The payments landscape is changing fast –and much of this fast-paced change is being driven by today’s digitally empowered consumers, whose expectations have been transformed by the smartphone and the services these supply. Which means that more than ever before, consumers expect payments to be fast, convenient and hassle-free.
Over the last several years, the introduction of new payment solutions has risen dramatically, yet consumers are ultimately reliant on retailers actually implementing these new solutions at the point of sale to enjoy the benefits these technologies provide.
Despite all the doom and gloom news that came out of Macy’s, Inc. on Jan. 6, chairman and CEO Terry Lundgren said its omnichannel investments are paying off.
It’s hard to argue against that: In November and December, the company filled nearly 17 million online orders at macys.com and bloomingdales.com.
But Macy’s really has the same problem other omnichannel retailers are experiencing. They are sacrificing store-level salespeople at the expense of technology, and not finding a happy medium to make the omnichannel experience a positive one.
Maybe the year of mobile commerce FINALLY arrived. Retailers said sales from smartphones grew 53% year-over-year, according to the State of Retailing Online 2016, conducted by Shop.org, Forrester Research, and Bizrate Insights. But there’s a catch: despite increased investments in mobile technology, more ecommerce retailers said they are struggling to find growth.
It was a great year for B2B e-commerce, and a Frost & Sullivan report claims that the U.S., along with China, will be the largest B2B e-commerce market by 2020, with sales reaching $1.2 billion that year.
It’s been a busy year for e-commerce. The convenience and choice available with online shopping continues to win more buyers, and this year for the first time the National Retail Federation reported that on Thanksgiving weekend, more people shopped online than in stores.
To meet the expectations of cross-channel customers, retailers must pursue a people-based marketing strategy that will help them reach shoppers in the right place, at the right time, with the right message. This, of course, is no small task. Customer recognition and real-time engagement across channels are major challenges facing retailers today. So where does a retailer begin?
Wayfair’s mobile shopping activity points to an upward trend in mobile traffic with the majority of traffic to Wayfair occurring on phones and tablets. Phone traffic has been sharply on the rise throughout 2015 as consumers have been switching from PCs and tablets to the phone.
Ecommerce startup Jet.com warned customers it can’t guarantee Christmas delivery for certain items not flagged as eligible for two-day delivery.
Amazon is reportedly in talks to lease 20 Boeing cargo jets, and flying out of an old DHL facility in Ohio, as talk of its air transport plans grows.