Amazon is diving into brick and mortar in a big way, with plans to open up to 400 physical store fronts, according to reports.

A "hat trick" refers to scoring three goals in a game. A remarkable feat for most players and certainly worthy of doffing your hat to honor the player. In magic, a hat trick describes the infamous illusion of pulling something out of an empty hat, typically a rabbit.

Amazon now accounts for roughly 50 percent of all online retail sales growth in the United States and 24 percent of total retail sales growth, according to Macquarie Research.

Today, omnichannel is so much broader than just the technology platform the customer uses for purchases - web, store, mobile, catalogue and so on. At its heart it is really about fulfillment - the customer's choice of fulfillment.

Customer service is an indisputably important factor when it comes to online retail. Good customer service can be the greatest sales asset a retailer can have, encouraging loyalty and word-of-mouth recommendations. But bad customer service cannot only see a particular sale lost in an instant, but long-term irreparable damage done to the brand.

Of the 74 percent of online American adults who are likely to purchase health and fitness technology in the next 12 months, one in three (35 percent) plan to buy a smart watch, according to the latest research from the Consumer Technology Association.