eCommerce

It’s early evening in Chicago circa 2020. A courier company van sits in traffic, toting Target packages ordered from a customer’s phone at noon for delivery by end of the day (called AM/PM delivery). Nearby, a car contains a single mom who drives part-time for Deliv; she’s stressed because she may not make the time window selected by a Macy’s customer earlier that day.  

When it comes to e-commerce, consumers aren’t afraid to do a little homework.

According to the 2015 Digital Consumer Preferences Survey from digital commerce solution provider BrandShop, 96% of consumers feel research is a crucial step in making an e-commerce purchase.

Almost six in 10 (58%) respondents start their product search on Google, and 22% go directly a brand’s website. Third-party retailers such as Amazon came in third with 14% usage.

Vancouver-based specialty online footwear retailer Shoes.com is sprinting toward new levels of fast delivery.

Shoes.com is offering home and office delivery in two hours or less on select items on its Canadian website.

The service costs $19.95 per order and launches Thursday, Sept. 17 in Vancouver and Toronto and surrounding municipalities, with plans to expand to Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Ottawa by the end of 2015.

Shoes.com will use a network of local fulfillment centers that have access to the retailer’s technology, operations and marketing.

The latest posting from the McMillanDoolittle blog:

Target announced a partnership with Instacart in Target’s hometown of Minneapolis. This is Target’s first experiment with same-day delivery of products, and it coincides with the expansion of their grocery and fresh business.

Amazon.com is priming consumers in southern California for fast delivery.

Amazon’s Prime Now one-hour delivery service, has expanded to Los Angeles and Orange County, including areas such as Santa Monica, Redondo Beach, Silver Lake and Irvine.

To support this expansion of Prime Now, Amazon has established four Prime Now hubs in southern California to serve its Prime members with superfast delivery on tens of thousands of items including paper towels, chilled and frozen items like milk and ice cream, and televisions and Kindle devices.

Kohl’s and Toys"R"Us are among the first retailers to announce their holiday hiring plans this year, and the numbers are more or less the same as last year for both companies.

Toys”R”Us plans to hire 40,000 employees at its stores and distribution centers throughout the country (about 5,000 less than last year). The retailer also plans to allow seasonal workers the opportunity to take on significantly more hours than in previous years, while also continuing to provide extra hours to current employees.

There are four key elements that sustain a customer’s loyalty over the long term (and price is not one of them), according to the newest research from Synchrony Financial.

According to Synchrony Financial’s 2015 Customer Experience and Impact Study, which examines 27 elements of the shopping experience, four experiences stand out as most valued by customers and translate into greater spend and loyalty for retailers.

Justice continues to be a drain for the Ascena Retail Group, but in the fourth quarter Lane Bryant also proved to be a burden, as the company reported a drop in same-store sales.

The operator of Justice, as well as stores under the Lane Bryant, Cacique, Maurices, Dressbarn, and Catherines brands, said combined same-store sales declined 2% during its fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 ended July 25.