Aggregated enterprise architecture wisdom
The internet has enabled brands to sell more of their products to an ever-expanding universe of shoppers, but digital distribution has also added complexity to the relationship between brands and retailers and other channel partners. All brands need to…
In digital transformation, there’s a fine line between fearlessness and foolishness. Bad decisions can have all the trappings of a bold new strategy: A costly acquisition, suddenly pivoting to an unexpected new product offering, an ambitious new vision…
I recently spent two weeks in China to attend an event hosted by eCommerce company JD.com for analysts and retail thought leaders. Here are my takeaways on the state of eCommerce in the world’s largest eCommerce market: Customers in China seek no…
Direct-to-consumer (D2C) commerce is not a new concept for branded manufacturers, but there is certainly renewed interest and more options to choose from. With consumers ever more digitally connected, branded manufacturers are enticed by direct digital…
Retail digital business executives must challenge the status quo and deliver omnichannel excellence across the customer lifecycle. Changing consumer behaviours, new technology, and an evolving competitive landscape mean that traditional organizational …
From twenty years of trying, I know this about covering Amazon: It’s tricky. Our report process can take months during which we comb through our extensive Technographics data to find patterns or we interview executives. Not to mention the time it…
Good news for luxury brands – Luxury will see continued growth for online sales and for in-store sales that are influenced by digital touchpoints, per Forrester’s newly updated Global Luxury Retail Sales Forecast 2017 to 2022. So that’s great – but, as…
Last week’s NRF Big Show at the Javits Center in New York City is the industry’s largest confab and its timing (as most retail fiscal years close) makes it a good prognosticator of which retail technologies companies will be investing in (or at least i…
Across industries, improvement in CX leads to growth in total revenue. Facing stiff competition on- and off-line, retailers need to invest in superior CX to differentiate themselves and foster the loyalty of empowered customers. However, consumers tell…
In a world of hyper-adoption – and hyper-abandonment – successful retailing in 2018 comes down to obsessing about your customer’s experience. It’s a tall order: Digital and physical touchpoints now must work together flawlessly – yet also do what each …
As Yogi Berra said, “It’s déjà vu all over again.” Office Depot announced the $1 billion acquisition of CompuCom yesterday, which is a strong pivot into IT services for the 31-year-old retailer. The deal adds 11,500 employees — including 6,000 licensed technicians — and a database of millions of end clients to Office Depot’s 1,400 […]
Luxury consumers around the world are embracing new technology and adding these digital touchpoints – including, of course, their smartphones – into their shopping behaviors. But overall, luxury brands have been far too slow to respond to their customers’ rising digital expectations. Luxury brands, tier one through to aspirational, are now scrambling to bolster their […]