News

Solution launched to drive online traffic into physical stores
A new technology platform has been launched with a very specific goal: to help retailers convert their online browsers into shoppers at their brick-and-mortar stores.

The solution, a scalable SaaS platform from Brickwork, is designed to elevate the customer experience from site to store. It seeks to revolutionize the online “store locator” function by enriching the data and content around physical locations for brands with hundreds, and even thousands, of locations.
The cloud offers Dylan’s Candy Bar sweet growth possibilities
An information technology modernization effort at innovative candy retailer Dylan’s Candy Bar saw the company convert to the cloud and now the sky’s the limit.

Five Below achieves market milestone

Rapidly growing extreme value retailer Five Below could see its share price improve in the coming months as it is added to an important market index.

Five Below will join the S&P SmallCap 600 index effective after the close of trading on Friday, Dec. 18. The change is noteworthy for Five Below because such moves offer trigger increased buying of the company’s shares by funds that track the performance of the index which the company is joining. Five Below replaces UIL Holdings which merged with Iberdrola USA.
Study: Most holiday shoppers check out this retailer

Close to nine in 10 consumers will take a look at one specific retailer before making a holiday gift purchase.

According to a survey of 3,000 U.S. consumers by marketing platform provider BloomReach, 87% of respondents will comparison shop at Amazon.com before buying a gift. This frequency of product searches is paying off for Amazon, as 73% of respondents said they will buy from Amazon and 71% will spend more than a quarter of their holiday budgets on Amazon.
Study: Omnichannel experience has a ways to go

Retailers need to improve several aspects of their omnichannel customer engagement strategies if they want to truly satisfy customers.
Microsoft turns store into digital showroom

Microsoft introduced its HoloLens interactive 3-D virtual reality platform at the beginning of 2015. So far, it has not entered wide use among consumers or businesses.

According to The Verge, Microsoft is promoting HoloLens with a HoloLens Experience Showcase live demo area in its New York flagship store.

Read more by clicking here.
Study: Holiday delivery performance worsens

Delivery performance in the first half of December may land many providers on the naughty list.

According to analysis of what more than 130,000 shoppers said in surveys about on-time deliveries of their full orders between Dec. 1 - Dec. 15 by Bizrate Insights, a division of Connexity, time is not on their side.

Bizrate Insights data indicated on-time delivery rate went from 93.3% on Tuesday, Dec. 1 to 89.9% on Tuesday, Dec. 15. There were small day-over-day spikes in on-time delivery rate on Saturday, Dec. 5, Tuesday, Dec 8 and Friday Dec. 11.
Study: Online sales, browsing come from different sources

This holiday season, both laptop/desktop computers and mobile phones will play a critical role in the online path to purchase.

According to a new study of more than 1,000 U.S, consumers from online discount platform Ebates, more than half of Americans (53%) are choosing to use their laptops to shop this holiday season, followed by their home computer (39%) and their mobile phone (24%).
CVS Health enterprise on solid footing; raises midpoint of earnings outlook

At its annual Analyst Day in New York Wednesday morning, CVS Health raised the midpoint of its earnings outlook for 2016.
Decline of the in-store shopper hits Pier 1 Imports

Pier 1 Imports says it is still confident in its omnichannel strategy despite a mostly flat third quarter in which the company struggled with the same soft store traffic impacting many other retailers.

For the third quarter ended Nov. 28, the specialty retailer said same store sales decreased 0.7%. Total sales decreased 2.5% (a 1.4% decrease on a constant currency basis) to $472.5 million, compared to $484.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2015. Net income $10.92 million, or 13 cents a share, vs. a profit of $17.86 million, or 20 cents a share, a year ago.