Omnichannel

By Sebastien Taveau, Chief Evangelist, Synaptics

From ancient bartering, to the first coin, to the first paper currency, to the first mobile payment, it’s easy to provide a linear view of how the payment process has evolved.

DSW may have had a challenging first quarter, driven by unseasonal weather and an aggressively promotional retail environment, but the company is looking to strengthen its competitive advantage by investing in omnichannel and assortment planning.

The company reported a sales decrease of 0.4% to $599 million for the first quarter ended May 3, compared to last year's first quarter sales of $601 million. Comparable sales decreased by 3.7%.

Phoenix -- PetSmart has named Phil Bowman to the position of executive VP of customer experience effective June 30. He will report directly to David Lenhardt, president and chief executive officer of PetSmart.

Bowman has extensive experience in brand-building, digital marketing, ecommerce and customer data analytics, as well as the creation of an integrated customer experience. Most recently, he served as chief marketing officer at TD Ameritrade, one of the world’s largest online securities brokerage companies.

Spindle, a leading provider of mobile commerce solutions, has signed a strategic agreement with Moolah, an independent sales organization that serves thousands of merchants across the US.

Moolah will integrate Spindle's merchant aggregation and payment processing infrastructure into its e-commerce and mobile offerings, enabling Moolah to offer instant merchant onboarding, increase merchant approval rates and allow those customers to begin accepting credit card payments in approximately 10 minutes.

New York -- Legendary Los Angeles retailer Fred Segal is going global. The company, which was acquired by media and licensing company Sandow in 2012, plans to open up to 10 luxury retail lifestyle centers in the United States and across the world during the next five to 10 years. And leading the expansion will be its newly hired CEO, retail veteran Paul Blum, who most recently served as CEO of Juicy Couture. Prior to that, he served as CEO of David Yurman and Kenneth Cole Productions.

Ahold CEO Dick Boer cited competitive pressures in New England as a contributing factor in the company’s flat U.S. sales in the first quarter, but it’s not stopping the company from targeting online expansion.  

Ahold's U.S. operations posted first-quarter net sales of $8 billion, down 0.3%. Excluding fuel sales, overall sales were flat relative to the same period last year. Identical sales growth excluding gas was 0.1%, which included the positive impact this year of the post-Easter week falling into the second quarter.

San Jose, Calif. – Second quarter 2014 will be less of a hardship for retailers than the first quarter, which started off the spring season on a negative trend across the metrics of traffic, conversion rate and sales per store (SPS). Data from store analytics technology provider RetailNext indicates that compared to the second quarter of 2013, traffic at brick-and-mortar stores nationwide will be down 6%, SPS flat and sales down 4%.

Tyson’s Corner, Va. - Logan's Roadhouse has selected MicroStrategy's Alert Platform as the foundation for a new customer-focused mobile app. Through its new app, Logan's intends to provide a complete brand experience to mobile consumers.

Using mobile conveniences and marketing features available in the Alert platform, Logan's expects to generate more repeat business, amplify its social presence, and deliver enhanced loyalty services.