Omnichannel

New York -- Upscale footwear brand Stuart Weitzman has launched its first Instagram-based advertising campaign. The online campaign features Cinemagraps, which animates a portion of a photo so that it looks like a video. It was done in collaboration with Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg of Ann Street Studio.

Specialty retailer Cost Plus World Market and digital retailer Shutterfly are teaming up for an omnichannel Mother’s Day promotion any mom would love.

New York -- Interbrand, a leading brand consultancy, has named Victoria Leavitt as CEO of consumer & retail brand experience in North America. She will be based in Cincinnati and report directly to Josh Feldmeth, CEO of Interbrand North America.

Toronto -- Hudson’s Bay Company’s net profit in the fourth quarter jumped to C$111 million (USD $88.9 million) from C$37 million ,in the year-ago period, helped by strong digital sales, the successful integration of Saks Fifth Avenue and the strong U.S. dollar. The retailer said it plans to accelerate openings of Saks’ off-price Off 5th brand and strengthen its digital and omnichannel capabilities in its current fiscal year.  

Mountain View, Calif. – Google has released version 9.0 of the Google Wallet electronic payment app, skipping version 8.0 but only adding a couple of new features. The most significant new feature is a transaction search bar that lets users find past transactions via keyword.

In addition, a maps widget lets users track stores where they make purchases and locate them on a map. Among other benefits, this feature lets consumers quickly identify purchases made in stores and areas they have not visited.

Providing an omnichannel customer experience is one of the most rewarding and challenging efforts a retailer can undertake. I recently spoke with David Stover, global head of business-to-consumer omnichannel solution management for Hybris, about some of the benefits and difficulties operating in the omnichannel space presents retailers.

Store Enablement is Harder than it Looks
According to Stover, store enablement represents the “last foot” of retail.

New York -- Legendary Manhattan off-price retailer Century 21 will open its first store outside its Northeast home base, at Sawgrass Mills, Sunrise, Florida. The 85,000-sq.-ft. store is set to open in the fall of 2016.

Lane Bryant is launching an omnichannel spring marketing campaign that hopes to drive women to embrace what makes them unique.

The plus-size retailer is encouraging customers to celebrate the fact that they’re different to the prototypical "Victoria's Secret Angel” and that all sizes can (and deserve to) be sexy.