Lease-to-own retailer Sears Hometown has been saved from potential failure through a $133 million acquisition by tax preparation firm Liberty Tax, which has been on a buying spree of distressed businesses this summer as it expands into the world of franchise retail and rent-to-own.
By 2025, the global augmented and virtual reality market is predicted to reach $814.7 billion, in no small part due to the rapid commercial adoption. For marketers and retailers, this booming, increasingly accessible technology with numerous applications can be especially attractive.
In a surprising move, Hudson’s Bay Company is selling the storied Lord & Taylor chain, which dates to 1826 in New York, to fashion rental subscription startup Le Tote for a relatively cheap $75 million upfront, and another $25 million via a promissory note in two years.
Banana Republic has launched “Style Passport,” an online subscription service that provides unlimited access to its women’s apparel collection for a flat fee of $85 a month. Here is a look at what the service includes for customers.
How customers engage with brands and the way they shop is now a new ballgame altogether. Digital engagement with products is quickly replacing the traditional approaches; in fact, it has set new standards to keep up with customer expectations.
Online customers will abandon roughly seven out of ten transactions they initiate. Ecommerce merchants are under tremendous pressure to reduce friction, speed up processes and optimize the customer experience to try and prevent fraud, keep customers engaged and prevent cart abandonment.
Follow in the footsteps of other digitally native brands that have gone click to brick like Bonobos, Warby Parker, Framebridge and Tuft & Needle, Wayfair this week opened its first physical store in the Natick Mall in Natick, MA, outside its Boston headquarters. This trend shows that brands starting online acknowledge the power of the store.
As customer behaviors continue to change, retailers everywhere are changing with them. Subscription apparel rental company Rent the Runway is taking a customer-centric approach to meet rising expectations and elevate the experience.
Walmart reported a 37% increase in ecommerce sales in Q2, the same as in Q1 and supported by strong growth in grocery, as its massive digital investments and focus continue to pay off in its locked battle with Amazon. The company is projecting full-year ecommerce growth of 35%, leveraging its huge store base for fulfillment.
For years, live video and retail were two separate entities, but thanks to the growth of live streaming and other live content trends in the U.S., both consumers and businesses are looking to the technology as a new means of communication and interaction with the world around them.