Data & Analytics

Automated interaction is increasingly preferred by digital shoppers — and demand is increasing.   Specifically, 44% of shoppers said that if a company could get it right, they would prefer to use a chatbot or an automated assistant for customer service interaction — up four points from the 2015 survey. Half of them said that they would rather conduct all brand interaction via text/messaging, with 39% saying the digital-first methods are more effective than talking.  

With many Thanksgiving weekend digital purchases stemming from searches, the convenience of mobility is helping to drive this uptick.   That’s according to the “2016 Search Spend and Purchase Report,” from NetElixir. The study analyzing more than 11 million visits across four different verticals (food and gourmet, consumer electronics, apparel and gifting), starting on Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday.  

Physical stores aren’t going away — at least not those who are integrating mobile solutions into the store experience to keep up with today’s tech-savvy shoppers.   Stores that have digitized their operations through mobility are exceeding customer expectations, according to the “The Future Store Manifesto — 2016 Scorecard,” from Boston Retail Partners, which finds that 78% of retailers plan to use mobile point-of-sale (POS) by 2018.  

Selfies are taking on a new role when it comes to driving the guest experience at Ulta Beauty.   With e-commerce sales jumping 59.1% for the third quarter — on top of 56.3% growth last year — the beauty retailer is pulling out all of the stops when it comes to evolving and upgrading the guest experience. Once of the company’s newest initiatives is its Glam Lab.  

Domino’s is rewarding loyalty members with a “piece of the pie” — literally.    Starting Dec. 5 through Nov. 2017, all Domino’s Piece of the Pie Rewards members are eligible for a chance to win 10 free shares of Domino's stock, just for being enrolled in the program. Each month, 25 loyalty members will be randomly selected to win 10 shares of stock. They can keep the shares for their own stock portfolio or sell them at market price, the company said.  

More holiday shoppers grabbed Cyber Week deals this year than ever before — and retailers are eager to keep up the momentum.   Consumers set new records for online sales this year across Black Friday and Cyber Monday, marking a 15.7% year-over-year (YoY) increase in transactions compared to online holiday sales last year. However, there is another day contributing to this increase: Bounceback Tuesday — the day following Cyber Monday where advertisers are actively re-engaging shoppers to drive additional sales.  

At a time when consumers have been trained to hold out for the sale, lingerie retailer Etam has entered into a partnership with First Insights designed to empower the brand to get the product and price right the first time.       

Competition was fierce during Cyber Week, however, the clear winners were those retailers that stayed in-stock and offered assortments at the best price points.    That’s according to the third annual “Holiday Season Report” from Ugam. The managed analytics firm collected and analyzed detailed assortment and pricing information among Amazon, Best Buy, Jet.com, Target, Toys "R" Us and Walmart during Thanksgiving week, from Nov. 24-28, 2016.   

The new, 45,000-sq.-ft. adidas flagship in New York City is the athletic giant’s largest store in the world — and its most brand immersive.    Sleek and ultra-modern looking, the store marks the debut of adidas’ stadium retail concept, which is inspired by high school stadiums and celebrates creativity in sport. It features a tunnel entrance, high-school reminiscent bleacher stands for live-game viewing on big screens, locker room-styled dressing rooms and track and turf sections where customers can try out products.