Apparel

Front-end omnichannel success relies on back-end fulfillment

The front-end promise of omnichannel retail cannot be delivered without investment in back-end technology and processes that allow fulfillment of orders across multiple channels. Retailers must eliminate internal silos and obtain real-time awareness of their full inventory.

Omnichannel fulfillment is a difficult, but not impossible, task.

Our cover story this month is about one of my favorite topics: hot retail concepts. It’s a subject that, to my mind, never goes out of style because it speaks as much to the essence of retail in today’s omnichannel age as it did in the purely physical one.

New concepts remain the lifeblood of retailing, and it’s always exciting to recognize and call attention to them. And I’m happy to report that the industry seems to be particularly rich in new formats these days.

Florida’s first transit-oriented development opens fall 2016

It may be hard to imagine that the home to one of the largest public universities in the United States is somewhat undersung. But that’s exactly what the developers of the 1 million-sq.-ft.

Downtown LA’s South Park will emerge as a new retail district

It’s rare enough for any developer — or group of developers and brokers — to plan an entirely new retail district almost literally from the ground up. It’s utterly unique to do so in one of the largest cities in the world.

Yet, that’s exactly what’s happening in Downtown Los Angeles’ South Park neighborhood.

London - Online retailing pioneer Amazon Inc. has climbed to the top of the retail social media ranks, thanks in part to the introduction of #AmazonBasket. According to the latest Retail Social Media Benchmark results from eDigitalResearch, since the introduction of the new social media shopping functionality, Amazon has added 700,000 new followers to its U.K. Twitter account in the past six months, bumping them up to second overall, just behind leaders Topshop.

Bauer Hockey: Ice hockey equipment manufacturer Bauer Hockey is throwing its puck in the retail arena. The company will open its first-ever store this summer, in Burlington, Massachusetts, followed by a second location in the fall, in the Minneapolis area.

Brick-and-mortar stores are in transition from being viewed as a relic of the 20th century to being understood as the linchpin of 21st century omnichannel retailing.

Gaining market share and geographic coverage are top priorities driving deals

Retail continues to rally for deals in 2015, and the sector could be on the cusp of another major year for mergers and acquisitions. Already this year, we’ve seen speculation about a number of potentially massive deals — from a possible buyout of Rite Aid by Walgreens Boots Alliance to the proposed merger between Staples and Office Depot. Looking across the industry, as part of BDO’s annual Retail Compass Survey of CFOs, we asked chief financial officers at leading U.S.