As consumers continue to demand more from retailers, the grocery industry should adapt and provide targeted shopping experiences tailored to specific consumer needs and changing demographics, according to PwC’s report titled, Front of the Line: how grocers can get ahead for the future. Based on a survey of more than 1,000 shoppers, the report shares insights on changing consumer segments, what they'll want for the future and what can be done today to keep them happy tomorrow.
The ubiquity of the internet and smartphones has made e-commerce and m-commerce grow by leaps and bounds. But fear not, brick-and-mortar retailers: in-store shopping isn't going anywhere. In fact, brick-and-mortar retail still drives more than 90 percent of commerce, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
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.
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.
Success in marketing to U.S. millennials"”the generation of people now 18 to 34 years old"”will be critical to companies across product and service categories. One reason, of course, is that millennials represent the consumer market of the future.
Alibaba Group will invest HK$2.82bn (US$455m) in appliance maker Haier Electronics Group in a deal aimed at expanding the Chinese e-commerce giant's logistics reach to the millions of consumers in China's vast interior.
FedEx expects to have its busiest day in history on Monday, Dec. 10, when it moves a projected 19 million shipments through its global ground, express and freight networks. The 10-percent, year-over-year increase will once again be driven by e-commerce feeding the FedEx Ground and FedEx SmartPost networks.
With 92 percent of retailers selling online, 68 percent maintaining brick-and-mortar stores, and 64 percent utilizing catalogs, retailers are embracing a multichannel approach to meet buyer expectations and battle for market share, according to Jones Lang LaSalle's latest report, Retail 3.0: the evolution of multi-channel retail distribution.
