Omnichannel

New York – Foot Locker Inc. is significantly raising its long-term financial objectives for 2020, including achieving sales of $10 billion. The retailer also seeks to achieve sales per gross square foot of $600, net income margin of 8.5%, EBIT margin of 12.5%, return on invested capital of 17%, and inventory turnover of three or more times.

San Jose, Calif. - Customer experience optimization is becoming an increasingly critical discipline as organizations enter a new era of marketing. Ninety-six percent of companies deem customer experience optimization as "important," with more than two in five companies (41%) claiming that this is now a "high priority" for their organization, according to the study.

New York -- Retail CFOs expect U.S. consumers’ feverish appetite for online buying to continue its strong upward trajectory in 2015. According to a recent BDO USA survey, nearly four out of five (78%) retail chief financial officers anticipate their online sales to grow. Overall, CFOs forecast an impressive 9.9% boost to e-commerce sales this year. This projected increase comes after the Commerce Department’s estimate of a record-breaking $304.9 billion in U.S. online sales in 2014.
 

North Kingstown, R.I. - Ocean State Job Lot is the latest retail chain to join the mobile payment revolution. The regional discounter now accepting two forms of mobile payments at the register, in addition to the traditional methods already accepted (cash, check, credit card, debit card, and EBT).

Shoppers can now opt to pay for purchases via Apple Pay and Google Wallet technology using their smartphones upon checkout.  The technology is available chain-wide at all Job Lot stores.

By Andrew Dark, CEO, Displaydata

As most retailers can attest, perceived inconsistencies between the online and offline worlds can lead to customer dissatisfaction and ultimately lost sales. Consumers believe it’s not possible to receive the same promotion or rebate in-store as online.

Indianapolis – Just in time for the annual college basketball championship tournament, Hhgregg is running an omnichannel “March Markdown” promotion. From March 16 – April 6, customers can enter up to four times per day via Facebook, online, or by sharing the Hhgregg “Acrobatic Dunk Madness” video.

Chris Allan was a co-founder of Quantum Retail Technology and now he is the company’s CEO too.

Allan rejoined Quantum, a provider of merchandise optimization and inventory solutions, in late 2014 to lead the company’s retail development and delivery organizations. He will maintain that role in addition to serving as CEO.

Hangzhou, China – Chinese e-commerce platform Alibaba Holding Group Inc. wants to change the face of payment. In public comments made at the CeBit technology conference in Hannover, Germany, on March 15, Alibaba chairman Jack Ma said his company’s subsidiary Ant Financial is developing a service called “Smile to Pay” that would let consumers pay for purchases with a facial scan.