Retailers must put procedures in place to protect the long-term health of their businesses and ensure security concerns are a central part of their omnichannel strategies, according to a new industry report.
Import volume at the nation's major retail container ports is expected to increase 3.5 percent in May as negotiators prepare to begin talks on a new contract for West Coast dockworkers, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
U.S. retail and consumer merger & acquisition activity during the first quarter of 2014 was primarily driven by five multibillion-dollar transactions, with more than half aligned to the food and beverage sector, confirming a positive deals outlook for the year, according to PwC's U.S. retail and consumer deals insights Q1 2014 report.
Digital interactions influence 36 cents of every dollar spent in the retail store, or approximately $1.1tr, according to the latest study from Deloitte Digital. By the end of 2014, that number will climb to 50 percent, or $1.5tr of total store sales.
CVS/Caremark appears to be creating a new IT team, one that will bridge the digital divide between marketing and IT as the retailer looks to strengthen its omnichannel efforts.
China is going digital very quickly. By 2016, the country will have more than 730 million internet users and more than 380 million online shoppers, up from 460 million and 145 million, respectively, in 2010.
Building true omnichannel merchandising capabilities requires the merging of previously siloed business functions. Footwear retailer Aerosoles has been omnichannel for about 10 years now, however, over the past 18 months the organization has decided to step up to manage the business properly.