Omnichannel

Vancouver-based specialty online footwear retailer Shoes.com is sprinting toward new levels of fast delivery.

Shoes.com is offering home and office delivery in two hours or less on select items on its Canadian website.

The service costs $19.95 per order and launches Thursday, Sept. 17 in Vancouver and Toronto and surrounding municipalities, with plans to expand to Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Ottawa by the end of 2015.

Shoes.com will use a network of local fulfillment centers that have access to the retailer’s technology, operations and marketing.

When it comes to e-commerce, consumers aren’t afraid to do a little homework.

According to the 2015 Digital Consumer Preferences Survey from digital commerce solution provider BrandShop, 96% of consumers feel research is a crucial step in making an e-commerce purchase.

Almost six in 10 (58%) respondents start their product search on Google, and 22% go directly a brand’s website. Third-party retailers such as Amazon came in third with 14% usage.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is reportedly making a significant investment to support e-commerce operations.

According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Walmart is spending $200 million on a new distribution facility in Polk County, Florida that will be dedicated to fulfilling e-commerce orders.

Macy’s Inc. is getting in touch with a new omnichannel payment option.

Target Corp. has operated an innovation lab in San Francisco since 2013, but now the retailer is eyeing a more accelerated and outward-focused approach to innovation.

Seattle — Amazon.com is heating up its selection of consumer devices and digital content. The online retailer is releasing several new Amazon Fire tablet and TV devices, and also introducing a new free digital content service called Amazon Underground.

A week after Apple announced its Apple TV live video streaming set-top box device, Amazon is introducing Apple Fire, a similar live video streaming device that will cost $99 ($50 less than the $149 starting price for Apple TV) and offer similar features such as voice-enable remote control.

The 175,000-plus retailers who sell through the cloud-based multichannel Shopify platform will soon have a new sales channel more easily available.

Shopify has partnered with Facebook to enable Shopify merchants to showcase and sell their products in the new Shop section on Facebook pages.

While the financial industry is supporting the use of chip-and-signature cards to meet the upcoming Oct. 1 EMV mandate, consumers are less convinced.

According to a new survey released by the National Retail Federation (NRF), 62% of U.S. consumers believe new credit cards being issued by banks don’t go far enough to protect card data or prevent fraud.