Month of July
Innovation and technology are increasingly present in physical retail and, of course, online. But it is in traditional commerce where it is having a major impact on how companies relate to their customers and set guidelines for greater closeness and personalization in that relationship. The idea is to differentiate the physical from the online retail space, so that the former can recapture customers and lure them back to shopping in-store, through strategies or tools that the online world can’t offer.
Self-service and mobile commerce are the most requested solutions in the retail sector: they account for 50% of demand, specifically, self-service solutions represent 30% and mobility solutions 20%, according to data provided by Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions.
As tourism increases every year by leaps and bounds, the impact of travel retail in Spain keeps growing. To date, our country presumes to be a safe place and tourists from around the world are looking for a vacation destination in an environment framed by security, beauty, culture, art, sun… and shopping.
Accenture has conducted a study among 3,000 consumers and 100 retail executives worldwide to identify trends in terms of the needs and expectations of people when interacting with products and services, as well as the technologies and innovations that are needed to respond to those demands.
The retail space is currently going through turbulent times despite a relatively healthy U.S. economy with record-busting equity market performance by benchmark indices. Dwindling sales by several underperforming stores have led to a surge in brick-and-mortar store closures, following the principle of ‘survival of the fittest’.
The world of retail looks nothing like it used to. Malls are dying, online sales are booming and retailers are scrambling to figure out what comes next. Fortunately, the mystery isn’t as mysterious as it seems. Despite the noise about the rise of digital and the fall of physical, e-commerce represented only 14.3% of retail sales in 2018, 40% of which went to Amazon.
In a world where consumption is increasingly moving online, how should the performance of physical retail stores be measured? What metrics make sense in a retail landscape that is seeing double-digit, compounded growth in e-commerce, while brick and mortar stores struggle to eke out single-digit lifts?
In the retail shelf space wars, the one with the best analytics will be the one to take the trophy. Nielsen, through its BASES innovation division, has launched Retail Ready, a technology solution that allows manufacturers to offer retail distributors information on how the presence of a new product will affect shelf space behavior. This way, manufacturers will be able to provide their retail distributors predictive analytics about the behavior of their novelty product in-store, that is, how exactly it will contribute to their business bottom line.
Anyone who has followed Walmart for some time knows it perfectly well. Walmart does not disclose profits for its online business (though it should), considering that the company’s U.S. online business is a money pit as it invests in software, techie human beings and various new services to stay competitive with Amazon (AMZN) and Target (TGT). Walmart has no other choice but to make these investments if it wants to win over time both in the digital realm and its physical stores, which play home to services such as picking up orders placed online.
These days, many things are centered around “intelligent” this and “smart” that. The retail space is no different. Brick-and-mortar retailers today are faced with the growing need to make their operations more intelligent to bring in more revenue as consumers continue to purchase online.
Microsoft will open its first retail store in Europe on Thursday as the software giant looks to boost its physical presence and compete with other tech companies offering unique in-store experiences for customers. The 21,932 square-foot Microsoft store will be located on Oxford Circus in the center of London’s famous shopping district – just down the street from Apple’s flagship Regent Street location. London will be Microsoft’s third flagship destination, along with Sydney and New York City
Tax-free sales in Spain have increased by 1% in the first half of the year, with an 8% increase in arrivals of non-EU visitors. However, according to a study prepared by payment services and solutions company Planet Technology Services, the average purchase receipt has dropped to 354 euros, that is, 20% less than in the month of June of the previous year, due to the elimination of the minimum amount.
Let’s face it: Online shopping is here to stay. In addition to seeing an increase in online sales, we are also seeing an increase in offline sales influenced by what customers search for online. What this means is that your customers encounter an online retail experience that is personalized, well organized, visual and designed to lead them naturally and efficiently towards a purchase.
In July 1994, Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com. Twenty-five years later, he is the wealthiest man in the world and Amazon controls 50% of the online business in the U.S. with no signs of slowing down.