Capgemini

This holiday season promises to be the most digital of all time with forecasts calling for e-commerce growth to handily outpace overall industry sales. At UPS, the multi-channel movement is a trend we have watched intensify and helped facilitate during the past decade. Chances are good one of our delivery vehicles will visit your home or that of a family member this Christmas.

By Jeff Weidauer, [email protected]

Talk to anyone who has been in the retail business for a while, and they will tell you that the world has changed, and continues to do so. Technology is changing daily how shoppers think about the trip, how retailers track sales and shopper behavior, and the way CPG manufacturers approach category management. Metrics abound, and the seemingly simple business of retail now depends on complex algorithms and data analysis to grow and profit.

CHICAGO — PacSun has partnered with Lyons Consulting Group to upgrade both their e-commerce and mobile sites. 

Lyons Consulting Group migrated the site onto the more robust Demandware platform and added several custom features, including thirteen third party integrations such as Gigya Social Sign in and Visa V.Me. Through this process, lyonscg produced a more flexible front-end, improved content manageability, all while creating a fun, engaging, and intuitive shopping experience when browsing either the ecommerce or mobile sites.

Chicago -- PacSun announced Monday it has partnered with Lyons Consulting Group to upgrade its e-commerce and mobile sites. PacSun said it had outgrown its previous platform and needed a more scalable solution in order to support its growth and provide the shopping capabilities that their shoppers have come to expect.

New York -- Only 58% of consumer product goods executives view dollar stores as a strategic channel, according to Deloitte’s new Dollar Store Strategies for National Brands study. Deloitte advises that CPG companies may not be keeping pace with the explosive growth of the $56 billion dollar store industry, and should act now to maximize market share and profits.

In other survey highlights: 

With shoppers making fewer trips and impulse purchases, the need to influence them earlier and more frequently in the purchase decision-making cycle is critical for sales success. To accomplish this, consumer packaged goods (CPG) retailers and manufacturers are increasingly using cooperative advertising and promotion programs that target shoppers at home when they are most likely to be planning shopping trips and creating lists. As retailers, understanding what your competition is planning for in-home is just as essential to staying competitive as what’s happening in-store.

WASHINGTON — The Grocery Manufacturers Association has named Elise Fennig as VP industry affairs.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association inducted Richard Jurgens, chairman and CEO of Hy-Vee Inc. and Dean Pappas, CEO of Clement Pappas and Company Inc., into its Hall of Achievement.

The recognition came at a gala dinner Sunday night as GMA held its annual executive conference in Colorado Springs. The Hall of Achievement Award represents the highest honor given by the more than 100 year-old association.

CHICAGO — SymphonyIRI Group Inc., a provider of innovative solutions and services for consumer, retail and healthcare companies, has named Beverly Grant as president of retail solutions. She will report to Mark Parise, president of IRI, SymphonyIRI.

Wayne Lutomski has joined Welch’s as vice president of the brand’s international division.

Welch's, the leading marketer of Concord and Niagara grape-based products, named Lutomski to the position following the retirement of Bill Hewins who spent 30 years with Welch’s.