Omnichannel

The options for consumers who dread the store checkout lane are exploding now that fast growing Instacart is on a hiring spree and competitor Deliv says it will be expanding into more than 100 cities.

Consumers don’t see “channels.” They are time-starved and information-rich, and use technology that they carry around in their pockets and purses to find the best solutions to their lifestyle needs.

The practice in retail of creating different brand experiences in different channels has gone beyond being an inconvenience to shoppers. It is the central challenge that retailers are grappling with today.

Irvine, Calif. -- Billabong International has selected a retail suite from JustEnough’s retail suite of solutions to help transform its planning and replenishment processes across all its brands worldwide.

Minneapolis -- Target wants to keep things simple.

The retailer, which has been moving to simplify its operations, is now taking a similar approach to its store identity. Starting in October, Target will begin the process of rebranding all of its CityTarget and TargetExpress stores as “Target.”

Eliminating the multiple nameplates under which Target operates various store types is Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell’s latest move to simplify the retailer’s operations and identity.

Retail is becoming an increasingly hot market for hosted cloud computing providers. Some of those providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the Aliyun cloud division of Alibaba, are operated by retailers.

“Now Trending” is a new exclusive online series to chainstoreage.com, featuring trending topics that impact the retail real estate landscape.

In recent years, a very old practice has gotten some new attention: design is once again ascendant in the world of commercial development.

While design never went away, of course, the degree to which great design is being prioritized, cultivated and integrated into the development of memorable spaces and places is noteworthy.

Hoboken, N.J. – Newly launched Amazon rival Jet.com promises to deliver the lowest prices available online through a dynamic pricing system that constantly scans the Internet for the best possible deals.