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Amazon’s $13.7 billion proposed acquisition of Whole Foods rocked the grocery industry last week. We’ve got a wide range of Industry opinion, expert analysis and perspectives on the deal and what it means for the US grocery trade. CNBC reported that shares of Whole Foods jumped 28% on news of the proposed Amazon acquisition. Cowen and Company reports 12% of US consumers bought groceries online in 2016. CNBC also called Amazon’s plan “a brilliant acquisition” and “a slam dunk.” The acquisition news had a big impact on retail and grocery stocks, causing a huge drop in share value of tens of billions of dollars. Kroger shares dropped 11% and Walmart was down 5% while Costco and Target each slipped 6%....
To better accommodate more than three million customers and 115,000 associates each week across 780 store locations, Ahold USA’s retail divisions, Stop & Shop New England, Stop & Shop New York Metro, Giant Landover, and Giant Carlisle, embarked on a technology overhaul in collaboration with Verizon Enterprise Solutions to create a ‘smarter store’ for today’s always-connected consumer. With consumers increasingly relying on smartphones and public Wi-Fi when shopping, retailers are recognizing the imperative to offer strong and reliable networks for delivering the digitally rich in-store experience that is now an expectation. Underscoring the growing popularity of the Wi-Fi feature, in December 2016 alone Ahold USA’s divisions saw an overall 23% spike in the number of users over the previous month. On top of improving the customer experience, the technology upgrade includes operational enhancements across all Ahold USA division stores. All locations are now equipped with Verizon’s business-grade voice-over-IP (VoIP) phone solution which streamlines network management and cost efficiencies while extending the capabilities of the company’s existing phone system. Further, the addition of Verizon’s industry leading wireless network capabilities in each location will provide backup connectivity to help maintain business continuity in the event of outages which can be harmful to business and a company’s brand.
The migration of consumers from stores to online shopping over the crucial Thanksgiving-Black Friday weekend continued dramatically this year, adding to the pressure on brick-and-mortar retailers as they seek to compete with Amazon.com. A survey released by the National Retail Federation on Sunday estimated that 108.5 million Americans shopped online over the long weekend that kicks off the holiday shopping season in earnest, well above the 99.1 million who hit stores. Last year, the numbers were about even for both avenues of shopping.It’s not a surprising finding given that Target tgt and Kohl’s mss , among others, reported record online sales on Thanksgiving. Adobe said online shopping not only eclipsed the $5 billion mark for Thanksgiving and Black Friday, but told Fortune that U.S. online sales from Thursday to Saturday rose 17.3% to $7.23 billion. Many retailers, including Walmart, began their Black Friday deals online right after midnight on Thanksgiving morning....
It would be too easy for RangeMe founder and CEO Nicky Jackson to define a retail “disrupter” as “leveraging technology to make this or that scalable or more efficient.” The better answer, she says, is that retail disruption starts with understanding a problem and seeing where something small can make a big difference. That’s exactly what Nicky did, and it’s what landed her company a spot as one of three finalists in the Shop.org Digital Commerce Startup of the Year competition.Originally, RangeMe was about connecting retailers and suppliers. A study showed that 93 percent of major retailers ranked product discovery as their top industry problem. “We then discovered, through our work with retailers, that buyers spend a substantial amount of time managing new supplier requests. RangeMe broadened its offering to not only assist with a marketplace of close to 100,000 products for discovery, but also the management of inbound proposals.”...
Transforming bricks-and-mortar shopping is a high-stakes endeavor for retailers given Americans still do over 90% of our shopping in physical stores. In fact, one of the latest trends in retail is the launch of physical stores by online e-commerce companies, including Amazon, Warby Parker, and Birchbox. Dozens of startups have taken on the challenge of helping retailers bridge the gap between digital and physical commerce through features ranging from shelf-stocking robots, to augmented reality displays, to Wi-Fi based beacons that collect data on shopper behavior. Using CB Insights data, we identified startups enhancing the in-store experience with digital tools. The startups in our list have racked up partnerships with many big name brands — including Maybelline, Lancome, Kiehl’s, Cabela’s, Foot Locker, Home Depot, Express — and department stores, from Lord & Taylor to Target....
Retail profits are plummeting. Stores are closing. Malls are emptying. The depressing stories just keep coming. Reading the Macy’s, Nordstrom, and Target earnings announcements is about as uplifting as a tour of an intensive care unit. The Internet is apparently taking down yet another industry. Brick and mortar stores seem to be going the way of the yellow pages. Sure enough, the Census Bureau just released data showing that online retail sales surged 15.2 percent between the first quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016. But before you dump all of your retail stocks, there are more facts you should consider. Looking only at that 15.2 percent “surge” would be misleading. It was an increase was on a small base of 6.9 percent. Even when a tiny number grows by a large percentage terms, it is often still tiny. More than 20 years after the internet was opened to commerce, the Census Bureau tells us that brick and mortar sales accounted for 92.3 percent of retail sales in the first quarter of 2016. Their data show that only 0.8 percent of retail sales shifted from offline to online between the beginning of 2015 and 2016. So, despite all the talk about drone deliveries to your doorstep, all the retail execs expressing angst over consumers going online, and even a Presidential candidate exclaiming that Amazon has a “huge antitrust problem,” the Census data suggest that physical retail is thriving. Of course, the shuttered stores, depressed execs, and tanking stocks suggest otherwise. What’s the real story?...
The e-retailer, which has had trouble getting some apparel manufacturers to sell to it wholesale, is now selling apparel for women, men and kids under its own brands. Here’s a close look at these Amazon brands and their prospects.
Amazon.com Inc. over the last eight months rolled out a series of Amazon-owned private-label apparel brands. The lines follow through on plans previously hinted at by Amazon executives, and represent a way for Amazon to become a bigger force in apparel, a segment where it’s been limited by the reluctance of some higher-end fashion brands to sell to Amazon.
KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Edward Yruma identified the brands in a research note released earlier this week based on his research. Amazon has not commented or confirmed the brands directly, but Internet Retailer located trademark applications filed by Amazon Technologies Inc. for six of the seven brands dating to March 2015. Amazon did not respond to inquiries....
Consumers plan to use a combination of online and traditional channels to research and purchase gifts this holiday season, according to a recent report from the Blackhawk Network.
The report was based on data from a September 2015 survey of 1,140 adults living in the United States.
Some 73% of respondents say they plan to research gifts online this year, 66% plan to visit retail stores in person, and 46% plan to simply ask recipients what they want.
As for actually purchasing holiday gifts, 84% of respondents say they'll visit brick-and-mortar retail stores, 78% plan to shop online, and 20% will use a retailers' mobile apps....
The new avatar of shopping is evident with eCommerce squeezing in stealthily. Though, the online retail shopping is yet to have a sizable chunk of the total retail market the digital medium definitely has an impact on the offline shopping as well.
According to the latest Nielsen report, about half of products buying decisions people make are spontaneous and unplanned. This provides brands an ample opportunity to influence and connect people online that could eventually drive them to non-replenish purchase.
The report highlights online elements that influence non-replenish purchases and what are the top online activities of shoppers before they actually hit the store. It reveals that online resources – includes hearing and researching on social media, looking on retail websites, looking at brand manufacturer website, looking on coupon websites – have a greater impact on such non-replenish purchases than recommendation or ads. Nearly 7% of time shoppers recall using such online resources....
More than 61% Shop In-Store
It is indeed good news for the traditional retailers against the 31% of people who turn to the internet. Until eCommerce finds a less expensive solution for same day delivery, traditional commerce continues to win on this point. In-store shopping has the ability to offer products to the customers immediately.
Not only this, the biggest benefit for brands operating brick-and-mortar stores is the way in which consumers spend their money while shopping. They need to understand that approximately 41% of shoppers spend more than they had planned to while shopping in stores. The product displays and the decorative store-fronts can strongly influence shoppers to make an impulse purchase....
These days, companies realize the importance of getting their message out on social media to consumers. With so many social networks to use, how do you know ones will be best for your brand?
SimilarWeb looked at U.S. social metrics of different e-commerce companies over the last 6 months (February – July, 2015). Here’s a look at seven ecommerce websites that are killing it on social....
Nowadays, omni-channel consumers are comparing products and prices online before ever entering a bricks-and-mortar store and when they do, they have a device with them to compare and research on the fly.
So, the question is: how can online retailers cash in on über-connected consumers and get them to spend money in their online store as opposed to someone else’s?The answer: gamify....
Most consumers shop across multiple channels – in fact, a whopping 72% want to connect and engage with brands through digital channels. Most businesses have made or are beginning to make the transition to better engage today’s digital consumers.
Offline must be integrated with online methods, consumer data must be collected across all touch points, and marketers understand that personalized digital experiences will drive success.
Ever wonder just how much of an impact do digital marketing strategies really make? Or are you considering switching up some of your marketing spend? Take a look at these 5 compelling reasons why you should seriously think about ramping up your digital presence....
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We asked our partners to reflect on the trends they see gathering momentum in 2017. Notable areas of concensus include accelerating merchant interest in B2B ecommerce, a continued focus on optimizing shoppers experiences on mobile, international expansion, and retailers rethinking the role of physical stores. Here’s a roundup of their thoughts: Integrated B2B & B2C“More and more mid-market customers want to see both customer paths in one instance, which makes their overall process more efficient.” (Martina England,Corra) "[We] see B2B online retailing as an on-going trend that will be gaining a lot more steam in the coming year. With the B2B eCommerce market approaching $1 trillion dollars according to Forbes, even mid-market retailers are looking for an agile way to break into this space." (Karah Finan, Web Solutions NYC)...
Looking for the best deals on that hot “it” purse or that tony musk fragrance? Then you might want to skip Amazon.
Department and specialty stores are cheaper than the online giant on a range of full-priced items, the International Council of Shopping Centers claims, based on a study it conducted last year.
A comparison between the same 547 (nonsale) apparel, accessory and beauty products at 124 department and specialty stores across the country, such as Bloomingdale’s, Macy's and Sephora, revealed that on an item-to-item basis, department and specialty stores were up to 30% cheaper than the online juggernaut....
Black Friday is losing its relevancy to US shoppers. The holiday, which takes place the day after Thanksgiving, has historically been the biggest shopping day of the year in the US. But over the last several years, shopper traffic in stores on Black Friday has been falling with many retailers like Walmart, Target, and Amazon kicking off their holiday discounts online several weeks in advance. Foot traffic in stores this year is expected to fall by about 3.5% on Black Friday compared to last year, according to data from the location tracking service Foursquare....
One of the main effects of Pokémon Go has been to draw attention to existing AR apps, that build on current smart device functions — namely GPS and cameras. This works because the cameras allow for a view the environment in real time, which can be “augmented” from the user’s viewpoint. AR’s potential has been recognized by retail for quite a while. For example Lego introduced an AR app a full six years ago, allowing customers to hold a box in front of an in-store monitor and see what the finished model would look like.
More recently, the online store Wayfair launched Wayfair view, allowing shoppers to superimpose potential purchases on their own space to see if the items would fit and how they would look. Ikea has an AR catalog app, that lets shoppers use their smartphones to virtually furnish their rooms with items from the catalog. Other apps allow customers to virtually try on shoes and clothes and in some cases share photos with their social networks.
Retailers can also use AR to enhance and tailor the customer experience. Using a specialized store app, customers can get more information about a product, its availability and potential discounts or promos. By including AR components to store displays, retailers are able to profit from the fact that their customers are often more preoccupied with their phones than the merchandise right in front of them. Apps can also direct customers to particular items, and provide a guided map to the specific shelf, something that is tremendously useful in large stores....
Wal-Mart is offering free shipping with no minimum purchase on all online orders during the week of July 11, its latest move to steal some thunder from Amazon's much-publicized Prime Day shopping event, which takes place July 12. SWal-Mart will offer the free shipping option alongside 30-day free trials of ShippingPass, a $49-per-year program giving members free two-day shipping on many items. Wal-Mart has seen daily ShippingPass sign-ups more than quadruple in a week compared to the previous week, Internet Retailer reports, although the retailer didn’t disclose how many customers have signed up.In addition to touting its shipping deals, Wal-Mart is holding a sale to rival Prime Day this year, as it did last year. Stores including Target, Sears and Banana Republic also are offering deals coinciding with Prime Day, notes USA Today.Wal-Mart is aggressively targeting Amazon Prime Day, offering discounts on merchandise from televisions and clothes to furniture this week, Reuters reports. And while Prime Day deals are available exclusively to Prime subscribers, Wal-Mart is imposing no such restrictions. “We believe saving money every day is better than just one, and that all customers should save, not only some,” Wal-Mart said in a statement....
Most retail outlets — whether conventional brick-and-mortar shops, digitally enhanced stores like Macy’s in the U.S. or Burberry in the UK, or online stores — assume a traditional three-stage consumption model. The customer experiences a need, shops to satisfy the need, and then consumes or uses the product purchased (I need shoes, I buy shoes, I wear them). TThe vocabulary of retailing reflects this model, assuming in particular that shopping is the central component of this model. Marketers will talk about shopping trips, shopping missions, shopping baskets, shopping lists, and destination trips. What’s more, current practice for the most part still rests on the idea that many decisions on which particular product to buy are made in the store — whether physical or online. Hence, brands engage in an arms race of persuasion and hard-sell tactics (prices, promos, presence) at the point-of-sale order to sway the customer when she is ready to transact. But winning in retailing today is less and less about control of the shopping experience because there is no longer a clearly defined shopping stage. The model is changing as new technologies allow people to bring the purchase of the product that satisfies their need closer to their first perception of it. And this makes the perception of the need — rather than the shop — the stage that marketers need to control. This paradigm shift — and it really is that — is apparent in three ways....
" A surprising group of retailers are dominating social media conversations and engagement so far this holiday season, led by Nordstrom, Macy’s and Sephora, according to Shareablee Social Scorecard. Kohl’s came in at a much more distant fourth place, followed by Amazon.
The rankings, which are based on combined analysis of total actions —shares, comments, retweets, and reblogs — on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and You Tube, show an overall 26% increase in engagement and 170% jump in actions this year. This is despite a sharp decrease in posts featuring Black Friday deals, which fell 32% on Facebook and 27% on Twitter.
"What really stood out to us this year is the rise of the specialty store, and not so much the mass marketers,” says Shareablee's founder and CEO, Tania Yuki. “I was expecting to see Walmart and Target ranked much higher, and instead we saw exceptional strength in brands like Nordstrom, Sephora, Barney’s and Neiman Marcus.”...
Retailers worldwide are preparing for the most profitable time of the year, striving to make this holiday season the most lucrative yet. As always, a number of new trends are impacting the ways customers approach holiday shopping, and retailers must be on top of these developments to gain an edge.
With a better understanding of these behaviors, brands will be able to capitalize on the huge opportunities that lie ahead in the next 6 weeks. To help brands optimize their holiday campaigns and maximize returns, here's a look at 11 retail stats that every marketer needs to know....
The 3rd annual digital experience study by analysts at Deloitte revealed a continuing trend, showing how mobile connectivity influences retail purchasing decisions. The study examined over 3,000 U.S. consumers to understand how their digital interactions (eCommerce, social, review sites, etc) are influencing in-store U.S. retail purchases. To nobody’s surprise, this year’s data clearly shows that digital influence continues to accelerate and shift the ground under the feet of retailers large and small alike.
The Deloitte study also pointed out that retailers are “dramatically underestimating the influence of digital, and are caught in a divide where they are making digital investments.” Buyers’ digital experience is becoming increasingly important.
Rather than view eCommerce and physical retail separately, retailers must understand how digital experience influences multiple channels.
As the rapid convergence of eCommerce and “brick-and-mortar business” continues, there are some practical ways you can create a more desirable digital experience for your customer.
The good news is, many changes aren’t costly at all, it’s just a matter of making a slight shift in your business approach....
Nothing happens until a visitor clicks a button. And once that happens, that visitor is somewhere in the pipeline of a purchase – either providing contact information, signing up for something, claiming a free trial, or actually making a final purchase. Any one of these actions can be considered a “conversion.”
Getting a visitor to the point of conversion requires sales tactics that have been used for years and are the result of basic human psychological behavior – emotional appeals, such as a sense of belonging, a need to not be left out or an urgency of some sort, like a limited time offer.
Overlaid onto human psychological needs, however, is the new research of neuroscience, which tracks brain activity when the senses are engaged. This new research adds to the “tricks” that ecommerce businesses can use to foster more conversions. Here are five tactics that use either basic psychological appeals, neuroscience, or a combination of both....
Global e-commerce generates more than $1.2 million in revenue every 30 seconds, according to a new report from the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India (ASSOCHAM) and Deloitte.
Further, the study found, social networks are contributing significantly to this revenue. Social media pages provide information regarding new products in the market, user reviews and ratings of the product, recommendations, and increasingly, the ability to buy directly from the site, rather than requiring a visit to a retailer's dedicated e-commerce site.
"Social media also helps e-tailers to build brand awareness by responding to customer queries," said D.S. Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM. "Seasonal sales and offers are displayed in social networks to reach maximum number of people. E-tailers have even started to motivate customers with reward points to provide feedback on the product on social networks. Prospective customers also interact with users of the product or service on social networks before making purchase decision."...
It is true? Myth or reality? Well extensive research and customer surveys have produced mind boggling evidence that online stores actually work as an essential counterpart for boosting in-store sales of many businesses which have online representation.
Consumers interested in purchasing products often get sidelined with alternatives and comparable products online with good product presentation and conclusively, refuse to buy the product. However, the same customer is rejuvenated after seeing the product in reality while walking in a local store. The result is offline purchase!...
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![Digital Effect on In-Store Shopping: 59% Shoppers Look for Coupons Online [Report] | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/XtyM5CHF95GQPzRkhtOx4Dl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
Big retail disruption for the grocery trade.