Next-Gen PIM is All About the Experience

| Jennifer Krizanek

While current iterations of PIM are highly effective, the tech landscape is shifting to a broader, more powerful paradigm: The product experience. Brands must create emotion-stirring experiences tailored to a consumer’s personality and preferences. But personalization requires serious data management and deep customer insights.

Macy's

Macy’s Wrestling With Retail-Ecommerce Split

| Mike O'Brien

Breaking up is hard to do, which department store stalwart Macy’s is discovering as it wrestles with how best to split up its store and online businesses, a bit trickier than the same move by Saks Fifth Avenue, according to a report in Reuters.

big-ticket purchases

Big-Ticket Purchases Go Omnichannel

| Ronda Slaven

While it’s not surprising that online purchases have increased during the pandemic, 25% of shoppers made big-ticket purchases without ever entering a store. Mobile usage throughout the purchase journey is also up significantly, with 76% of consumers using mobile devices to research products and make purchases. 

gig workers bike delivery feature

Boxed Gets Into Fresh Groceries With MaxDelivery

| Mike O'Brien

Boxed, a seller of subscription bulk CPG items through its automated facilities that competes with Costco, BJ’s Wholesale and Sam’s Club, is expanding into fresh, on-demand grocery delivery with the acquisition of New York-based MaxDelivery. The company plans to leverage MaxDelivery’s high AOV model into other markets in 2022.

cyber monday letters

Cyber Monday Online Sales Dip 1.4%

| Mike O'Brien

Like its holiday twin Black Friday, Cyber Monday in the U.S. saw ecommerce sales reverse course for the first time in memory, according to Adobe Digital Insights, dropping 1.4% from 2020. Consumers en masse have heeded warnings about stock-outs on digital shelves amid supply chain-fueled inventory shortages by shopping earlier.

Gen Z kids on their phones can you believe it?

Gen Z Shopping Habits May Kill Off Unprepared Brands

| Mark Hook

For the past decade, brands have scrambled to serve millennials, the first internet-obsessed generation that forced them to rethink ecommerce selling strategies. Now, they are reinventing as Gen Z gears up to enter the workforce and fast becomes a formidable force in the economy. Is your ecommerce platform ready?

Black Friday mobile feature

Black Friday Online Sales Dip Slightly, Still Strong

| Mike O'Brien

Ecommerce sales on Black Friday dipped slightly this year, to $8.9 billion from $9 billion in 2020, reversing years of growth, according to data from Adobe Analytics, with larger retailers seeing 22% higher growth than small businesses while the latter saw higher average order value.

Walmart DroneUp Arkansas

Walmart Launches Multi-Site Drone Delivery in Arkansas

| Mike O'Brien

Just in time for the holidays, Walmart on Monday went live with drone delivery from one of three stores near its headquarters in Bentonville, AR, via partner and investment recipient DroneUp, with service running from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, and deliveries coming in 30 minutes or less.

Via.delivery map feature

Startup Via.Delivery Brings BOPIS to SMBs in the U.S.

| Mike O'Brien

Via.Delivery, a startup platform offering the power of buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) to smaller retail and ecommerce businesses, has expanded beyond its Russian roots with a launch here that features 21,000+ pickup locations at pharmacies, convenience marts and grocery stores.

8fig cofounders

8fig Helps Ecommerce Sellers Flex Inventory Spend

| Mike O'Brien

8fig, an innovative fintech startup, is creating a new way for ecommerce sellers to obtain financing as they go for inventory purchases, based on sales history and projected performance, has raised of $50 million in new funding to accelerate growth and expand its lending capabilities.