas prices.

According to a new survey from PriceGrabber and Experian, approximately one in five Americans (21 percent) plans to spend more online in 2012 than they did in 2011. However, 28 percent said they may scale back their shopping budgets to better deal with rising food and gas prices. Meanwhile, half of Americans anticipate their online shopping budgets will remain unaffected, expecting to spend approximately the same amount of money as they did the previous year. Nearly 1,000 consumers participated in the survey between January 26 and February 13.

Those who intend to spend more are doing so in anticipation of an economic recovery. Of the people who said they had bigger ecommerce budgets, 36 percent said they were more confident in the economy and 30 percent are earning more money than they were last year. Additionally, 5 percent said they are now employed, which they weren't last year.

Among shoppers who plan to spend less, 40 percent blamed the higher prices of food, gas and other basic necessities. Compared to the group with larger budgets, 34 percent said they weren't confident in the economy, 29 percent are making less money and 16 percent spent too much during the 2011 holiday season and have to manage their expenses as a result.

With shoppers seemingly split between being cautiously optimistic and discouraged, PriceGrabber anticipates retailers will respond by offering discounts and other promotional efforts.

"We expect retailers will continue to roll out a number of tactics, such as free shipping, larger discounts and online-only promotions to help win the consumer dollar this year, while implementing strategies that will span bricks-and-mortar, online and mobile shopping platforms to entice consumers to shop," Graham Jones, general manager of PriceGrabber, explained.

After the 2011 holiday season, many retail merchants found they went overboard with promotions and discounts. Several had to revise their financial forecasts downward because of all the revenue lost due to rampant sales during November and December.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, March 9th, 2012 at 10:40 am .

Retail sales aren't wavering, with many of the big-name retail brands beating or exceeding Wall Street predictions. Ken Perkins, the president of Retail Metrics, notes the strong performance of these industry leaders bodes well for the sector as a whole because they account for a significant portion of spending.

Overall, merchants report a 6.7 percent increase in sales for February compared to the same time last year. January posted a year-over-year improvement of only 2.7 percent, which highlights the growth experienced in February. This also marks the biggest year-over-year gains since June 2011, when retail sales were up 6.9 percent.

"This was a very strong month. A new life has been breathed into the retailers," explained Perkins. "Consumers are starting to feel much better about their overall situation."

The International Council of Shopping Centers credited the warm winter months, along with increased Valentine's Day spending, with the sharp rise in sales.

Merchants need to use retail business intelligence to ensure they are capitalizing on this increase in consumer spending.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, March 8th, 2012 at 10:29 am .

Perhaps the worst thing any retail merchant can encounter is not having enough product to satisfy consumer demand. This essentially means the company did everything right, from promoting goods to offering a compelling shopper experience, but because the brand didn't have enough stock of a particular item, it ends up losing out on a sale.

Unfortunately, this is becoming more of a reality for ecommerce retailers. Online shopping has picked up considerably over the past decade and mobile devices have further accelerated this trend. According to the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), web sales have climbed more than 15 percent to $35.3 billion and will continue to grow 10 percent annually.

The rise in sales means retail brands will be shifting more inventory and they will need to diversify their supply chain to keep up. Using a variety of sources to ship goods to products will help them ensure they are never out of stock and unable to meet the needs of their customers, the organization asserts.

"Consumer expectations are changing, and as a result, retail business models are changing," RILA executive vice president of retail operations Casey Chroust said. "Traditionally, retailers have used separate operational models to move goods and fulfill orders. Now those models need to be merged so that companies can continue to deliver the products consumers want across any channel without losing efficiency or adding cost."

However, multichannel operations will also present retailers with myriad challenges. Variations in shipment sizes, order filling processes and delivery methods, as well as inconsistent stock-keeping units, are expected to be the leading obstacles, with less than 18 percent of retailers offering the same SKUs across all channels.

"The real challenge for today's multichannel retailer is to become channel agnostic and fulfill demand effectively regardless of order type or origin," stated Brian Gibson, professor of supply chain management at Auburn University. "As sales volume grows in nontraditional channels, achievement of technology integration, operational flexibility and process visibility will separate the leaders from the pack."

Digital media has already changed the way many merchants do business, with a number of brands making heavy investments in retail software and other technology to further enhance their online efforts.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, March 8th, 2012 at 10:27 am .

One of the best ways to improve the customer shopping experience is by employing more associates to help them, regardless of whether they are positioned as greeters when customers enter the store, salespeople to assist them or cashiers. Many merchants know this, which is why they are hiring new employees, according to a new report from Kronos.

According to the recently released Kronos Retail Labor Index, hiring increased by 7 percent year-over-year in February, hitting 4.2 percent. However, the supply of retail applicants has dwindled, with the number of applications declining by 1.3 percent – a 6 percent year-over-year decline.

"Retail firms in the Kronos sample have faced modestly tightening hiring conditions in recent months, as the pool of applications for each hire made has contracted," said Chris Varvares, senior managing director and cofounder of Macroeconomic Advisers, a firm that analyzes the report.

In addition to hiring more employees, many merchants are hoping to further bolster store operations by employing new technology. Some choose to equip their associates with iPads to look up product inventory, while other use retail software to expedite the checkout process.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, March 7th, 2012 at 10:27 am .

Recognizing conservative consumer spending habits, many U.K. retailers are cutting prices to keep sales up, a new report from the British Retail Consortium found.

Price inflation slowed to the lowest recorded figure in the past two years in February, particularly among specialty clothing and electrical-goods stores. Overall, prices were up 1.2 percent year-over-year – down 1.4 percent from January and representing the smallest increase since March 2010.

By keeping prices low, U.K. retailers hope to boost demand and lure shoppers out of their homes, Bloomberg Businessweek adds. Many feel the combination of the sluggish economic recovery and rising unemployment are driving down consumer sentiment.

"Promotional activity has been sustained over the last three months as consumer confidence remains fragile," Mike Watkins, senior manager of retail services at Nielsen, told the news source. "Retailers are having to work hard to encourage customers."

In the United States, consumer sentiment has similarly declined. After three months of gains, new research from Consumer Reports found it slid 3 percent in March.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, March 7th, 2012 at 10:25 am .

Merchants using cutting-edge retail software and technology likely tuned into the recent Apple event that saw the debut of the iPad 3. The new tablet device will go on sale next Friday, March 16, and may provide retailers with even more opportunities to use the iPad as a part of their store operations.

The iPad 3 will come with a quad-core A5X processor that will improve power and speed, a high-definition screen, 4G network connectivity, a 5-megapixel camera equipped to record pictures as well as videos and a battery that lasts up to 10 hours.

Many merchants already use tablets for a variety of purposes. Some leverage them as tools for sales associates, helping them look up product information. Others utilize the devices as point-of-sale (POS) terminals.

Of course, retailers aiming to make mobile part of their online shopping experience also need to take note of the new iPad.

"Consumers are transitioning their dependency on desktops to tablets," Pamela J. Goodfellow, consumer insights director at BIGinsight, told Internet Retailer. "Retailers have to constantly work to improve the style and functionality of their sites to keep up with new innovations in the tablet arena."

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, March 7th, 2012 at 10:21 am .