Data & Analytics

Chain Store Age recently sat down with Stefan Weitz, chief product and strategy officer of omnichannel commerce and service provider Radial (formerly eBay Enterprise), to discuss how retailers can offer a seamless experience and have a successful holiday.
    
What is the biggest challenge retailers face when trying to enable omnichannel?

In many cases, it’s thinking they can do omnichannel by themselves.

Here are some insights from IBM* regarding last year’s holiday season that retailers would do well to keep in mind as they finalize plans for holiday 2016:

1/ Make mobile a key part of your integrated customer engagement strategy. Mobile traffic and sales continue to rise year after year. Create a mobile-friendly customer journey and content for the mobile experience, using tools to enrich the channel.

2/ Optimize your website for all screens.

Get ready for a very competitive holiday season.

Update on retail’s most important time of the year

It’s no secret that online shopping and changing consumer preferences continue to impact physical retail traffic. Despite the shifting landscape, retail sales remain largely intact and, more importantly, are expected to increase year-over-year this holiday season.

November and December are prime time for physical retailers.

A company named after the first reptile to develop the feather for flight — archaeopteryx lithographica — is moving to expand its fledgling store portfolio.

Founded in 1991, Vancouver, British Columbia-based Arc’teryx is a manufacturer of high-performance outdoor apparel and equipment. Although the brand’s roots lie in the climbing landscape, it has long since expanded to include skiing, backpacking and other outdoor activities.

CommerceHub, a distributed commerce network for retailers and brands, is expanding its existing partnership with Walmart, integrating directly with Walmart’s online third-party marketplace.   Under the new agreement, CommerceHub’s network of approximately 9,500 customers, including many of the largest retailers, marketplaces and brands in North America, will be able to team up with Walmart.com.    

Williams-Sonoma Inc. reported mixed results for the second quarter, and issued a weak outlook for the current quarter amid "a more cautious consumer.”   The retailer reported net earnings of $51.8 million for the quarter ended July 31, compared with $53.7 million in the year-ago period.   Net revenues increased 2.1% to $1.16 billion, short of expectations, up from $1.13 billion last year.   

Whether you’re an eye-roller or an enthusiastic participant, Pokémon Go is a game that’s difficult to ignore. It does have a lot going for it: nostalgic yet advanced, simple but strategic, and although played on phones, the game incorporates the user’s surroundings to an extent we haven’t really seen before. The “Go” sets the game apart from all others that have come before, Pokémon or not: you simply can’t catch Pokémon while sitting still.   

Retailers can expect a slight rise in holiday sales this year compared to last — fueled largely by the online channel.   That’s according to Kantar Retail, which released the industry’s first 2016 holiday sales forecast. It projects growth of 3.8% for the fourth quarter, a slight increase over the 3.4% growth in the year-ago period.     

Express Inc. cut its annual profit forecast as the chain struggled with declining sales and weak store traffic in its second quarter.   The retailer reported net income of $10.1 million for the quarter ended July 30, short of Wall Street expectations, down from $21 million, in the year-ago period.   Revenue fell 6% to $504.8 million, also below Street forecasts. Same-store sales, which include online sales, fell 8%, which was worse than analysts expected.