Data & Analytics

The Kroger Co. has tapped a tech veteran as its next chief digital officer.   The supermarket giant announced that 15-year-veteran Kevin Dougherty, 63, group VP and chief digital officer, will retire on Jan. 27, 2017. He will be succeeded by Yael Cosset, 43, chief commercial officer and chief information officer of 84.51.     

Beliefs that online shopping has replaced brick-and-mortar shopping are exaggerated, especially when it comes cosmetic and grooming purchases, according to a new The Harris Poll.  

High-tech purchases could account for a major portion of consumer holiday spending this year — and they will be placed by high-tech shoppers.   This prediction was made in a report by UPS, “2016 UPS How to Click with High-Tech Online Shoppers.”     

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.  

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.  

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.  

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.  

Clearly, Cyber Week’s promotions helped to produce record-breaking sales — but discounts alone won’t drive success this holiday season.   Let’s face it — even the best deals won’t matter if a retailer doesn’t have those highly-coveted Hatchimals or wireless Dr. Dre Beats in-stock and ready to be shipped in record-time. This battle will be won with a focused staff that is trained and ready to handle an onslaught of incoming orders; respond to customer questions and efficiently fulfill orders.