Omnichannel

Iselin, N.J. -- Birdzi, a provider of location analytics and mobile applications for personalized shopper engagement, announced that Woodman’s Foods, an independent and employee-owned grocery retailer with stores in Wisconsin and northern Illinois, is now a member of Birdzi’s Personiphi Network and has selected the company’s Shopper Engagement platform to provide personalized savings to shoppers.

After a rollout to one store in 2014, Woodman’s Foods will roll out the solution to all of its 15 stores by spring 2015.

Washington, D.C. -- Mobile is the top priority for retailers in 2015, according to the 2015 Shop.org/Forrester Research Inc., State of Retailing Online, with 58% of surveyed retailers placing it at the top of their list, up from 53% last year.

The survey found smartphone sales as a percentage of online sales grew from 8% in 2013 to 12% in 2014, an increase of 50%. Tablets’ share of the pie also grew from 13% of online sales in 2013 to 16% in 2014.

Columbia, Md. – Although it is now dismissed as a “legacy” technology, email can still provide value to retailers’ CRM (customer relationship marketing) efforts, as can mobile technology and loyalty programs. According to new data from CRM firm Merkle, 67% of consumers want a totally mobile path to purchase and 42% of supermarket shoppers use their phones at least once during a trip.

Petco is leveraging the power of its multichannel capabilities to educate its shoppers about pet nutrition.

The retailer is launching an initiative focused on the importance of proper nutrition for pets.

Chicago -- Famed British toy retailer Hamleys is coming across the pond. The 255-year old company, famous for has retained JLL to facilitate a multiple store roll-out throughout the United States.

New York - While the digital age has encouraged more consumers to shop and browse products on the Web, physical stores are still primary destinations for shoppers, according to an annual survey by PwC's.

New York -- Companies are losing as much as 25% of online revenues an average per respondent of $92.3 million per year – to mobile fraud, according to a study by RSA and TeleSign, a provider of mobile identity verification solutions. Nearly one-third of organizations lost as much as 10% and up to 25% of revenues due to mobile fraud.

Dublin, Calif. -- Ross Dress for Less will open two new stores in the Houston area on March 7.

The stores are located in the Center at Pearland Parkway in East Pearland, 15 miles from downtown Houston; and Ravenwood Village Shopping Center in Huntsville. With these new locations, Ross will operate 170 stores in Texas, its second largest state.

Together, Ross Dress for Less and dd’s Discounts currently operate over 1,300 off-price apparel and home fashion stores in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.