Those were the findings of a Periscope survey at World Retail Congress 2016, which found that 78 percent of retail executives admit there is no one brand experience across their channels, while also acknowledging that "a well-defined cross- or multichannel strategy" was the top innovation that would drive digital growth (64 percent).

The biggest challenge for retailers is the organizational change that needs to take place: the removal of silos, creation of new processes, and forming of teams that work across, rather than within, channels. These take careful planning and execution, but cannot be ignored, because without them any retailer is doomed to fail.

Apparel has some of the biggest challenges in the softlines sector: 1. getting the trends right, 2. buying the right quantities in the right sizes and styles, and 3. managing the sell through of these items across their short lifecycle. All of these complexities drive erosion in margin.

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