Omnichannel

Rite Aid on Thursday announced a big push behind its unique loyalty card offering wellness+ with Plenti - beginning Jan. 31, Rite Aid is offering its wellness+ with Plenti members the opportunity to earn 5,000 Plenti points when they spend up to $200 on participating products in stores or online. During Rite Aid’s “Big Point Event,” which runs through Feb. 27, customers can make multiple visits and purchases to reach the reward thresholds to earn up to 5,000 Plenti points.

When it comes to e-commerce, the top driver is actually something the experience doesn’t offer.

According to two surveys of online shoppers in the U.S. and Canada conducted by Bizrate Insights, a division of Connexity, in December 2015 and January 2016, a leading 55% of respondents cited the lack of crowds, traffic and hunting for parking as a top reason to buy online. Another 46% said shopping online takes less time than shopping in stores, while 46% also mentioned free shipping.

Shoppers frustrated by an inability to find trendy ethnic clothing will soon been able to access all manner of African inspired apparel via a new platform designed to connect buyers and sellers.

Scheduled to launch April 11, Boutique Africaine will serve as an online marketplace for ethnic clothing, accessories, and home and living items – and serve as yet another reminder of how the Internet enables the creation of new retail business models to serve the perceived unmet needs of niche consumer segments.

Shake Shack and Uber have digitally collaborated on customer experience with a little help from Visa Inc.

In December 2015, New York-based, 66-unit Shake Shack and Uber utilized the new Visa Commerce Network to offer a cross-promotion. Built on the VisaNet electronic payment network and accessible through application programming interfaces (APIs), Visa Commerce Network works by connecting transactions between two merchants.

Regional footwear retailer Schuler Shoes does not have immediate access to the same type of e-commerce functionality as its larger competitors.

But the 10-store omnichannel chain, headquartered in Maple Grove, Minnesota, has still been able to offer advanced search and navigation features to site visitors.

Ride-sharing service Uber is getting more aggressive in its jockeying for position in the online delivery marketplace.

In October 2015, Uber expanded its UberRush same-day delivery service from New York, where it had been operating for about two years, to San Francisco and Chicago. UberRush uses Uber drivers to deliver merchandise from retailers to customers for a $5-$7 fee, often in minutes.

While Kroger has been offering a click and collect service at certain stores for about two years, outside of the Denver market home delivery has not been available. A new service aims to change that for some Kroger shoppers in its hometown of Cincinnati. [Cincinnati Business Courier]

It was a happy holiday season at Amazon.com where fourth quarter profits more than doubled, sales increased 22% and the company handily surpassed annual sales of $100 billion for the first time.

Amazon.com said its net sales increased 22% to $35.7 billion in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2015, compared with $29.3 billion in fourth quarter 2014. With a $1.2 billion unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates, fourth quarter sales would have increased 26%.