Ecommerce has been a boon to consumers by providing them greater convenience when they shop. Merchants with versatile ecommerce software and excellent supply chain management have also benefited by the trend by being able to provide goods to a larger volume of customers, sometimes with less overhead and expense than brick-and-mortar-only operations. 

Yet many retailers have also experienced online cart abandonment, and it is an increasingly problematic matter. According to research from comScore and UPS, 88 percent of consumers abandoned  a cart in 2013, which is up from the 81 percent who did the same in 2012. 

In some cases, merchants were unlikely to gain a sale. Half of the study's respondents said they wanted to gauge the total cost with shipping so they could compare the price to another retailer. However, 54 percent stated that they abandoned their cart after discovering shipping made the order more expensive than expected, while 44 percent left their purchase behind after finding out it was not enough to qualify for free delivery. 

Because of this, a greater degree of transparency leading up to the point of sale might diminish how often cart abandonment occurs. Clear policies on when shoppers qualify for free shipping, or what the price will be ahead of time, might improve online sales success. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, November 26th, 2013 at 9:54 am .

Using the latest retail software can streamline the point of sale, improve inventory management and extract consumer insight from the number of sales and other touch points that customers engage with every time they research or purchase an item. More than ever, the most up-to-date software and hardware helps drive success, from ecommerce to brick-and-mortar merchandising. 

Because of technology's importance in retail, decision-makers are investing more in it than ever, according to recent findings from Integrated Solutions for Retailers. The source noted that this is a response to an increasingly informed consumer base, many of whom expect price matching or who might know more about a store's products than its staff.

While only 50 percent of retailers in 2009 agreed that they invested in technology helpful to their success, this increased to 70 percent in 2013. Meanwhile, many of the remaining respondents felt that their companies were not sufficiently budgeting for the latest software and hardware. Sometimes this was for economic reasons, but other surveyed professionals suggested that decision-makers were neglecting that side of the business. 

The rising role of mobile technology in retail
Integrated Solutions for Retailers found eight key areas where retailers were investing more in technology, with many upgrading or adding to their POS systems to enable ecommerce or mobile commerce, as well as to manage their workforce or provide added smartphone- or tablet-focused capabilities to their operations. 

Emphasizing mobile technology may be important to both brick-and-mortar stores and online sales, as some stores are already issuing tablets to their staff members to assist with in-store assistance or speed up the purchase process. The tools can also grant more portable insight into inventory and store operations, and 48 percent of respondents to the study stated that they were investing in mobile POS hardware. Smartphone-based payments becoming commonplace seems closer to a reality than ever, and some merchants are preparing for this in the coming year. 

Understandably, budgeting for retail intelligence systems was also high, with the source noting that it experienced the highest year-over-year growth out of any retail software investments. Possessing a greater understanding of the customer, worker and business all remain critical to keeping shoppers in the store and improving efficiency. 

Because of the important role technology plays in many retail activities, decision-makers should seek comprehensive software options that can integrate all of these processes as adeptly as possible. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, November 25th, 2013 at 9:43 am .

Although price, shipping and other factors are important parts of the shopping experience, but they are not the only elements merchants should consider. When price matching and free shipping become increasingly common options among retailers, finding another differentiation point can be critical to winning over consumers. 

Based on recent findings from The Integer Group, that point of difference may be influenced by the gender of the customer. Price and item quality are the two main concerns for men and women, but the values they rank after those two considerations are nearly contradictory to each other. For male respondents, the ability to get in and out of the store is an important factor in when and where they shop. Because of this, many men will be shopping online this holiday season, rather than braving the crowds on Black Friday or afterward. To provide the best experience possible for those men that do visit brick-and-mortar locations, though, retailers should offer a seamless experience that smoothly ushers them from the aisle to the point of sale with as few obstacles as possible. 

Meanwhile, female respondents stated that they are more interested in having an enjoyable shopping experience. According to Integer, they want to immerse themselves in the festive atmosphere that surrounds some stores during the holiday shopping season. Meeting this desire is more nebulous than trying to speed the shopping process, but minimizing frustration through excellent customer service can encourage customers' overall goodwill. 

Ecommerce continues rising in prominence
Another differentiating point for merchants this holiday season will be the robustness of their ecommerce options. Integer found that more consumers will be spending their time with online retailers, rather than visiting mass merchants or department stores. While visits to these two types of locations combined beat out ecommerce on its own, the Web-based shopping option otherwise dominates much of the next few weeks. Brick-and-mortar retail still reigns on Black Friday and for last-minute purchases, but on Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving weekend and throughout December, Integer found that most customers will be spending more time shopping online than in stores.

Notably, this number does not account for how much customers will purchase through ecommerce, but the channel's convenience and utility as a research tool is affecting consumer  buying habits. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, November 22nd, 2013 at 9:21 am .

For retailers, the advantage of mobile devices is that they enable anywhere, anytime shopping. The moment that customers are interested in an item, they can use their smartphone right there to purchase the product without possibly forgetting about it by the time they reach a store or their home. Because of this, merchants should ensure that their ecommerce software is ready to handle customers who want to shop with their mobile devices. 

Although retailers cannot control where potential customers will go, they can influence when an item will be advertised to consumers. According to a recent Yesmail Interactive survey, 18 percent of all email-generated revenue originates on mobile devices, with most of those sales occurring on tablets. 

However, mobile retail sales still create $2 less in average revenue per purchase than would have been earned by consumers clicking on the same email on their desktop. This is an improvement from the average across all industries, though, where the difference amounts to $10 – and with email-based spending often being time sensitive, being able to grab shoppers' attention right away is better than expecting to catch them at a later period. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, November 22nd, 2013 at 8:40 am .

Planning for the holiday sales season often tests merchants' retail inventory management skills and software. Anticipating the demand of customers and how quickly certain items will sell out before they need restocking requires delicate planning, an understanding of consumer spending habits and what products will be big this year. 

Due to the prevalence of mobile technology, 46 percent of consumers will be making fewer trips to retail locations during the holiday season, according to a recent PriceGrabber survey. Many patrons will enter brick-and-mortar stores confident in their ability to find the best bargain or to benefit from price-matching deals. The source discovered that 72 percent of smartphone owners use between one and four shopping apps, and this will create an overall more savvy customer base. 

Additionally, 23 percent of consumers will be buying items from their mobile phones, which will also reduce the number of trips shoppers take to nearby retail locations. While this habit may result in overall less foot traffic, merchants can still expect an uptick in total overall purchases, with a 2.4 percent spending increase anticipated by ShopperTrak. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, November 22nd, 2013 at 5:30 am .

This year, many retailers are planning on opening their doors on Thanksgiving Day, and they have been improving their store operations, working to streamline their point of sale systems and otherwise striving to create a seamless experience for what will be the the biggest sales period of the year. The success of this decision will be tested soon enough and in light of the shortened window for the holiday sales season this year, it is an understandable choice. However, market research company Lab42 found that seven out of 10 customers think that stores should be closed on that date, when only 60 percent held similar beliefs in 2012. Despite their protests, though, 22 percent of these respondents still plan on shopping on Thanksgiving. 

Meanwhile, Black Friday's move toward a Thursday schedule is not convincing all consumers to shop early. Many customers will save their trips to the store until December, as they believe similar bargains will still be available after the initial sales rush. 

The expanding role of ecommerce
Even as some shoppers turn away from Black Friday bargains, many are looking to ecommerce to fulfill their gift-buying needs this year. Lab42 found that half of holiday shoppers plan to spend more online this year in comparison to 2012, and the firm suggested that this may be motivated by skepticism about deals on Black Friday. While 30 percent of customers in 2012 felt like they could get similar deals to Black Friday online, 38 percent believe so now. Economic improvement and increases in disposable income are also encouraging greater amounts of spending this year. 

Many still interested in Black Friday bargains
But while many consumers think retail stores should be closed on Thanksgiving, more than half of the survey's respondents who plan on shopping on Black Friday will do so before 3 a.m., and 26 percent may take advantage of the additional Thanksgiving hours. Promotions are a strong driver for drawing customers into stores, and while email used to be the best way for shoppers to discover the latest promotions, more people will be turning to social media this year to inform their purchasing habits. 

Although consumers may be divided about shopping on Black Friday, overall spending will be up, and merchants should be ready to manage an increased volume of customers in both their brick-and-mortar locations and on their websites. With consumer confidence and spending up, retailers could see considerable success by meeting the shoppers' needs. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, November 21st, 2013 at 10:41 am .

Omnichannel has become standard practice for some retailers of late, as the strategy allows merchants to meet customers no matter how or where they shop. The versatility of the sales method requires retail software that is capable of working across all levels of an organization, but at the same time provides considerable convenience to shoppers, which in turn drives purchases. 

Based on OpinionLab's Holiday Preview Customer Feedback Index, companies that offer versatile omnichannel options outperform strictly ecommerce-related businesses. OpinionLab compared omnichannel retail against e-retail on seven different metrics that measured customers' preferences and the quality of their experiences, and found that online-only retailers beat out other stores based on the information available about products and within user accounts. 

Conversely, omnichannel retailers provide a better experience through their service and support, as well as during checkout – both key factors in a business' success. 

Multichannel Merchant noted that these findings disprove some of the predictions made about brick-and-mortar retail made in the past year, as the information highlights the importance of physical locations for consumers. Returning items at a store is generally easier for consumers than shipping delivered items back to the merchant, and multiple purchase and pickup options at the point of sale can also win customers over. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, November 21st, 2013 at 6:42 am .

Creating a true omnichannel shopping experience requires integrating all aspects of a business and having retail software in place that can follow an item regardless of whether it was sold in-store or online. For some customers, this is an expectation of how the industry works: if they decide to return an item they bought on the Internet, they will likely seek out a brick-and-mortar location to complete the process. This is more convenient for them than shipping it back, after all. 

While allowing customers to refund an item no matter where it was bought is important, some merchants also see the advantages of giving shoppers the choice of in-store delivery. This has the potential to save on shipping costs, particularly if an item is already available at the store. According to Internet Retailing, many New Look shoppers are fond of this option, with 25 percent of its ecommerce customers choosing to pick their purchases up from brick-and-mortar stores. With its Web sales up by 52.9 percent during the first half of 2013, this represents a key option for the fashion retailer. 

To achieve this, though, merchants will have to have transparency and connectivity between all levels of their business. This can be accomplished through robust retail inventory management tools. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, November 21st, 2013 at 6:41 am .

Attracting the greatest amount of online customers relies on a number of factors, from allowing easy product browsing to a readily understandable point of sale. The more transparency that ecommerce merchants offer into their pricing, discounts, shipping and payment options, the better the chance that they can win a sale based on those benefits. 

According to Internet Retailer, the home page of 37 of the Top 1000 online merchants feature price-matching policies. While Best Buy's offer is only visible through a bottom page banner ad, the No. 2 ranked Top 500 Guide online retailer, Staples, is using a pop-up overlay to attract viewers' attention. 

While many more retailers chose not to provide price matching, many are including free shipping options. Staples' own minimum purchase order dropped from $45 to $19.99 and it is joined by 622 other merchants from the Top 1000 list with a similar holiday offer. Of these, 255 will not charge for delivery regardless of the order's size, while the threshold for the remaining businesses averages out to a $94 order. 

But while any of these bargains may be the difference between completing a sale or not, they will only work if customers are aware of them. Drawing consumer attention to their existence is at least as important as the promotion itself. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, November 21st, 2013 at 6:00 am .

Although omnichannel sales are important to the retail industry, achieving the organization-wide integration and communication necessary for it requires a considerable degree of cooperation throughout all levels of the business. This can be done with versatile retail software that can follow inventory and the point of sale regardless of whether an item is sold in person or online. 

The actual advantages of omnichannel are not always as visible, however, and even merchants who are ready to make the move may doubt the decision. As a relatively recent trend, practical results may not be available, at least not among all types of retail. 

Achieving omnichannel integration
Macy's recent success with the omnichannel trend may shed some light on its effectiveness. According to The Wall Street Journal, the retailer has been experiencing notable sales growth that is strongly attributed to its omnichannel strategy. Through its "My Macy's" initiative, it has integrated Internet, in-store and warehouse operations into a seamless unit that can provide customers with wanted items in a swift period of time. Using its approach, Macy's believes it could be a leader in same-day delivery. All told, the company's fourth-quarter profits were up 7 percent year-over-year, with online, same-store sales proving a considerable part of its gains. 

"We continue to see significant upside opportunity ahead in those strategies that have worked so well since we reorganized the company in 2009," CEO Terry Lundgren told the source. 

Standing out from other retailers
Other companies operating in a similar retail market have not seen the boost that Macy's has. MSN noted that Sears has run into trouble of late, suggesting that Macy's management plays strongly into its recent accomplishments. 

However, omnichannel may not be the sole source of its success. The Wall Street Journal also noted that Macy's has focused on the millennial market, which could be a key part of its achievements. 

As more businesses grow to understand the intricacies and obstacles of omnichannel retail and how to overcome them, providing the service will be even more critical for merchants. For now, those that can bypass the challenges related to the strategy have the potential to lead in their respective markets. Doing this will require retail management software that covers all aspects of a company's sales and inventory, regardless of whether shoppers are using online channels, in-store delivery or the other options open to them. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, November 21st, 2013 at 5:30 am .