News

Kohl’s has a heck of a week
With all the attention focused on generally strong online holiday sales during “Cyber Week” (Nov. 23-29), it may be instructive to look at the experience of one major retailer.

Kohl’s has released an infographic summarizing what so far is a successful digital holiday shopping season. Among the facts and figures Kohl’s has released about the performance of Kohls.com during Cyber Week:
Study details shopping habits of millennials
Millennials shop differently than their parents, but when it comes to the end result, they are looking for the same thing: a great deal.

According to the Blackhawk Engagement Solutions’ “Millennials Disrupt Shopping” report, based on two separate surveys of 500 millennial consumers each, smartphones are a dominant method of connection to the web for millennials, with 89% using them to connect to the Internet. This compares to 75% using laptops, 45% using tablets and 37% using desktop computers.

Birchbox puts together team for brick-and-mortar expansion

Judging by its recent executive appointments, online beauty subscription retailer Birchbox is getting more and more serious about expanding in the physical space.

The company has named Benjamin Fay as VP of retail development and customer experience, with responsibility for translating the Birchbox brand experience into store design and overseeing execution of the retailer’ s off-line growth.
Connecting with Customers Through the Power of Scent

Delivering an excellent in-store experience to customers is no easy task for retailers. In addition to ensuring your employees are offering exceptional customer service, you need to consider how shoppers will perceive every aspect of your store environment, including lighting, music, floor plans and merchandise display. But in determining how to create an optimum in-store environment, don’t forget one of the most important factors that can positively influence the customer experience—scent.
Millennials shop differently for same results

The details of how millennials shop may differ from their elders, but the ultimate goal is the same.
Weis Markets has a new partner to boost efficiency

InnerWorkings on Tuesday entered an exclusive partnership to enhance the marketing supply chain of Weis Markets.
Report: Apparel up, electronics flat over Black Friday weekend

Apparel specialty retailers experienced a sales pick up over Black Friday weekend, while department-store and electronics revenue was roughly flat, Reuters reported.

Online sales growth was in the double digits over the weekend, beating MasterCard's forecast for about an 8% increase.

Read more by clicking here.
Target site overwhelmed by Cyber Monday traffic

For the second time this year, Target’s e-commerce site crashed due to exceptionally high levels of activity related to a major sales promotion.

The Target site went down the morning of Cyber Monday, Nov. 30. According to reports, the crash was actually a controlled restriction of the site by Target in response to extremely heavy volumes of visitors looking for holiday bargains.
Cyber Monday looks strong out of the gate

Early indicators point to retailers having an historically strong Cyber Monday.

According to the Adobe Digital Index, as of 10 a.m. ET on Monday, Nov. 30, Cyber Monday online sales had already reached $490 million. Considering Cyber Monday online sales in 2014 reached a total of around $2 billion, and early Cyber Monday sales were tracking ahead of the prior year by 14%, this is a very possible start to a record-breaking day.
Unusual twosome mix it up for e-commerce

Digital media company Mashable and Visa are doing a little mashing of their own to launch a new online retail entity.
Study: Younger consumers phone the sale in

The stereotype of younger consumers spending all their time glued to smartphones may have some validity, at least when it comes to shopping.

New custom Interactive Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) analysis of Prosper Insight data shows that adults ages 18-34 are more likely to favor smartphones for retail activities than any other age group.
Amazon gives sneak peek of drone delivery

In a new video, Amazon.com is previewing what it calls the future of retail.

Amazon demonstrates a new drone model which will allow delivery of certain items within 30 minutes or less. The drone rises vertically like a helicopter to an altitude of almost 400 feet, and then can fly like a plane for a distance of about 15 miles.