Omnichannel

High shipping costs are the major barrier to adoption of global online shopping.

That is according to the 2015 Pitney Bowes Online Shopping study. High shipping costs (64%) were ranked as the biggest barrier in the survey, followed by additional fees owed at time of delivery (48%) and product delivery taking too long (39%).

Product returns are also a major concern, as 33% of global shoppers cited online return policies and processes as deterrents.

Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel recently interviewed people who had already finished their 2015 Christmas shopping. And while they might seem like “very, very sick people,” as Kimmel put it, in the e-commerce world they would be behind schedule. If you haven’t started prepping your online store for the holidays, it’s beyond time to get rolling.

There are no sure things in business – not even a partnership with Starbucks.

In paperwork filed for a planned IPO, Square revealed that since launching an agreement to process back-end mobile transactions for Starbucks in October 2012 (the coffee chain did not adopt Square reader hardware), it has recorded $309.8 million in revenue but $380.4 million in processing costs.

Huntsville, Ala. -- RCP Companies reveals plans for its newest development in Huntsville, Alabama, within the Central Business District. CityCentre at Big Spring is a $100 million mixed-use development project integrated within Big Spring on nine acres downtown and between Von Braun Center and Twickenham Square.

Site demolition has been completed with construction expected to commence by year-end and phase one opening in 2016.

It’s officially fall and, for retailers, this means holiday shopping season is right around the corner. For most, the season is marked by increased sales, both on and offline, and an opportunity to tap the highly profitable demographic of holiday shoppers. Likewise, it’s a chance for merchants to explore new markets and test new locations for possible retail site development.

Starbucks Corp. is reportedly seeing value in a new addition to its drive-through order windows.

According to Bloomberg, Starbucks is rolling out video screens to 2,400 drive-through lanes in stores across the U.S. during the next 12 months. In one major differentiator from the drive-through screens found at many quick service chains, Starbucks screens will feature a real-time audio/video feed of the barista taking the order.

Images of items the customer orders will appear on the screen to ensure they are placed correctly.

Another company is offering in-app mobile purchase functionality, but this time it’s not a retailer or a technology provider.

U.S. bank Capital One is partnering with MasterCard and Visa to offer contactless mobile payment capability in its Capital One Wallet app. Leveraging the MasterCard Digital Enablement Service (MDES) and Visa Token Service (VTS) platforms, Capital One will use NFC-enabled Android phones to transmit a secure payment token to the point-of-sale.