News

Survey: Consumers of all ages favor same device
When it comes to a primary device, consumers of all ages make the same choice by a clear margin.

According to a new survey of 4,000 consumers from Adobe, 92% of millennials consider the smartphone as their primary device.

Tablets show opposite age trends. While 72% of all consumers say they own tablets, baby boomers and 70 and over report higher usage. 87% of respondents use tablets at home, with 66% using it every day. Top activities include reading emails (72%), playing games (60%), sending emails (60%) and shopping (55%)
NRF puts holiday growth at 3.7%
The National Retail Federation issued an above average holiday season sales forecast in which the desire of Americans to spend will be offset by their ability to do so.

The trade group projects that total holiday sales will increase 3.7% to $630.5 billion during the November time-frame and that online sales would increase between 6% and 8% to represent $108 billion of the total.

RetailNext: September sales disappoint, but mall traffic improving

Brick-and-mortar sales metrics were below expectations in September, but not all was lost.

According to the September 2015 Retail Performance Pulse report from brick-and-mortar analytics firm RetailNext Inc., traffic declined at the lowest rate since January of this year.
10 trends to drive the holiday shopping season

For the 2015 holiday shopping season, the dollar figure forecast on consumer spend is less relevant for retailers, according to PwC's 2015 Holiday Outlook. Rather, a deeper understanding of the complex retail landscape and the focus on building long-term shopper relationships is how retailers will define success this year.

PwC outlines 10 big trends that are expected to drive the 2015 holiday shopping season:
Tis the season for executive changes

The same day that TJX announced the retirement of its CEO, Ascena Retail Group named a new executive to lead its recently acquired Ann Inc. division.
Painting with a Twist rides wave of popularity

The “paint ‘n’ sip” phenomenon, whereby friends, neighbors, and colleagues come together to paint, drink and relax, is showing no signs of slowing down and that’s good news for a Louisiana-based company.

Painting with a Twist, which bills itself as the original and largest paint-and-sip franchise, has opened more than one new location each week this year, and is on track to reach its goal of 100 new locations in 2015.
Etsy faces big new challenge — from Amazon

Following months of speculation, Amazon.com is officially launching Handmade at Amazon. The new online store features handmade items crafted and sold directly by artisans, and is a direct challenge to Etsy Inc.

Handmade at Amazon offers more than 80,000 handcrafted items from around the world. Customers can shop by country, locally, or by individual artisan profile. Shoppers can also browse by product category, including jewelry, home décor, artwork, stationery and party supplies, kitchen and dining, and furniture.
Holiday shoppers start earlier as waiting for Black Friday deals loses appeal

Shoppers are starting their holiday shopping earlier every year — and it's partially due to a perception that the deals aren't all that great anymore on Black Friday.

According to RetailMeNot’s annual holiday Shoppers Trend Report, only 10% of consumers believe that it is worth waiting until Black Friday for deals.
September sales disappoint, mall traffic improves

Brick-and-mortar sales metrics were below expectations in September, but not all was lost.

According to the September 2015 Retail Performance Pulse report from brick-and-mortar analytics firm RetailNext Inc., traffic declined at the lowest rate since January of this year.
Pushing beyond par for customer experience

In the 1960s, when our company was founded, cutting edge was a typewritten, hand-illustrated catalog. Since then our technology has moved on considerably but our focus is the same: Using the latest systems and techniques to create an exceptional, engaging customer experience.

Almost every retailer worth their salt understands the importance of omnichannel in achieving this today - but actually finding and implementing the technology to do it properly is the hard part.