Omnichannel

Great personal experiences are what separate brick-and-mortar retail from its virtual cousin on the Web, and high-end experiences will soon be coming to luxury stores.   That’s one of 10 key elements to increase foot traffic introduced at RECon this week by Vicki Eickelberger, managing director of Big Red Rooster, a store design unit of JLL.  

CBRE’s Melina Cordero, an expert in consumer behavior, has produced a series of videos to instruct brick-and-mortar retailers in how to get more results at the point-of-sale.   The first three of these can be viewed on CBRE’s new retail innovation website.   

Williams-Sonoma Inc. on Wednesday reported better-than-expected quarterly results, fueled by a strong performance at its millennial-targeted West Elm division.    The home furnishings retailer's first-quarter earnings were $39.6 million, or 45 cents a share, compared with $39.6 million, or 44 cents a share, in the year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 51 cents a share. Analysts had forecast earnings of 49 cents a share.   

Self-checkout technology tops the list of items that IT professionals would like to see in use over the next year, according to a poll by CompCom.   “It’s perhaps not surprising to see self-checkout rise to the top in the poll, since paying for purchases is probably the least pleasurable part of the shopping experience, and making the process as quick and easy as possible is increasingly important to retailers," said Tom Alvey, senior VP, retail solutions group at CompuCom.  

Amazon is making its debut in the bridal category —a move that will take another hit against its crafting competitor Etsy.   

A luxury retail giant just made a move that could step up its digital efforts.    Nordstrom appointed Stacy Brown-Philpot to its board of directors, and she will also serve as a member of the board’s finance and technology committees. She replaces Enrique 'Rick' Hernandez, Jr., who announced earlier this year that he would not be seeking re-election.   

Despite increasing loyalty program membership enrollments, retailers continue to miss opportunities to satisfy shoppers.   Brands continue to invest more in loyalty programs, and enrollment has grown by 31% over the last four years. However, retailers are overlooking opportunities that will drive business results, according to “The Loyalty Report 2017.”  

Footwear retailer DSW Inc. fell short on earnings in its first quarter, even as it topped sales estimates.   Net income fell to $23 million, or 28 cents per share, below analyst expectations, from $30.0 million, or 36 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The company incurred pre-tax charges of $4.1 million, related to its acquisition of Ebuys, restructuring costs and foreign exchange loss assumed in the process of pre-funding the upcoming Town Shoes acquisition.