Insights

By Emily Westridge Black and Christopher Quinlan

With major data breaches making headline news on a near-weekly basis, the retail industry is increasingly focused on cybersecurity. When creating their cybersecurity plans retailers should: 

• Create a strong cybersecurity team that is cross-sectional, and include personnel from legal, information technology, human resources, and communications or public relations departments. The team should also include at least one member of senior management.

By Jeff Trachsel

Showrooming has plagued brick-and-mortar retailers for years, with e-commerce quickly chipping away at in-store sales. Recently however, experts report the rising trend is actually the reverse - shoppers are now exploring options online before buying in-store. According to a 2014 report from BI Intelligence, reverse showrooming, or webrooming, is actually more common among U.S. consumers, with 69% of consumers researching online before transacting in-store.

By David Trice, Co-Founder and CEO, Engage

By Jeff Collins

By Steve Sell, Director of Marketing, Retail, Tyco Integrated Security

The shift towards an omnichannel retail environment is no longer a theory; it’s a reality that customers are expecting higher levels of customer experience and savvy retailers are responding to as fast as they can. As the lines between brick-and-mortar, online and mobile shopping continue to blur, retailers must deliver an exceptional customer experience across all channels.

By Gitte Amstrup Sandlykke, chief marketing Officer, Targit

The success or failure of any business in this crowded and complex marketplace comes down to whether business goals are met – maintaining customer loyalty is chief among them. However, many retailers are beginning to confuse loyalty with promotions, loyalty cards and awards, undermining brand equity rather than building stronger ties with their customers.

Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. has confirmed that there was an “illegal intrusion” into the company’s payment card systems. It is the retailer’s second data breach in a little over the year. Here are insights on the breach from four security experts:

Steve Hultquist, chief evangelist at RedSeal, the security analytics company:

By Kris Bjorson, JLL

Cost versus customer experience: As retailers compete on customer experience throughout the omni-channel supply chain process, the type of real estate and where it is located is playing a major role. In fact, according to JLL research, seven out of 10 retailers are still shaping their omnichannel product offering and customer service commitments.