As we know, the retail industry is definitely dynamic. From what we’ve seen so far, 2016 is gearing up to be an exciting one, so we’ve curated a list of the most notable and interesting pieces of retail news that have caught our attention for February’s #RetailRoundUp.
And the nation’s favorite fashion retailer is… via RetailingToday
For the fourth year in a row, Nordstrom has been the top choice as the nation’s favorite fashion retailer in Market Force Information’s study. While this comes a little surprise due to their high satisfaction ratings, Nordstrom has also earned high scores for their atmosphere, quick checkout speed and helping shoppers finding correct sizes. Marshall’s snagged the number two spot, H&M and Ross Dress for Less tied for third, Kohl’s grabbed fourth and Macy’s rounds out the top five.
The study also found that though H&M’s mobile app was the most used, followed by Target and Walmart, consumers mostly use retail apps only to check prices and promotions rather than using them to make purchases.
Pay with Amazon: Another way to threaten traditional retail via Retail TouchPoints
With over 50 million Americans subscribed to Amazon prime services and their Q4 sales increasing 22%, Amazon appears to always be the talk of the retail industry. The online giant’s newest endeavor is through the growth of its digital wallet service, which allows customers to shop with third party merchants using their Amazon credit cards and shipping details.
The success of Amazon’s digital wallet service has proven to be widely successful – over the past year, the retailer has reported a 150% year-over-year increase in payment volume, a 200% increase in merchants using the services and with more than 23 million consumers using the service since 2013. These numbers continue to prove why this e-commerce super giant is here to stay.
8 things shoppers dislike about mobile via FierceRetail
Though the use of mobile is on the rise, retailers might not be meeting consumers’ expectations when it comes to the mobile experience according to Bizrate Insights. Through their recent survey, Bizrate Insights discovered that the number one complaint of the mobile experience by consumers is the size of the screen. One-third of consumers dislike having to pinch and zoom in on webpages leading to accidental clicking of wrong links due to hyperlinks being close together. Additionally, 25% of consumers are annoyed of slow load times, due to overloaded pages.
Other concerns of mobile consumers include the use of small text, being forced to enter information, data concerns and the unavailability of products.
Staples pioneers omnichannel B2B retailing via RIS news
B2B buyers options in terms of sales channels are often either limited or even outdated. Staples Advantage is leading a change by offering B2B buyers similar options as consumer purchasers. This will include the ability to order online and pick up in store, a mobile app featuring scanning options, the ability to order print jobs online for pick up at the closest store and more.
Staples understands that though business buyers and consumers are different in purchasing patterns, the expectations when it comes to the online shopping experience are relatively similar. With Staples Advantage, the company hopes that they can appeal to business buyers with their offer of flexibility to buy products on mobile devices.
Stay tuned for our recap of the highlights from eTail West, since we have a few clients going to the show!
Austin
