Predictive Analytics

U.S. retailers looking for a new source of revenue may be in luck.

The number of China-based consumers shopping U.S. brands online during the holiday season has increased seven times from 2014, which is a record level according to Ant Financial Services Group’s Alipay. Alipay also found that total sales from China-based consumers purchasing U.S. products with its Alipay ePass cross-border e-commerce solution increased 15 times from the prior year.

It’s no wonder so many shoppers were not impressed with some of the big holiday deals being offered by big retailers this past week.

It’s no wonder so many shoppers were not impressed with some of the big holiday deals being offered by big retailers this past week.

Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Jet did not heavily discount most popular products and prices actually increased in key categories after Black Friday, cementing a perception that the two celebrated shopping days are waning in importance, according to research from Boomerang Commerce, which aggregated and analyzed online price discounts and price perception for 1,000 popular products sold by Walmart, Target, Amazon and Jet.

Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) is going green for its first store in Lower Manhattan.

The retailer will open a 25,000-sq.-ft. store at Westfield World Trade Center, set to open in spring 2016. It will be H&M’s 17th location in New York City, and its first U.S. store to apply for LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification.

Information technology outsourcing (ITO), or the strategic hosting and management of technology solutions, services and personnel by a third-party provider, is a popular way for retailers to quickly increase their technological capabilities, and also lower their IT-related capital expenditure.

Jeff Seabloom, managing director at Dallas-based global advisory firm Alsbridge Inc., spoke with Chain Store Age about three trends he sees having a major impact on retail ITO in 2016.

The stereotype of younger consumers spending all their time glued to smartphones may have some validity, at least when it comes to shopping.

New custom Interactive Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) analysis of Prosper Insight data shows that adults ages 18-34 are more likely to favor smartphones for retail activities than any other age group.

Even as digital commerce keeps growing, retailers are losing a sizable amount of potential online business.

According to the new Pymnts.com Checkout Conversion Index (CCI), retailers stand to lose as much as 36% of online sales due to frictions that remain from discovery through checkout, and could lose additional sales during payment processing.

The stereotype of younger consumers spending all their time glued to smartphones may have some validity, at least when it comes to shopping.