In the rapidly evolving landscape of e-commerce, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer just an option but a necessity for staying competitive. As retailers and brands strive to personalize the shopping experience and streamline operations, the role of AI, particularly generative AI and conversational AI, has become increasingly pivotal. To shed light on this transformative era, we had the privilege of speaking with Max Bennett, CEO and Co-Founder of Alby, ahead of his much-anticipated keynote at eTail Palm Springs.
In a compelling conversation hosted by eTail, Erin Wallace, Vice President of Integrated Marketing at ThredUp, sat down with eTail Event Director Kristin Schoenstein to dive into the transformative journey of ThredUp and its pivotal role in promoting sustainable fashion. Enjoy this glimpse of what you can expect to hear from Erin ahead of the event!
As we gear up for eTail Palm Springs 25th Anniversary event, we're thrilled to give you a sneak peek into what promises to be one of the event's highlights: an engaging Keynote session with Manish Chandra, the CEO & Founder of Poshmark. Kristin Schoenstein, eTai’ls Event Director, sat down with Chandra ahead of eTail Palm Springs.
Ready to get ahead of your eCommerce fulfillment and delivery challenges? Check out our latest article, which offers data-driven strategies to enhance decision-making, manage inventory, and keep consumers engaged.
Social commerce isn’t a new concept, but it is quickly changing as consumers continue to adopt innovative technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. In this article, we’ll explore how you can build a social commerce game plan for the future of the strategy.
Eager to tap into the creator economy? Our latest article explores how the creator economy works and what it means for retailers. Here, we’ll lay out best practices for collaborating with creators and touch on how AI is changing content creation for good.
Retailers have made strides in expanding into new markets and channels, but balancing growth with profitability is becoming a challenge. Issues like inflation, interest rate hikes, and shifts in consumer behavior can all impact profitability. In this article, we’ll explore some strategies to help retailers course correct and achieve profitability while they grow.
Are you ready for D2C sales in 2024? Preparing will require strategic planning, innovative marketing, and a multifaceted approach to business. In this article, we explore how retailers can prepare for the future of direct-to-consumer sales.
The resale market is booming. According to thredUP, the global market for secondhand goods is set to hit $350 billion by 2027. In this article, we’ll explore how retailers can take advantage of this exploding market.
Finding the right media mix for different stages of the marketing funnel can be tricky, especially as retailers contend with shifting consumer buying patterns and rising ad prices. In this blog post, we’ll explore some strategies you can use to optimize your media mix, leverage the right channels, and improve the cost-effectiveness of your marketing.
Balancing your brand’s heritage with innovation is key to attracting younger demographics, but walking this fine line can be both challenging and risky. In this article, we explore how established brands can maintain their heritage while also marketing to younger generations.
Retail media networks are having a moment, but are they all hype? Here, we’ll explore the rise of retail media networks, their benefits, and their potential pitfalls.
Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize retail and eCommerce, but one of the key challenges of implementing it is determining which use cases are appropriate for the business. In this article, we’ll explore some of the practical use cases for AI in retail and what they could mean for your brand.
In a fast-evolving domain like retail ecommerce, staying connected with industry trends and networking with other professionals is key to business growth. For solution providers, these events are the gateway to showcase their solutions, interact with potential clients, and learn from the market leaders. As you plan your event sponsorship budget for 2024, prioritizing the right events is crucial. Here’s a list of notable retail ecommerce events within the United States that you should consider, with a special spotlight on eTail West as the prime choice for your sponsorship.
A new feature to Walmart's mobile app - known as Store Assistant - introduces a suite of new tools that are revolutionizing the shopping experience, helping customers save time when visiting stores, and even allowing them to create "smart" shopping lists before leaving the house.
Today, as more and more consumers turn to their smartphones to fulfil their shopping needs, the demand and the expectation for retailers to deliver increasingly sophisticated mobile experiences is rising.
She began working for The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas in January last year and has been driving direct bookings, treating guests to free drinks, solving their problems, and increasing satisfaction ever since. She's also received dozens of marriage proposals, and will soon link to the luxury hotel's loyalty program.
For many years now, brands and retailers have understood that mobile puts great power in the hands of customers, enabling them to access services on-the-go and take greater control over the retail experience in ways that simply weren’t possible a decade or so ago.
In the dynamically evolving world of e-commerce, it's crucial for technology and SaaS companies to be abreast of the evolving expectations and investment preferences of retailers. Here's an insight into the top seven areas where retailers are keen on channeling their investments, according to several market studies.
Most people don’t associate eBay with marketing campaigns and traditional marketing efforts, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. eBay has a solid and innovative marketing strategy which helps it hammer home its position as a service platform rather than a traditional ecommerce retailer. With that in mind, let’s dive into this special eTail West case study to discover what’s under the hood of the eBay marketing machine – before we get outbid.
There are very few brands which have so consistently dominated a sector as Nike has with sportswear – especially when it comes to shoes – and the Oregon headquartered company is showing no signs of slowing down as we move into the post-pandemic world.
Perhaps the most significant development in Amazon’s social media program since our original piece has been the introduction of its highly successful influencer program. Love them or hate them, social media celebrities are an incredibly powerful marketing tool these days and can command the attention and respect of thousands, if not millions, of customers each. When these people talk, customers listen, and this is what has led Amazon to leverage their influence to help promote its products to new and wider audiences.
Previously we explored the customer mindset when it came to luxury brands and gain a deeper understanding of what luxury meant to them. In this special follow up piece, we are going to revisit that question in the light of the geopolitical and environmental events which have been shaping our lives for the last few years.
Way back when, we published a fantastic article which took a deep dive into the Tiffany & Co. digital marketing strategy and revealed how the famous brand drives engagement across its incredibly popular social media channels, prioritizes quality over quantity when it comes to sharing posts, and using augmented reality technology to help customers find the perfect engagement ring. It's been a while since that article dropped, so we thought it was about time we checked back in with the amazing marketing team at Tiffany & Co. and discovered how their strategy has developed over interceding years.
Walmart is continuing to prove that legacy brands still have a place in this rapidly evolving and digitally focused retail landscape through a combination of omnichannel innovation and intelligent digital marketing. Let's go behind-the-scenes with the retail giant and attempt to unpack just what continues to make its offering so appealing to customers and see if we can distil any lessons which can help make our own retail ventures more efficient and effective.
Sephora is using their mobile app to intelligently integrate retail and online marketing and providing its customers with incredible omnichannel experiences. Before coming up with the idea for the app, Sephora had noticed that many of its customers used their smartphones when shopping in store to search for outside recommendations, product reviews, or even better prices on the products they were considering purchasing in-store...
If you’ve been with us for a while, you’ll remember an article we posted in which we identified five key challenges facing retailers and suggested how they might go about tackling them. Well, there has been a global plague since then followed by several other crises such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and spiraling inflation. This means that the landscape I which retailers are operating has transformed significantly and the challenges the industry is facing have metamorphized in kind.
In days gone by, customers only needed to walk through the doors of a local store to talk with a retailer. However, in the digital age of ecommerce, many retailers don’t even have a door through which to walk and must rely on digital tools to communicate with their audience. With that in mind, how can contemporary ecommerce brands make sure their customers are able to get in contact with them and have their questions answered in the most straightforward and least frustrating manner possible?
Many retailers operating in the online and omnichannel spaces are now thinking about how they are going to keep hold of the customers they gained during the period and dissuade them from returning to pre-pandemic buying habits. We know that customers are currently enjoying the novelty of being able to return to brick-and-mortar shopping, so online brands need to make sure they are giving them the best reasons possible to stick with ecommerce.
Today, we may think of personalization as being a data driven element of digital marketing which involves algorithms, customer profiles, behavioral experts and more, but there’s a chance we may be overthinking things. Sure, these factors are all important – especially in the world of online retail – but let’s pause for a moment and consider the origins of the concept of personalization.
As any marketer worth their salt knows by now, Google is planning to completely remove third party cookie support from its proprietary Chrome browser by the end of 2023....
Packing up your wares and trekking across the country is no mean feat and you need to be confident that the event you’re going too is best placed to expose your brand to a new audience of potential customers. Footfall is only part of the story – you need to know the people those feet belong to are engaged, looking for innovative solutions, and have the ability to make or influence decision making.
There are so many great ecommerce events around, it can be hard to know where to start. Having an easy resource for all the events in the calendar can be incredibly valuable, which is why we’ve compiled this convenient list of all the top US-based ecommerce events happening throughout 2022.
When we think of sports equipment, our minds are often drawn to weights, treadmills, bikes, and even running shoes - but there are a lot of periphery items which also have a stake in this incredibly lucrative industry. Indeed, the fashion around fitness, the clothes, and other items which play a role in making an athlete more effective at their chosen sport (whether that be through aerodynamics, heat management, or some other factor) and help them look good while doing it make up a big slice of the pie (or rather protein bar).
With crowds playing such an integral role in the sporting experience, when crowds became inherently dangerous, the business of sport found itself without its main source of income and motivation. Watching football games and other sporting events with empty stands was a surreal experience for many and the photos of spectators which some arenas tried to replace the usual crowds with was hardly an adequate substitute.
WBR’s eTail Palm Springs is the leading event for forward-thinking retail and eCommerce businesses. Here’s how event sponsorship can open doors for your organization.
Most people think they instinctively know what a business needs. And, yes, much of ecommerce follows a pattern of common sense. However, just because there are patterns and universal strategies in creating an online platform for your business, doesn't mean you should just steam ahead without carrying out due diligence.
Creating a sense of community around your brand can be one of the most powerful marketing techniques in the world - but it's not something that can be forced.
Both ecommerce and the world of motoring are going through some fundamental changes right now, with both sitting on something of a crossroads as we approach the final quarter of 2021.
The massive rise in ecommerce sales recently is causing many brands to rethink how they present themselves and serve their customers online.
Whatever your personal experience of Mattel is, there's no doubt the California-based toy giant has some serious staying power. This ability to remain relevant in an ever-changing market is down in no small part to its ability to move and change with the times. In 2021, that means taking advantage of the opportunities presented by digital technology and our always-online world.
Despite there being many ecommerce fashion brands out there, the clothing industry seems to be faring better than most. The uncertainty of ordering clothes online without being able to try them on first was keeping many physical retailers relevant - even in the digital age.
We've all been changing our habits over the last year or so. Ever since the COVID-19 crisis entered the equation at the top of 2020, almost everyone on the planet has had to rethink how they live their lives in one way or another.
It's fair to say the nature of the office has changed since the beginning of 2020. Thanks to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, more people have shifted from traditional working environments to a work-from-home model.
As the world's largest retail brand, Walmart can usually be relied on to have its finger on the pulse of most trends. Indeed, it even has its own dedicated innovation department in the form of Walmart Labs.
Brands which have previously relied heavily on physical retail have been forced to rethink the way they carry out business in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many, indeed, have had to rebrand themselves as ecommerce businesses as a result
Next-generation retail customers are omnichannel and channel-agnostic. Retailers must start building customer-centric experiences rather than channel-centric experiences to serve them.
Retailers can no longer look at the impact of fraud as simply ‘the cost of doing business.’ This special eTail research report from WBR Insights benchmarks retailers’ progress on optimizing fraud protection for a new decade in retail.
As ecommerance marketplace platforms becomes increasingly accessible, traditional online retailers are participating in marketplaces to expand their reach, or adopting marketplaces and onboarding third-party sellers themselves, at increasing rates.
Blockchain technology has been hitting the headlines for a few years now. As the technology which underpins cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, blockchain offers an elegant method of carrying out transactions without the need for a central authority - such as a bank.
The challenge of standing out online becomes even more difficult when your business sets itself up to sell just a single type of product - such as men's underwear. This means that brands operating in these kinds of spaces need to come up with unique ways of marketing themselves
As a massive supplier of running gear, Zappos has been looking for ways to recreate this local store feeling in the digital space. It's achieving this by creating an online hub where runners can purchase the latest equipment while also accessing advice and accessories and connecting with fellow running enthusiasts.
Connecting with Millennials is a big priority for eCommerce marketing in 2019. As a fashion brand with Millennials as its target audience, Chubbies has been using memes alongside 80s cultural references grab their attention.
One brand which has been making waves on Facebook, thanks to its often bizarre advertising, is ecommerce platform, Wish.
AR tech is becoming more advanced every day, it can be used in a multitude of different ways in a variety of different industries. Nike has harnessed the power of AR and has now merged it into a feature on its app, thus bringing it into the business sector of online shopping.
As a major retailer of sporting goods, Adidas knows how important it is for its fitness and style-conscious audience to be able to find the equipment they need. That's why the brand has been driving its digital transformation with some ambitious new ideas.
Artificial intelligence is helping brands streamline processes across all their operations. From building better buyer personas and gaining clearer insights into their audiences to better ad targeting and more, AI is one of the most exciting technologies to emerge from the Industry 4.0 revolution.
Mattel and Hasbro have created their own ecommerce platforms and are selling their products directly to consumers. This is a completely new endeavor for these brands which, were operating under a 100 percent B2B business model - but they believe they have the product lines and infrastructure to make it a success.
Google transformed the search landscape with new rules designed to provide the most relevant, highest quality information to searchers as quickly as possible. Google Discover, its content recommendation engine; now updates to how it parses images and videos, its new focus on evergreen content
Every company is a tech company. Why? Because our fast-paced digital-first world is forcefully transforming all businesses into technology businesses. Whether this is through using technologies such as automation to design and manufacture products or to help target and deliver those products to the right customers .
According to recent Salesforce data, 67% of consumers and 74% of business buyers are willing to pay more if they can be provided a great experience. This is the strategy Harry & David is adopting with its goal of building emotional connections with its customers.
Sustainability is of growing concern for fashion shoppers - especially those in the millennial and Gen Z generations. It's giving rise to what's becoming a major trend in the fashion industry as younger consumers who crave new looks seek out more sustainable ways to shop - renting.
Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer, launched Jetblack – a concierge shopping service that combines ecommerce with a personal shopper experience. Jetblack is the product of Walmart’s Store No. 8 tech incubator, and uses artificial intelligence (AI) and professional buyers to make shopping recommendations via text.
In a recent study, WBR Insights and eTail surveyed enterprise and mid-market companies concerning their adoption and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). 80% of respondents represent enterprise companies with over $500 million in annual revenue.
Brick and mortar retailers have been facing something of an uphill battle recently. However, The Home Depot has come up with some great ideas which have helped earn it the title of fifth largest US retailer by ecommerce sales.
US ecommerce home goods retailer Wayfair has launched the world's first "mixed reality" shopping experience with the VR/AR headset Magic Leap One.
Many companies have been looking for ways to incorporate AR into their customer experience and marketing, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Apple is one of them. It has come out with its own developer's platform to allow third-party innovators to create exciting new applications for AR tech - ARKit.
Getting started in ecommerce can be a daunting prospect for any entrepreneur. However, a great deal of the heavy lifting can be avoided by opening a store on eBay. Not content with offering assistance to its business users, eBay is also teaming up with UK newspaper The Guardian to provide even more help to entrepreneurs.
PetSmart is aiming to combat fraudulent transactions by using AI and machine learning technology to identify fraudulent orders before they are shipped, a move it believes could save $12 million per year.
Ipsy is now offering a "Glam Bag" selection of five sample-sized cosmetic products for $10 per month. While the business has already seen much success, it's looking to make some changes to help it grow even further.
Delivering highly personalized clothing recommendations right to customers' front doors on a regular basis, online styling subscription service Stitch Fix eliminates the need for its subscribers to go out and shop - or even browse online - for clothing, and it's proving to be a big hit with millions of consumers.
With its Amazon Key service, the ecommerce giant can already unlock the front door of Prime members' homes to deliver their packages. Now, Amazon wants access to their cars as well.
Launching in September, department store chain Kohl's and digital media and tech company POPSUGAR will start using data and analytics - generated by the 400 million strong POPSUGAR audience - to incorporate millennial customer intelligence into the innovative collection's curation and design.
Walmart and Amazon have been at odds for some time now, with the former desperately searching for ways to break the latter's stranglehold on the ecommerce marketplace.
Offering greater choice through next-gen digital tools is right at the heart of Coca-Cola's latest upgrades to its Freestyle fountain dispensers - and by adding Bluetooth connectivity to the machines, desire has moved at least one click closer to the brand's Freestyle mobile app customers as well.
Despite offering next day - or in some cases, same day - delivery to its customers, Amazon thinks this just isn't quick enough
One of the most exciting developments from Levi's is how AI is being leveraged to create a fantastic ecommerce experience for its customers
Home Depot has created separate omnichannel experiences to target their two primary customer profiles
Backcountry.com has figured out how to retain more customers and cut down on abandoned cart rates - all while reducing unnecessary overheads
Boon + Gable wants to combine the elements of online shopping, with the assistance and service of a personal shopper.
Target hasn’t survived for this long by being afraid of innovation and has several programs running to make sure it is up to date with the latest trends in retail technology.
Walmart has realized it holds a key advantage over Amazon which it can leverage to offer services the online kingpin simply cannot.
With retail giants Amazon and Walmart both venturing into their market, Kroger needs to remain agile to compete.
How then, does a Swedish furniture and meatball retailer relate to an American technology giant from Silicon Valley?
Chubbies philosophy doesn’t simply begin and end with quirky social media campaigns and hashtags, but permeates every single facet of how the business conducts itself online.
Iconery applies 3D printing to reinvent an age-old industry and keep prices accessible.
75% of Zappos purchases come from returning customers and customer service is the key.
Rue La La’s new venture aims to capture even greater sales via their in-app mobile content strategy.
B&H Photo used personalization, integrations, and applications to grow eCommerce sales to over 50% of total revenue.
How Hollar brought the dollar store to the digital era.
Discover how Sephora uses their To Go mobile app to create a personalized user experience and drive sales.
Check out Kohl’s new online marketing tools and see how they make the shopping experience stress-free
Learn the tricks to win your customer’s heart on Instagram.
The Omnichannel strategy that is helping JCpenney drive $1.2 billion in incremental sales in 2017
Geo-based marketing is making a huge impact; here's how it can help your business
What you can learn from Walmart to win customers online.