Shopping habits have changed considerably in the past few years, both from an economic perspective and a technological one. Consumers' budgets were constrained due to hardships in the job and financial markets, while devices such as smartphones and tablets have increased the number of ways that customers can research and purchase items. 

Although retailers have adjusted to some of these factors, managing all of them without the right retail business intelligence can be difficult. Merchants also had to account for a shortened holiday shopping season this year, and according to comScore, that may be one of the reasons why the final spending numbers fell short of some projections. Although gift purchases originating on desktop computers rose by 10 percent between the holiday shopping season in 2012 and 2013, this was a few percentage points short of what comScore expected. 

ComScore noted that there were no billion-dollar spending days during the final week of holiday shopping, and the heavy discounts offered by many merchants may have also decreased the potential for greater gains. Although desktop computers remain a popular choice for consumers to buy gifts and other goods, retail industry professionals should acknowledge that attracting the most customers possible will rely on omnichannel operations that cover the gamut of technology now available. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, January 2nd, 2014 at 5:04 am .

While the offer of free shipping proves an attractive bonus for consumers to choose one retailer over another, the option also comes with the underlying promise that customers will receive their goods in a timely fashion. This becomes even more important during the holidays, when swift delivery can mean the difference between a tree bountiful with gifts or one without any at all. 

According to a recent study from customer service reviewer StellaService, many items did not reach their intended recipients until after Christmas had passed this year. This was despite orders being placed before the holiday delivery cutoff date set by online retailers. Of the 25 retailers that StellaService purchased items from, nearly one-third failed to ship their goods in time, while 12 percent of all 75 orders placed arrived after their estimated delivery date. 

Because of these matters, retailers need to set realistic goals for their operations. While some problems inevitably stem from factors beyond merchants' control, many issues related to inventory management and quickly processing purchases at the point of sale can minimize the chance that goods will arrive late. Notably, Zappos possessed one of the latest possible dates for customers to order goods that would ship in time for Christmas, December 23, and the company was still able to successfully deliver all items in time across the three regions that StellaService studied. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, December 31st, 2013 at 4:06 am .

Meeting the demands of multiple shopper demographics using an increasing number of devices, apps and other shopping aids can be difficult for merchants without the right level of retail business intelligence to properly understand their customers' habits. Decision-makers might act on their gut, rather than fact, and miss out on key sales that could have been generated with just a little more insight. 

Some businesses experience the misconception that older generations are not comfortable digital shoppers. But according to Shoppercentric, senior shoppers in the United Kingdom are almost as likely to browse products online as their younger counterparts. Among 70-79 year olds, 70 percent of respondents looked goods up online at least once every two weeks, in comparison to 91 percent of 18-29 year olds. As much as these two age groups may differ, they represent the extremes analyzed by Shoppercentric. Among the multiple categories for 30-69 year olds, browsing habits become much more alike. 

Where older shoppers diverge from more junior consumers is in how often they follow through on their online research by buying goods on the Internet. While 67 percent of customers age 18-29 purchase items digitally every two weeks or less, only 33 percent of 70-79 year olds do the same. 

These findings emphasize the importance of omnichannel retail, as well as the fact that older customers will still utilize technology for product reviews and related research. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, December 30th, 2013 at 11:31 am .

Although Aéropostale's initial sales during the holiday shopping season were less than impressive, the retailer will be addressing its user-engagement issues with improved mcommerce offerings, according to Mobile Commerce Daily. 

This includes the introduction of a mobile app, as well as increasing the number of iPad kiosks located throughout their brick-and-mortar locations. These are intended to enable better information sharing and browsing through the business's products. Customers will also be able to mix, match and otherwise interact with items more thoroughly than ever before. 

"We're going to see brands start incorporating in-store mobile payments, mobile-only discounts and promotions and other next-gen mobile capabilities that will continue making it easier for consumers to browse, shop, explore and make purchases," Carin van Vurren, CMO of Usablenet, told Mobile Commerce Daily. 

By expanding its use of retail technology, Aéropostale will also be able to improve its store operations as sales associates will be able to assist customers at the kiosks. The platforms will also double as point of sale systems that allow staff members to complete transactions from nearly anywhere in a store. Merchants should consider providing similar solutions to their employees and customer base in an effort to further streamline the purchasing process and enhance omnichannel offerings. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, December 30th, 2013 at 3:32 am .

Keeping up with the most recent changes in retail technology may not always be easy, but it is critical to merchants' continued success in an increasingly digital-based world. Retail Solutions Online addressed some of the main concerns surrounding innovations in retail technology, noting that the cost can be an impediment to early adoption, but that this problem diminishes as equipment or software becomes more widespread. Reliability is another key factor when implementing the latest advances, which decision-makers should investigate before the initial investment. 

However, the source also noted that remote support can overcome some of the hurdles involved with adding more advanced systems to business operations, as this can enable a rapid-response time when trouble arises. 

Because of the prevalence of mobile devices and the utility of in-store product tracking and other advances, the deployment of the latest retail software and hardware can be important to drawing in customers and possessing thorough business intelligence. Retail Solutions Online noted that payment and digital signage-based technology will be two types of platforms that merchants should continue to invest in for better consumer engagement. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, December 27th, 2013 at 4:11 am .

During the holiday shopping season, customers often have difficulty finishing all of their gift-buying in just one trip. There is always some item they forgot or a store that they could not reach in time, which means that they must make multiple attempts at finishing their purchases while there is still time. This year, some retailers chose to open on Thanksgiving Day to provide consumers extra time to check everything off their list, but with fewer days between Black Friday weekend and Christmas this year, those extra hours may not be enough. 

To help consumers fit more shopping into their busy schedules, some retailers will be open 24 hours for part of the time leading up to Christmas, according to USA Today. For example, Toys R Us will start letting customers in at 6 a.m. on Dec. 21 before finally closing its doors at 9 p.m. on Dec. 24. Not all businesses will follow this model, but numerous Macy's locations will be open until 2 a.m., and similar department stores also plan to offer extended hours. 

Because customers often have only a brief window to shop, merchants will need to deploy strong point of sale software that can quickly finish transactions, allowing for a seamless experience that may encourage long-term loyalty, particularly during hectic shopping hours. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, December 20th, 2013 at 9:27 am .

Considering how often merchants must have heard about the importance of omnichannel retail by this point, some industry professionals might believe that the message has been received and implemented across most businesses, or that decision-makers have at least started the process. But according to eMarketer, many retailers have fallen short of this goal. 

While most merchants strive to create a robust omnichannel shopping experience, the source highlighted findings from Retail Systems Research that discovered less than 20 percent of retail organizations have achieved full synchronization, while many were not even working to that point. Without these connections in place, customers may have difficulty returning items to brick-and-mortar stores that they purchased online, or experiencing options such as in-store pickup for their ecommerce shopping. Even companies that want to provide these benefits will be unable to without greater transparency, information sharing and versatile sales platforms. Furthermore, chains could be missing out on potentially critical data that might enhance sales and improve productivity. 

Some businesses lack even basic omnichannel services
According to an IBM Tealeaf and Econsultancy study, even simple offerings such as online information about brick-and-mortar locations and hours do not exist for many survey respondents (37 percent). In every other category, merchants fell short of the diverse options necessary for omnichannel shopping, such as not having a social media presence, no near field communication (NFC) devices for mobile payments and a variety of other services that fulfill full integration of offline and online business operations. Emarketer noted that in-store purchases still dominate across all retail categories, but in light of the ecommerce breaking numerous records during Black Friday weekend, this may gradually change. 

Because many retailers do not quite achieve the omnichannel shopping experience that their customers crave, they should emphasize reaching this goal in the new year. One critical step in this process includes deploying best in class retail software that can easily manage sales, inventory and business intelligence across multiple channels, both online and off. Merchants' systems should integrate so that no matter how customers engage with a business, organizations will be able to readily track shoppers and their purchases. A coupon received online and then loaded onto a smartphone should be usable in brick-and-mortar locations, but this requires a robust point of sale system to accomplish. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, December 18th, 2013 at 10:28 am .

The last couple of days before Christmas can be particularly hectic for retailers, as customers crowd brick-and-mortar locations in a rush to buy last-minute gifts for their friends and family. Perhaps because of the confusion and frustration that consumers experience during those last few holiday shopping days, almost half of them (49.9 percent) will instead opt to purchase their remaining items online, according to a recent survey from the National Retail Federation. 

As has been the case throughout the past few weeks of the holiday shopping season, this decision will break another ecommerce record, with more shoppers completing their gift purchases online this year in comparison to any other. 

While many consumers will finalize their shopping on Wednesday, Dec. 18 (29.2 percent), some will hold out until at least Saturday, Dec. 21 (12.3 percent). In light of these circumstances, retailers should prepare for an uptick in expedited shipping orders. Streamlined supply chain management will be important for taking products from the point of sale to the customer's door before Christmas arrives. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, December 18th, 2013 at 8:09 am .

Few merchants would deny the role that online sales play in the current retail environment, and all retailers should deploy powerful ecommerce software that can help them successfully reach customers regardless of their location or preferred shopping channel. 

Yet not all markets are created equal, and some customers are more comfortable buying products online than others. Based on recent findings from Ofcom, an independent regulator and competition authority for the U.K. communications industry, consumers in the United Kingdom are the most avid ecommerce shoppers in the world. They spend more on average for each purchase (£1,175 annually) and more often – 73 percent of U.K. respondents buy items online at least once a month, and nearly a quarter reported doing so every week. 

Understandably, U.K. consumers are also generally more trusting of online retailers, and they have faith that merchants will both accurately detail products and ship them within the expected period of time. 

While all merchants should prepare or upgrade their ecommerce offerings by implementing capable retail software that can manage inventory and provide seamless transaction across all channels, this move is even more critical in markets such as the U.K. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, December 18th, 2013 at 3:47 am .

As most merchants know, the retail industry differs from region to region. The policies, strategies and sales tactics suited to one city may not be appropriate for another, and this holds particularly true when dealing with international merchandising. Yet despite the United Kingdom's lack of the Thanksgiving holiday, the promotional weekend that typically follows it also experienced a considerable boost this year. 

According to findings from software personalization firm Peerius, this most recent Cyber Monday was the most intensive online shopping day for U.K. customers ever. Web traffic spiked by 30 percent in comparison to 2012, with mobile hits to ecommerce sites rising by 55 percent in the same period. 

While conversion rates were only marginally up from 2012 – 1.4 percent – this may have been due to the banking glitch experienced by NatWest and RBS. The problem prevented customers from completing their transaction. However, Peerius suggested that ecommerce sales may see another uptick as consumers resume purchasing their items. 

With shopping trends associated with one region or holiday potentially reaching other markets, retailers should deploy point of sale software that can readily adapt to the evolution of customers' spending habits. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, December 17th, 2013 at 12:05 pm .