Omnichannel

Boston – Wayfair is meeting the needs of customers who need to get some sleep fast. The online retailer is partnering with Mattress Firm Inc. to let customers obtain same-day premium delivery of mattresses in most markets.

Shoppers will also have access to Wayfair.com’s more than 700 customer service team members, including mattress specialists for advice and insight.

Northbrook, Ill. - Hilco Merchant Resources LLC (HMR), a provider of retail disposition services such as liquidation and acquisitions, has purchased online retail and daily deal e-commerce platform Deal Genius LLC.

Deal Genius was launched as a flash retail sales web business in 2004. The site delivers daily deals on brand name home goods, apparel, consumer electronics, pet supplies and other merchandise.  The company was founded by CEO Chris Matsakis, who will continue in that role going forward.  

Kohl’s is looking to mold the minds of the next generation of retailers with an innovative new program for students.

The push vs. pull debate has now crossed into mobile marketing and, similar to discussions regarding email marketing and other online initiatives, each approach offers pros and cons. And, as with most debates, a healthy balance is usually the best bet.

Some liken push marketing to spam as consumers often experience unexpected or too many promotional offers via smartphone either through a browser or native app. But when you are in the market for whatever message or offer is pushed, the promotion becomes relevant and pulls you in.

Amazon is going to make it very easy for startups to launch, market and distribute their products to hundreds of millions of Amazon customers across the globe.

The retailer is launching a program called Launchpad, which offers a streamlined onboarding experience, custom product pages, a comprehensive marketing package, and access to Amazon’s global fulfillment network, all geared toward helping startups successfully launch their innovations and share their stories.

Customer expectations of the store have changed dramatically in the last few years as constant connectivity has changed the way consumers live their lives. Johann Wrede, senior director of solution marketing for SAP, recently discussed the evolution of the in-store experience with Chain Store Age.

1. How have customer expectations for the in-store experience changed in the last few years?

Beijing – Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com Inc. has unveiled an enhanced version of its online enterprise procurement platform, JD Enterprise. The JD Enterprise Intelligent Procurement Platform, initially launched in late 2014, uses data-driven insights to make the procurement process more efficient for both suppliers and customers.

The new services unveiled will enable corporate customers to manage more of their procurement functions directly via JD Enterprise.

Seattle – Amazon.com continues its evolution into a full-service technology platform with three services essentially designed to help retailers do everything. These services include support for start-ups, expansion of the Amazon Aurora database engine, and a hosted fulfillment/logistics platform.