The Halloween candy is probably still sitting in children’s bags and jack-o-lanterns are still aglow on people’s front porches, but the holiday shopping season has arrived. Here is a sample of what some of the major retailers are doing to push holiday season deals.
Following a similar move by Target, Best Buy is offering free shipping on most orders between now and Christmas, waiving its standard $35 minimum order threshold.
Right on the heels of Walmart’s September announcement of an in-home grocery delivery service being tested in New York City, Amazon has come out with its own offering allowing drivers to enter homes and drop off items under the watchful eye of a new Amazon smart connected camera – all tied to Alexa.
In a surprising move, bpost, the Belgian postal service, announced plans to acquire U.S.-based third-party logistics and ecommerce software firm Radial for $820 million, as it looks to expand its client base here with Radial’s broad omnichannel, logistics, and fulfillment capabilities.
Fulfilling a recent promise from its U.S. ecommerce head Marc Lore, Walmart has acquired courier service Parcel to provide same-day delivery of fresh and frozen groceries and online merchandise orders to Walmart and Jet.com customers in New York.
Voice shopping just got a lot more realistic with the recent moves by Amazon, Apple, Google and Walmart to drive voice-activated shopping into more and more homes. Here is what retailers need to know about how voice shopping is changing the retail landscape.
While things look dire in physical retail, investments in omnichannel are paying off for some traditional retailers. There are similarities in the playbook across a diverse group of companies, including aligning physical stores with the ecommerce channel, investing in private brands, and aggressively expanding product assortment. See how some of the leaders are staying ahead of the curve.
Marc Lore, Walmart’s head of ecommerce for the U.S., talked about the company’s testing of in-home grocery delivery during a keynote presentation at Shop.org, the latest in a string of disruptive moves by the big-box giant as it battles head-to-head with Amazon. See what Lore had to say about the new offering and how he views its potential for expansion.
As the peak holiday season hiring frenzy kicks into gear, Walmart has decided to set itself apart by announcing it will once again offer extra shift hours instead of hiring thousands of seasonal staff as many other major retailers do. Target meanwhile plans to raise its minimum wage to $10 per hour and then to $11. See what holiday hiring plans are in the works for other retailers and service providers to meet the seasonal crush.
Kohl’s said it will begin accepting and processing Amazon returns for free at 82 stores in Los Angeles and Chicago starting in October. The company will pack and ship eligible returns to Amazon processing centers.