The gifts are all unwrapped. Returns and exchanges have been made. Now it’s time to cut through all the marketing hype to see what really happened this holiday shopping season.
Which retailers did the best job of making us happy? Who really had the lowest prices?
We spoke to three marketing research firms, 360pi, ForeSee and Deal News, to see what they found when they ran the numbers. Here are the major takeaways.
The gifts are all unwrapped. Returns and exchanges have been made. Now it’s time to cut through all the marketing hype to see what really happened during the holiday shopping season.
Which retailers did the best job of making us happy? Who really had the lowest prices?
We spoke to three marketing research firms, 360pi, ForeSee and DealNews, to see what they found when they ran the numbers. Here are the major takeaways.
Initial November sales results were better than many feared, and digital commerce led the way, outpacing sales growth in stores by almost 8x in recent weeks. The digital tide is forcing retailers to make difficult strategic choices. Some are opting for business as usual, while others are betting big on digital innovations. Bain believes that successful retailers will pursue an omnichannel model, combining the best of digital technologies and physical stores to create entirely new ways of making customers happy. In this issue we review recent holiday sales and highlight innovations from Amazon and other digital pure plays. We also explore two ways winning retailers are creating the best of both digital and physical worlds: flexible fulfillment and the store as an omnichannel stage.
Deep storewide discounts on Black Friday and Cyber Monday may be a popular myth propagated by big U.S. retailers, according to detailed pricing data from specialist price tracker 360pi.
The Ottawa company, which makes software to monitor retail pricing, watched more than 8,000 Amazon products in eight popular categories, like video games, televisions and tablets, tracking prices over the recent holiday season.
360pi found that the world’s biggest retailer Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) actually raised its average prices across these categories by about 5 percent on Black Friday, and increased prices steadily in the days leading up to the anticipated shopping event.
More than ever, Black Friday shopping could be a cat and mouse game between retailers and consumers. “Retail theater,” The Wall Street Journal calls it.
The Journal notes that retailers often put higher regular prices on goods with the intention of marking them down to show a savings.
Those who use their smartphones to find the deepest discounts may not always get the lowest possible price. Retailers are fighting back against showrooming — when shoppers check out goods at a brick and mortar store and then buy them online.
Indoor Location Analytics is enjoying explosive adoption in retail, logistics, airports, healthcare and other industries. Growth is driven by new technology, smartphone ubiquity and increased market awareness. Editor in Chief Joe Francica interviewed Jonathon Rosen, business development director for WirelessWERX, who described the technology needed to capture mobile consumer data and some of the surprising uses for those data.
What else is likely to be topping the apparel industry’s software agenda this year? Using technology to help mitigate risk in the supply chain, automating data capture, and greater collaboration and information exchange between apparel retailers and brands and their suppliers are all highlighted. Tapping into social media and mobile technologies will also contribute to speed and accuracy.
SecureNet’s mobile API libraries support both mobile phones and tablets running the iOS operating system. Streamlining the payments experience within mobile applications, the next generation mobile API libraries enable in-app acceptance of all credit card types, ACH and EBT transactions, and tracking for cash transactions, a feature most mobile payment solutions lack. The libraries also support secure card storage and automated recurring payment functionality.
General Dynamics will use cloud brokerage technology from Gravitant Inc. to put together hybrid cloud computing service offerings for government agencies, the companies announced.
Cost management and profitability solutions provider Acorn Systems Inc., a Microsoft
Managed Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Partner, now provides Microsoft Dynamics AX customers with a new integrated solution. Designed to drive even greater profitability and cost efficiency from their ERP investment, Acorn’s Total Profitability for Microsoft Dynamics AX is available immediately to Microsoft Dynamics AX resellers and customers.
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