Salesforce

The e-commerce landscape just shifted with the announcement Salesforce will purchase Demandware for $2.8 billion.
 
Demandware’s recently enhanced flagship Commerce Cloud platform is one of the leading e-commerce solutions on the market. Notable retail Demandware users include Lands’ End, Marks & Spencer, Urban Decay, and True Religion. According to figures released by IHL in December 2015, Demandware is the number two retail SaaS company by installed revenue, trailing only Microsoft.
 

Duluth Holdings just put a key element of its growth strategy in place, choosing cloud commerce solutions provider Demandware to integrate its physical and digital presence.

Going to market under the banner of Duluth Trading Company, the retailer said it selected Demandware to optimize is digital and omnichannel growth strategies.

Increased security risks tops the list of a new survey of 300 top global retail executives on the topics keeping them up at night.

According to “Finding Retail Growth: A View from the Corner Office,” sponsored by Demandware and conducted by Economist Intelligence Unit, retail leaders view increased security risks, the rise of globally competitive online marketplaces, shifts in consumer taste and increased globalization as the four most significant challenges impacting the industry.

Retailers looking to keep up with consumer demand for an individualized and seamless customer experience have a new supporting technology option to consider.

January is a tech bonanza for retail, with interesting, innovative and sometimes downright out-there new technologies and brands on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the National Retail Federation’s Big Show in New York City. It’s nearly impossible to keep track of every startup out there, but here’s a selection of the most promising ventures that should be on your radar.

Reemo

Specialty gourmet gift retailer Harry & David wants to make sure information about its stores is as easily accessible as possible.

Harry & David, is leveraging the SIM Partners Velocity local marketing automation platform to manage its local search marketing efforts. With Velocity, Harry & David will be able to manage and distribute its store location data. Thus the retailer will be able to ensure that information about its retail stores is accurate and visible in local and mobile search results.

Retailers who develop their e-commerce environments for mobile phone users appear to be on the right track.

According to the new Q3 Shopping Index from e-commerce platform provider Demandware Inc., tablets now account for only 11% of digital commerce traffic, down 22% from its peak of near 15% in the first quarter of 2014.
Meanwhile, mobile phones account for 41% of digital commerce traffic. Desktops still lead with 48% of traffic, but the only platform showing traffic growth is mobile phone.

E-commerce platform provider Demandware has released its annual list of retail predictions for 2016, and many of them center on how machines will continue taking over tasks once done by people.

Out of the nine trends Demandware identifies, four are related to growing IT automation: machine learning driving voice-based intelligence assistants, in-store payment evolving dramatically, data-driven decision marketing replacing gut instinct, and last-mile fulfillment providers driving instant gratification.