According the latest Consumer Spending Index from Deloitte, consumers spent less money in December at retail locations, although prospects aren't as bad as they initially sound.

The Index is compiled using readings of tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices. While the Index fell overall from 1.93 in November to 1.86 in December, Deloitte was quick to note it actually improved in three of the four categories observed to determine the scale.

"The new year brings new demands on retailers," said Alison Paul, vice chairman and U.S. retail and distribution sector leader at Deloitte LLP. "In addition to a challenging economic climate, shifts in consumer behavior – from price consciousness to technology adoption – will force retailers to find new ways to remain relevant to their customers in 2012."

This year is expected to be a big one for retailers, but not until the spring. According to recent data from the National Retail Federation, container shipments were flat in January but will pick up later this year.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 2:51 am .

If retailers don't have a mobile-optimized website, now is the time to at least consider one. According to new data from Walker Sands Communications, more than one in 10 consumers browse the web from their mobile devices.

In the fourth quarter of 2011 alone, 13 percent of all website traffic came from on-the-go consumers, marking a sizable increase from the 6 percent observed during the same time period the previous year. This is particularly the case among shoppers using Apple devices – 47 percent of mobile traffic stemmed from the iPhone, iPod or iPad.

"When we began this study in Q3 2010, traffic originating from mobile devices accounted for a relatively modest portion – 4 percent – of total web traffic," says John Fairley, director of digital services at Walker Sands. "More than a year later, we have seen a significant uptick in mobile browsing, which has increased more than three-fold."

According to separate data from comScore, approximately 91 million Americans currently own smartphone devices. This number doesn't include the millions of prospective customers that own tablets.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 2:49 am .

Traditional brick-and-mortar retail stores have felt mounting pressure to expand their online presence, but that doesn't mean the in-store experience is dying. According to a new Deloitte survey, approximately 79 percent of retail experts believe the physical store will be a mainstay to the shopping experience for at least the next five years.

While the polled retail executives expect ecommerce sales to triple through 2016, few think online will replace brick-and-mortar. Instead, the physical space will be the place for retailers to differentiate themselves from their competitors. In response, brands need to reconfigure talent and store operations to better meet customers' changing perceptions of the store.

"A strategy [that aligns these dimensions] and is enabled by the right technology solutions can help retailers deliver a tailored experience for their customers," RetailingToday reports, citing the research. "It is an experience that begins before customers enter the physical store and continues long after they leave."

It's crucial that retail brands keep an eye on the ever-evolving retail industry. By staying ahead of trends, merchants can maximize their chances for success.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 2:45 am .

While the retail industry was notable in that it was one of the few sectors that did well in 2012, that success wasn't limited to the United States. Globally, the retail business is booming and will continue to do so through 2015, at which point GIA anticipates the sector will hit $9.7 trillion.

As the report notes, the retail industry was under pressure from the collapse of the global economy and felt the hardships of the frugal consumer between 2007 and 2009. However, starting in 2010, the sector began to make a notable recovery. Now, thanks to innovations in both the store front and online experience, the industry will prosper through 2015.

"Against this backdrop, multi-channel retailing is poised to gain paramount importance, with reliance on a single channel making it virtually impossible for retailers to gain a competitive edge in the tough environment. Multi-channel retail format enables retailers to combine the synergies of traditional retail stores with other retailing formats such as mobile stores, online stores, catalogs and convenience stores," GIA explains.

A separate study from Deloitte suggests brick-and-mortar stores will continue to be a main shopping location through this time frame.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 2:44 am .

In President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, he spoke in-depth about the importance of jobs to the revival of the national economy. While more than 3 million positions have been created in the past 22 months, the country is still down a total of 5 million. Obama hopes to enact new legislation that will restore those lost jobs.

As the National Retail Federation notes, this goal is crucial to the continued growth of the retail sector. Merchants are largely dependent on a health base of shoppers, and more unemployed Americans means fewer people are able to spend money in stores. While the retail sector has contributed a great deal to the 3 million jobs created, other sectors need to pull their weight as well.

"Job creation is our nation's No. 1 priority, and as the industry that supports one out of every four U.S. jobs, retailers stand ready to do their part in putting Americans back to work," NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said. "Retailers are helping to rebuild the economy, but Washington must get moving to encourage job growth and remove barriers to job creation."

President Obama spoke specifically about different legislation designed to improve hiring in troubled induestries such as construction. However, Shay asserts the president should also aid other service sectors – such as retail – and make it easier for them to take on new help as well.

Earlier this month, Shay and Terry Lundgren, the president of Macy's, sent a letter to Obama that outlined some of the approaches that could be used to reduce the red tape that surrounds the retail sector. Some key issues included sales tax fairness legislation, corporate tax reform and free and open trade initiatives.

"The letter also asked Obama to address neglected transportation infrastructure, credit card swipe fees, and healthcare reform mandates. It also asked for quicker visa processing to make it easier for foreign visitors to come to the United States to shop," the NRF statement notes.

In November, the retail sector was cited as a driving force in bringing the unemployment rate to a two-year low as merchants brought on help for the holidays.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 2:40 am .

Shopping online is tremendously convenient for consumers – the web enables them to make purchases without ever having to leave the comfort of their own home. However, this also opens the door to fraud, which is a significant risk that consumers have to take whenever they submit their data over the internet.

Retailers need to walk a fine line between offering too much fraud security and not enough. According to a recent survey by Accertify, 28 percent of customers have encountered excessive anti-fraud procedures that denied or delayed their transactions. Conversely, consumers are likely not to shop with a retailer at all if they have no fraud prevention measures in place.

"It is clear that narrow fraud programs can actually push legitimate customers away," said Jeff Liesendahl, senior vice president of Accertify at American Express. "Merchants with inflexible fraud prevention technology or who manually review every suspect transaction end up delaying and denying legitimate transactions."

Retail merchants should put themselves in the shoes of their customers when trying to streamline the online shopping experience. What would drive them to competitors? Conversely, what could be done to enhance it?

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 3:16 am .

The worldwide web has changed how many companies do business, not the least of which is the retail sector. Now, it is seldom good enough to simply have a brick-and-mortar store – today's merchants need to also have a website shoppers can use to make purchases. If they are really progressive, they will even have a mobile site or app.

For the most part, the online shopping experience is a positive one, regardless of whether consumers go online or in store. People shopping online are enjoying a smooth purchasing process – products are being shipped promptly and arriving on time in good condition. It's the return procedure that is plaguing many online retailers, according to new data from Innotrac.

The fulfillment vendor places a number of orders with more than 120 different internet retailers and graded the shopping experience on a scale of 44 points. The company looked at key indicators, such as customer service availability, order confirmation communication, shipping options and the quality of their goods upon arrival. Big-name retailers, such as Target, Best Buy and Sears, were among some of the brands analyzed.

Innotrac's research found that 66 percent of orders placed arrived within three days, 22 percent were delivered in four and only 2 percent came after day seven, suggesting many retailers have a well-planned shipping solution in place.

However, when products were returned, merchants were not as quick to respond. While nearly one-fifth (19 percent) did issue refunds within five days of receiving the returned product, many took even longer. In fact, nearly the same number (16 percent) took 20 days or longer to issue a full refund.

"The fact that 16 percent of retailers take more than 20 days to issue a credit shows that there are still some issues and that that process is not as expedient as it should be," says Jon Eggleton, vice president of marketing and ecommerce for Innotrac.

Because January is typically a slow month for retailers, now is the perfect time to hash out a better return policy if business owners don't have one. While many merchants are focused on making the sale, it's equally important to have a process in place for handling returns if retailers want to ensure the customer comes back to make future purchases.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 3:01 am .

Retail software and store operations are constantly adopting, implementing and accommodating new technologies. With the growth in mobile device use, retailers are finding mobile coupons to be a lucrative sales strategy.

According to a recent study from Juniper Research, redemption rates of global mobile coupons will average more than 8 percent by 2016. This growth is spurred by greater usage of mobile coupons in North America and Western Europe, which is expected to bring the global population of coupon users to 60 million.

However, the study found that growth is not assured. The technology is currently going through an experimentation phase, as companies determine how to connect with consumers.

"As with all new mass markets there is an initial 'shakeout' period," said David Snow, author of the report. "For the next few years users will be signing up to multiple coupon schemes and deciding on the ones they like best – so now is a crucial time for mobile marketing agencies to get it right on behalf of their clients and establish a loyal customer base."

Retailers are also partnering their mobile strategies with social media and other web-based platforms to connect with consumers no matter where they are.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 1:59 am .

Retail POS technology may see increased use over the next few weeks, as experts predict an increase in sales for Valentine's Day.

Research from IBISWorld predicts total sales for the romantic holiday to rise by 0.5 percent over 2011 figures this year, with a return to dining and getaway purchases as well as jewelry, flowers and candy.

The study notes that jewelry will see another year of solid growth. Sales are expected to rise by 5.2 percent to total $1.6 billion, following last year's large 9 percent growth. Additionally, candy sales will increase by 3.6 percent coming to $2.7 billion for the holiday.

Restaurants are poised to be the big winners this Valentine's Day, though. "Restaurants are likely to see the biggest boost this year with sales slated to increase by 6.1 percent to an estimated $9.5 billion," the study found. "Consumers are anticipated to return to dining out, which will be led by restaurants' initiatives (including special courses for the holiday and prix fixe arrangements)."

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 1:01 am .

In the past five years, technologies have changed rapidly driven by advancements in mobile devices including the smartphone and the tablet computer.

According to a recent talk given by eBay president and CEO John Donahoe at the Digital Life Design conference in Munich, retailers should expect to see continued evolutions in their retail point-of-sale software as well, the website Venture Beat reports.

"I believe that you’re going to see more change in how consumers shop and pay … in the next three years, than we’ve seen in the last 20 years," Donahoe told conference attendees, according to the source.

Much of this change will be driven by retailers' need to adapt to multichannel shopping opportunities and the ability of consumers to now research products in-store on their mobile devices. Donahoe called 2012 an "inflection point in retail, shopping and paying."

Target recently took action against a mobile practice it considers detrimental to its business – "showrooming," or checking out products in-store to then purchase them online for cheaper.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 5:17 am .