Omnichannel

Although not many consumers are currently shopping for groceries online, those who do are likely to be repeat customers.
 
According to “The 2016 Online Grocery Shopper,” a survey of more than 500 U.S. online consumers from Toronto-based grocery technology provider Unata, 8% of consumers bought groceries via Internet in 2015.

However, 93% of those shoppers said they are “likely” or “very likely” to buy groceries online in 2016.
 

The image of shoppers hunched over their mobile devices while they browse store shelves may be less common than retailers imagine.

According to a new survey of 9,142 online consumers in the U.S. and Canada conducted by Bizrate Insights, a division of Connexity Inc., three-quarters (73%) of online buyers use mobile devices to shop online. However, only one in five (21%) use mobile devices to assist their in-store shopping experience. Mobile devices include both smartphones and tablets.

Gift cards are exceedingly popular with Millennials, as new research from the Wharton School’s Baker Retailing Center and The NPD Group found. Here is fresh insight as to why:

Two of the nation’s leading retail companies, Target and Under Armour, are on board to offer dynamic presentations at the upcoming SPECS conference in Dallas.

Go behind-the-scenes with Target as the retailer reviews its new Open House concept, and details how a decidedly non-conventional retail space has upped the innovation ante while also providing a testing ground for future in-store innovations on a broader scale.

Foot Locker named new CEOs to lead the athletic retailer’s North America and International divisions.

President and CEO Richard Johnson announced the promotion of Stephen D. (Jake) Jacobs to the position of executive vice president and CEO of North America and Lewis P. Kimble to the position of executive VP and CEO of International, effective Feb. 29.

Chain Store Age recently spoke with Vishwa Chandra, VP of retail accounts for Instacart, to get a better sense of the current and future state of online delivery.

What is driving growing consumer interest in online delivery?

Retailers have yet to make a major move toward EMV compliance, but that doesn’t mean they are ignoring the need to secure card-based transactions.

According to a new special report from Boston Retail Partners, “Payment/Data Security in an Omnichannel World,” only 10% of retailers are performing EMV-enabled transactions that are working well, with another 12% saying their EMV-enabled transactions need improvement.

A modest increase in fourth quarter same store sales at Walmart’s U.S. stores marked a sixth consecutive period of growth and helped the company exceed analysts’ profit targets, but a reduced 2016 sales outlook caught some investors by surprise.