WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

Apple once again had the highest sales per square foot of any U.S. retailer in 2014, and the iPhone 6 helped pad its lead.

Every time someone makes a purchase from your store, they get an email receipt.
It’s an amazing opportunity to connect with your customers—but it’s often overlooked as a marketing channel.  And chances are, you’re missing out on sales because of that.
In this post, we’ll take a look at how you can use email receipt templates as a part of your marketing strategy.

Apple is preparing to make significant changes to its stores to simplify the experience by relocating iPod stock to accessory shelves and removing iPad-based Smart Signs, according to several Apple...

Here are five important trends that will affect the American online grocery market in the next five years. From in-store mobile to personalized real-time offers and contactless payment, the future of grocery is all about convenience and options.

Customers expect a personalized, seamless brand experience across digital and physical commerce touch points and unified commerce is key to delivering this experience. This is the new mantra in retail, according to the 2015 E-Commerce Survey, 43% of the respondents indicated that a consistent brand experience across channels is one of their top commerce priorities.

“Retailers realize that that they can no longer operate from within silos, and the convergence of digital and physical commerce is now a retail imperative,” said Brian Brunk, principal, Boston Retail Partners.

Boston Retail Partners’ 2015 E-Commerce Survey of top North American retailers offers insights into retailers’ current e-commerce initiatives, priorities, and future trends as the retail industry continues its transformation into the digital world.

Key findings in the 2015 E-Commerce Benchmark Survey include:

> Improving the customer experience is the top priority – 43% of retailers indicating that a consistent brand experience across channels is essential

> A unified commerce platform is critical – 78% of retailers will have a unified commerce platform implemented within 5 years

> Mobilizing commerce remains a high priority – 45% of retailers indicated that mobile websites are their most important e-commerce capability

> Payment options and security are essential – 63% of retailers plan to accept Apple Pay within 2 years

> E-commerce continues to expand – 85% of retailers expect an increase in 2016 e-commerce website revenue

The post office’s new parcel centres put it on the front lines of the battle to compete in a digital age

Retailers who aren’t forward-looking when it comes to digital technology risk being cut out of the value equation completely.

Thanks to mobile, micro-moments can happen anytime, anywhere. In those moments, consumers expect brands to address their needs with real-time relevance. Here's a complete guide with strategies, insights, and customer examples for mastering micro-moments.

After Good Eggs scaled back to just one city, how many other food-delivery startups might be overextended as they try to "land and expand"?

‘Dark stores’ are the massive facilities behind online commerce – but members of the public aren’t allowed in. How do they work? Chris Baraniuk finds out on a behind-the-scenes tour.

Retail ecommerce sales in Canada will reach C$29.63 billion ($26.83 billion) this year, eMarketer estimates, an increase of 16.8% over 2014 spending levels. Double-digit sales increases are expected through at least 2019. That year, ecommerce sales in the country will near C$50 billion ($45.28 billion).

Google is adding a feature that lets you purchase items through search results.

Nothing is universal. But there are certain things that work more often than not in a/b testing.

It all started with a challenge – build an ecommerce business from scratch and see how many sales we could generate in three days.
And that's exactly what we did. 
In this case study you’ll learn step-by-step, exactly how we decided on a product to sell, sourced a supplier, and sold nearly a $1,000 worth of product in just a few short days.

WIN THIS BUSINESS: Click through to read the blog post for your chance to win this business plus 6 months free of Shopify Professional Plan. 

For the most part, our conversion rates are in the low single digits … but that doesn’t mean that the experience for the other 96 percent wasn’t hugely important in terms of driving that sale in the store. No question, dot-com has been a successful sales vehicle — it grew over 50 percent in 2013 and it’s been growing at roughly a 40 percent clip in 2014. Still, the value extends beyond the sales numbers because it enables a lot of other activity that ultimately takes place in the stores.