If the 2013 holiday shopping season has proved anything, it is the enduring power of the online shopping experience. Merchants that utilized ecommerce software capable of providing an easily browsed, simple to shop website were able to benefit from the considerable number of customers who wanted the convenience of Internet-based shopping. 

Mobile a powerful online channel…
In light of 2013's shopping trends, Ed Braswell, CEO and president of edo, recently shared with Multichannel Merchant a few predictions about the role of retail in 2014. Unsurprisingly, he expects that 2014 "will be the year of mobile commerce." He noted that by 2017, 25 percent of Internet-based sales will originate from smartphones or tablets, and that 58 percent of adults already browse items on their mobile device before completing a transaction. 

…but less influential for brick-and-mortar payments
However, he added that mobile wallets are unlikely to see widespread adoption in the next year. Although companies like Google and Apple are lobbying consumers to utilize the technology, these efforts have yet to create substantial mobile wallet use. Because there is no unified method for submitting smartphone-based payments, he suggested that technology compatible with current devices may be obsolete in the near future, which decreases the chance that merchants will invest in the necessary equipment anytime soon. 

Data collection a critical part of marketing
While mobile wallet adoption may be a few years off, better data collection efforts will be critical to providing the personalization needed to target local shoppers. Braswell highlighted that some businesses offer discounts and other promotions that do not apply to many recipients, which leads to poor ROI. To avoid this, merchants should include meticulous retail business intelligence software that can collect data from all levels of the organization and sales. Understanding consumer trends and being able to apply appropriate strategies in a more focused manner will help even small businesses perform better, Braswell suggested. 

As the new year swings around, merchants should invest in ever-more robust retail software options to accommodate the changes happening to the industry. Those businesses that can most effectively utilize their customer data, and that are running point of sale systems that can easily interact with smartphones and tablets, will be well-positioned to provide the personalization and shopping options that consumers desire. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, December 17th, 2013 at 9:02 am .

For many retailers, the thought of haggling with customers may seem archaic, or more appropriate to small shops rather than big box stores and well-established businesses. Yet according to NBC News, the practice has been gaining popularity and may become a mainstay for many stores. 

Price matching or accepting competitors' coupons has been standard practice for many retailers for years now. This was not necessarily that crucial a few years ago, when a shopper might have to pore through multiple flyers or catalogs to find the best bargain. But in the age of ecommerce and easily researched products, the process has become both faster and simpler for the average consumer. NBC News noted that even Best Buy accepts discounts from other merchants if customers could show proof. 

But for some retailers, simply matching another price is not enough. According to the source, a few merchants are beating competing deals by taking an additional 10 to 20 percent off the relevant items. This includes major chains such as The Home Depot and Lowe's, while even high-end businesses such as Nordstrom created price-matching guidelines for their staff, even if these practices are generally not advertised. 

"I truly feel that the shopping landscape is going to change," Joe Marrapodi, chief executive of Greentoe.com, told NBC News. "It's going to be much more driven by the consumer and ability to negotiate."

Marrapodi added that negotiating does need to be consumer initiated, which can avoid the problem of customers immediately expecting to receive a deal on marked prices. 

Do not get hung up at the point of sale
Merchants that choose to engage in this practice will need adaptable retail software that can quickly mark the change without slowing down the line or otherwise impeding other shoppers from quickly purchasing their items. On-the-fly discounts can add complexity to the point of sale, but this should not unduly disrupt the process or complicate inventory management, particularly when the end goal is to achieve a greater number of sales with a larger volume of customers. With negotiation becoming a more common consumer tactic, industry professionals should adjust to the change, or at least ready their staff members with an answer when a patron requests price matching or an even steeper discount on a product. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, December 17th, 2013 at 9:01 am .

Although many regions around the world are experiencing economic improvement, some shoppers are still reluctant to spend more money on holiday gifts this season. Retailers that can meet customers' demands through solid promotions will be able to achieve greater success in otherwise static markets. 

Reporting on a study from TNS Gallup Finland, eMarketer noted that most Finnish consumers (68 percent) will maintain the same Christmas budgets in 2013 that they had in 2012. While 13 percent of respondents said their holiday expenditures would increase this year, this is countered by the 19 percent who plan to reduce how much money they spend. 

However, TNS Gallup also found that younger shoppers plan to buy significantly more than respondents over the age of 50. The purchasing habits of more youthful consumers are expected to raise holiday shopping sales in Finland by 15 percent year-over-year from 2012. 

Unlike other regions, Finnish shoppers are also less likely to shop online, with only 26 percent of respondents to the TNS Gallup poll remarking that they would purchase gifts on the Internet this year. 

To address these kinds of differences, merchants operating in international markets should deploy customizable retail software that can be adjusted to the specific demands of a region, rather than try and apply one solution to multiple countries. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, December 16th, 2013 at 3:42 am .

Across the board, ecommerce-based merchants have almost universally seen rising profits. E-tailers have likely experienced record breaking sales these past few weeks, and Green Monday was no exception. Although it is not quite as important a shopping date as Cyber Monday, comScore discovered that total desktop-based purchases on Green Monday leapt by 10 percent in comparison to 2012, reaching $1.4 billion total. 

Green Monday served as a capstone to a week's worth of a considerable amount of online shopping, with Cyber Week experiencing a 24 percent boost from the same period last year. 

"Online buying for the period since Thanksgiving has been very strong and indicates that ecommerce is on track to meet expectations," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

Fulgoni added that Green Monday's growth could be viewed as somewhat underwhelming in light of the considerable boost to overall online sales. But with more shoppers turning to the Internet for their shopping needs, merchants should deploy versatile ecommerce software that can meet the growing demand in this market. While mobile is encouraging many customers to buy products on the Web, even desktops are also an increasingly popular way to purchase gifts. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, December 13th, 2013 at 3:33 am .

To implement the best business strategies, retailers rely on numerous sources of information, from following the practices of other successful companies to hiring consultants for their expert opinions. Yet one of the best ways to improve sales operations is to draw on customer data. Each company is unique, and the multiple regions, demographics and other particulars can also differentiate one brick-and-mortar store from another, even when they are in the same chain. Those merchants that know who their customers are will have an advantage over less-informed competitors. 

Multichannel Merchant recently highlighted the critical role that master data management (MDM) will play in the industry, noting that it may be one of the most important investments for creating a successful omnichannel strategy in 2014. Decision-makers can enhance retail business intelligence efforts by centralizing customer information, regardless of its original source. With consumers researching and buying products from multiple devices, being able to understand the entire funnel from initial interest to the final transaction will be key to recognizing what factors helped drive the purchase, as well as changing consumer habits. 

Better data can lead to improved personalization
Multichannel Merchant also cited a survey from MyBuys and the e-tailing group that found that customers recognize personalization efforts, with 66 percent having noticed that promotions are often based on past purchases. Being able to provide tailored offers relies on knowing who shoppers are, which in turn means deploying retail software that can track them across various channels. According to the survey, more than half of potential patrons are willing to give personal data to assist in these endeavors, but first decision-makers must have the right systems in place to benefit from the information. 

Look internally
Along with collecting and analyzing customer data, merchants should also have the ability to gather information about their supply chain, inventory and other store operations to enhance efficiency and productivity, Multichannel Merchant noted. As omnichannel shopping can lead to consumers buying products in a brick-and-mortar location or having them delivered to their homes, understanding an item's journey from the warehouse to the doorstep can lead to better service and more effective stock management. But this hinges on possessing the right tools that can easily comprehend multiple data points, which is why merchants should seek out best in class software options when readying for omnichannel retail. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, December 12th, 2013 at 9:13 am .

Although the major holiday shopping days have passed, retailers should not let themselves grow lax in their sales efforts during the next few weeks. According to surveys by RetailMeNot, nine out of 10 U.S. consumers still have more gifts to purchase before the end of December, and merchants should be prepared to meet the demands of nearly 200 million customers throughout the country. 

Many of these consumers (88 percent) said they will wait until the last minute before buying everything they need, while nearly all parents (95 percent) will likely do so. Retailers should ready themselves for an influx of customers requesting expedited shipping for online purchases, as well as large crowds in their stores after December 20. 

One issue that merchants should pay particular attention to is the length of their lines. According to RetailMeNot's survey, 53 percent of respondents consider checkout lines to be the most stressful part of their holiday shopping, and 40 percent say the same about the crowds. Alleviating these feelings will rely on great customer service and powerful point of sale software that can quickly complete each transaction and keep a steady flow of customers in and out of the store. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, December 12th, 2013 at 4:30 am .

Providing the most personalized shopping experience possible has long been the goal of the retail industry. Serving individual customers' needs can create significant loyalty and long-term interest in returning to a brand, which is why some companies have looked to shopping apps to enhance their in-store operations. 

While these kinds of app services are not yet widespread, they have gained considerably more clout since Apple decided to offer them as of December 6. Apple's iBeacon technology ties GPS and an app together to assist customers. Shoppers visiting Apple stores will be able to use their iPhone to guide them through the location, helping them to pick up orders, upgrade their devices or purchase products. This is not the first such type of technology, with Macy's and J.C. Penney both having implemented mobile notification and guidance systems within their stores in the past. 

With retail technology still undergoing a number of changes, merchants will want to utilize versatile software that can be customized to account for mobile shopping and apps that might link with or provide customer data to the business. Improving the shopping experience can lead to better sales as well as a better understanding of consumers. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, December 10th, 2013 at 12:22 pm .

Since the advent of ecommerce, shoppers have had the opportunity to buy items at any time that they want. However, the limitations of desktops and even laptop computers meant that in many cases, consumers were still restricted to buying items in a store or while they were at home. Yet with the introduction of smartphones and tablets, along with Wi-Fi access from almost anywhere, many consumers are now always in the consideration phase of purchasing new products, according to recent eMarketer findings. 

Mobile trends have led to the "always-on" shopper who is almost always just a smartphone away from buying an item. Because of this, eMarketer anticipates that mobile purchases will account for 19 percent of U.S. ecommerce sales in 2014, and 26 percent by 2017. 

The source noted that this still accounts for a small fraction of total sales, but it does represent a shift in consumer mentality. Merchants will want to deploy robust ecommerce software that can meet this new shopping paradigm and seamlessly handle online sales regardless of where they originate or at what time. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, December 10th, 2013 at 7:02 am .

For many customers, online shopping is more convenient than visiting a brick-and-mortar location. Based on ChoiceStream's recent survey of more than 1,000 consumers, only 25 percent of respondents stated that in-store purchases are the easiest way to shop. But with physical sales still dominating retail's revenue stream, some merchants may be wondering what generates so much traffic to their shops. 

In many cases, the main incentive that drives customers to buy items in person is instant gratification, with 64 percent of consumers reporting that they wanted products right away. Other issues, such as being able to see, touch or try on items, were also significant reasons for why people still favor stores. 

In light of these findings, many retailers have an opportunity to improve how they run their store operations. Matching the ease of ecommerce may be difficult, but providing a more streamlined sale process can help merchants stand out while still offering shoppers immediate gratification. Best in class retail software can swiftly complete transactions and give customers the sense of satisfaction that they crave when visiting brick-and-mortar stores. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, December 6th, 2013 at 11:09 am .

Even as ecommerce becomes a more dominant force in the marketplace, some retailers may be asking themselves whether it is worthwhile to invest in the trend, and how important it will be to their business. While consumer electronics and books are well-established online sellers, other items are less certain. Yet based on recent findings from Walker Sands Communications, the majority of consumers are willing to buy any significant type of retail item or service online. 

Food and groceries are the one category that shoppers are least likely to buy over the Internet, but even then, only 37 percent of respondents stated that they oppose the idea. Some consumers are also reluctant to buy luxury goods online, but they are still a minority of potential customers (29 percent). Meanwhile, only 11 percent of consumers are unwilling to purchase clothing online, despite the chance that it will not fit. 

With most consumers agreeable to buying almost anything online, merchants should strive to alleviate customer concerns. While free shipping and one-day delivery are both key ecommerce strategies, 64 percent of shoppers are more likely to buy from companies that offer free returns and exchanges. To avoid the potential costs associated with this practice, decision-makers should deploy retail software with robust inventory management tools across all levels of the organization. Allowing customers to buy items online, but return them to brick-and-mortar locations, can improve customer relations and item tracking. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, December 6th, 2013 at 9:33 am .