Predictive Analytics

When it comes to providing a satisfactory customer experience, online retailers have to deliver on their promises.   Sixty-six percent of e-commerce shoppers consider delivery a decisive factor when shopping online, according to a new study by enterprise delivery experience solution provider Convey. In addition, 70% of consumers report they are unlikely to return after a poor delivery experience.  

Rural lifestyle retailer Tractor Supply Co. has been strengthening its IT infrastructure to support growth, and now is turning its attention to pricing.   Tractor Supply Co. plans to grow from 1,500 to 2,500 stores, and has been shifting to a Web-scale architecture and new ERP platform. Now the company is extending an existing partnership with merchandise optimization solutions provider Revionics Inc. through 2019.  

Arc’teryx Equipment, a Vancouver,Canada-based specialty retailer of high-performance outerwear and goods, is all about helping customers achieve their maximum potential.   The retailer has decided to take that same performance-driven ethos and apply it internally with help from visual analytics technology provider Qlik. Arc’teryx is using the Qlik visual analytics platform to transform its operational efficiencies and expand its global footprint.   

Using walkie-talkies for in-store communication is old school at The Container Store.   The retailer is rolling out voice-controlled wearable devices that enable hands-free communication over Wi-Fi networks to its store employees chainwide following a successful pilot.   

The blockbuster $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn by Microsoft may benefit retailers trying to effectively recruit and manage employees who typically do not stick around for long.   The acquisition is being touted as Microsoft’s entry into social networking, an area where the tech titan has not been that active besides holding a stake in Facebook. However, LinkedIn is primarily a professional services platform and will probably not become a major consumer touchpoint anytime soon.  

Retailers often treat millennials like some sort of marketing Holy Grail, but there may be some simple ways to boost revenues from this emerging consumer generation.

According to a new study from online marketing platform provider Cue Commerce, “Consumer Moments of Truth,” the 80-plus-million shoppers who are part of the millennial generation can be categorized into the following five broad shopping personas.

Consumers are being choosy about where they are spending extra money that is becoming available with the end of the recession.
 
According to a new study from Mintel, more than two in five (44%) Americans describe their financial situations as "healthy" in 2016, compared to 37% in 2015 and 33% in 2013, indicating that improvements in the economy are being felt at a household level. However, different retail categories are receiving the benefit more than others.
 

Literally hundreds of considerations go into designing an app, but the success of your app hinges largely on one factor: user experience (UX).

So what is UX exactly? It’s less about what an app does and more about how it feels. You don’t just use apps, you engage with them. The instant a user opens an app for the first time, they form a connection with it. Their initial impression draws upon physical and emotional cues, and is largely influenced by UX.

When it comes to supporting the back end of omnichannel retailing, the Bon-Ton Stores Inc. digs deeper than supply chain.

Bon-Ton has selected the end-user experience monitoring (EUM) solution from Catchpoint Systems, a digital performance analytics company, to help optimize the company’s digital customer experience. Specifically, the retailer will use Catchpoint’s Synthetic (Active) Monitoring solution to ensure that its e-commerce website and mobile site deliver consistently high performance, and to find and fix issues before they impact consumers.

Under Armour is looking to elevate the shopping experience with unique fitness data.

The retailer has launched UA Shop, a mobile shopping app built on the Under Armour Connected Fitness platform. Integrating data from the company’s proprietary digital fitness community allows UA Shop to provide a deeply personalized experience based on athlete inspiration, workout history and previous purchase history.