Omnichannel

New York – Almost eight-in-10 (77%) of consumers report that having a poor or unsatisfying experience while trying to use a website on their tablet will affect their willingness to purchase from that brand. Other tablet research from omni-channel commerce technology provider Useablenet shows that 70% of consumers say that the quality of photography and design of a tablet site influences their decision on whether to purchase

Montreal, Quebec – LightSpeed has unveiled LightSpeed Web Store for Cloud, giving retailers a single web-based system for managing sales, inventory and customers both in-store and online. The inventory-centric solution empowers brick-and-mortar retailers to manage their business across all channels, from any device.

Foster City, Calif. – Global credit and debit card issuer Visa Inc. has publicly called for adoption of secure payment technology in response to recent high-profile retailer data breaches. In a short statement contained within a financial release, Visa CEO Charlie Scharf said Visa wants to move U.S. retailers toward PIN-and-chip cards that use the Europass, Matercard, Visa (EMV) standard, and away from the more commonly used magnetic stripe cards.

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Company has announced a new leadership structure that it says positions the company to leverage its assets and operations, and gain maximum benefit from the retail, consumer, mobile and digital shifts currently underway in the global marketplace.

As part of its digital strategy, Hudson’s Bay Company has created HBC Digital and appointed Michael Burgess as the newly created group’s president. Burgess will report to the office of the chairman.

HBC Digital will drive the digital commerce and marketing strategy and execution across all channels, in partnership with each of the company’s business units: Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Hudson’s Bay and HBC Outlets.

San Francisco -- The trend of companies adopting recurring revenue surged in 2013, with brand names using new billing and pricing models to grow sales and deepen customer loyalty. Recurring revenue technology provider Aria Systems projects this surge will continue in 2014 as more companies adopt recurring revenue models because of their flexibility and convenience for customers.

London – Online luxury retailer Avenue 32 has launched a mobile and tablet strategy allowing designers to showcase their collections to the public without having to invest in their own online presence. Since its launch, mobile traffic has more than doubled and average transaction value has increased 270%.

Working in partnership with Usablenet, Avenue 32 provides seamless and customized experiences for both mobile and tablet; the mobile site provides a task-based experience whereas the tablet site is focused around browsing and discovery.

Burlington, Mass. – Demandware has acquired privately-held Mainstreet Commerce, a provider of cloud-based order management solutions. Demandware hopes the combination of its enterprise-class commerce platform and Mainstreet Commerce’s distributed order management solution will simplify order orchestration between online and in-store shopping processes; optimize store and Web inventory; and enable retailers to deliver a “buy anywhere, fulfill anywhere” consumer experience.