Many retail brands have already implemented artificial intelligence to streamline internal operations. However, not all of them have focused on human-centric use cases of AI implementation. In this article, we’ll explore how Canadian retail brands can improve the lives of customers and employees with AI. We’ll also explore how Walmart Canada uses generative AI to empower both workers and shoppers.
Maintaining customer loyalty during difficult economic times can be challenging. Thankfully, brands like Hudson's Bay have shown that it's possible with a little innovation and a customer-centric approach to business. Find out more in our latest article.
If your omnichannel strategy isn't yielding the results you want, it may be time to take a second look at how you're leveraging the benefits of both channels. In this article, we'll explore how Canadian footwear brand Vessi successfully connected with customers and achieved omnichannel success.
Canadian retail brands have made significant headway in designing seamless shopping experiences for customers. This is due, in part, to disruptive brands that listened to their customers' needs and implemented a customer-centric design in their online shopping experience. In this article, we'll explore how Blackcircles Canada changed the Canadian tire market with its intuitive online shopping strategy.
Building a community of customers around your retail brand can be challenging, but there are tried-and-true steps you can take to build trust and empower customers to share their experiences. In this article, we explore how Sherwood Hockey used endorsements and community-building strategies to foster growth.
Subscription programs are a powerful way for retailers to build more valuable relationships with their customers, and they have the potential to deliver regular revenue to the company. However, they can be challenging to implement and maintain. Customers must see consistent value in the service if they’re going to stay subscribed. Subscribers also need to receive above-and-beyond customer service if they’re going to consider investing. Recently, Canadian Tire announced the launch of its subscription service, Triangle Select, after a successful beta test. Here’s what the annual fee-based subscription program does for customers and why it could lead to a significant boost in Canadian Tire’s sales.
Retailers must embrace sustainability for a variety of reasons, including ethics, economics, and to secure humanity’s future. Retail Drive reported that retailers are responsible for roughly 25% of global emissions, according to a report from Boston Consulting Group and Ascential’s World Retail Congress. Consumers are also increasingly aware of retailers’ impact on the environment and are therefore looking for brands and products that align with their values. By implementing sustainable practices in their operations, supply chains, and investments, retailers can attract and retain customers by showing that they care about the environment and are taking steps to reduce their footprint.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the health and well-being of employees in the retail industry. During the pandemic, retail workers were deemed essential, and many had to continue working in person, putting themselves at risk of contracting the virus. Many retailers implemented safety measures such as social distancing guidelines and sanitization guidelines to protect staff. They also provided employees with personal protective equipment (PPE). However, reports indicated that many retail workers also experienced high levels of stress, anxiety, and burnout.
Retail stores are increasingly integrating new technologies and programs to meet the needs of modern customers and stay competitive in the digital age. One major trend is the adoption of omnichannel retail, where customers can shop and interact with a brand across various touchpoints, such as physical stores, websites, and social media. However, integrated technologies can be applied to almost every department in the retail sector, from customer service to the supply chain. New programs, based on consumer demands, can also be implemented alongside technological changes.
Today’s consumers are increasingly focused on more than just price when making purchasing decisions. Customers are looking for experiences that are personalized, engaging, and convenient. Offering value beyond discounts and sales allows retailers to differentiate themselves from the competition, build stronger brand loyalty, and create lasting relationships with customers. In the past, retailers have offered customers additional value through a variety of means, such as seamless shopping experiences, tiered customer service, and member platforms. However, retailers can also deliver value to customers through content.
The way consumers shop is changing drastically. Physical stores face competition from the convenience of online sales channels, while ecommerce merchants aim to provide a sense of tangible "experience” that their digital platform can’t quite capture. To solve this dilemma and stay competitive, many retailers find themselves turning to an omnichannel approach — a strategy that links both physical store environments with digital technologies. This allows customers to have a unified shopping experience regardless of whether they are engaging in physical or virtual transactions, making it easier for them to find what they need and complete purchases quickly and conveniently.
The retail landscape has been shifting recently due to the looming possibility of a recession. However, retail leaders must continue to drive scalable and sustainable growth, even in challenging economic times. According to a recent news report, Target's chief growth officer, Christina Hennington, said at an investor event in New York, "In an environment where consumers are making tradeoffs, more of the same is not going to get it done.” By empowering people through technology, retailers can make a measurable impact on the bottom line and help lead their organizations during difficult economic times. In this post, we'll explore some growth hacks that retailers can use as a starting point for driving performance.
As the eCommerce industry continues to evolve, social commerce has become an important strategy in the way brands reach their target customers. Social media platforms offer a variety of ways for companies to connect and engage with shoppers, from leveraging influencers to showcasing products and services to integrating images and videos into the shopping experience.
As eCommerce continues to grow in popularity and becomes more commonplace, brands are shifting their focus to leveraging personalization for a competitive edge. eCommerce giants are competitive due to their infrastructure, supply networks, and high marketing budgets. As such, it's becoming increasingly clear that personalizing the user experience is no more an option but rather a necessity. However, initiating personalization as part of a strategy and succeeding in it are two separate things. Consumers have higher expectations for personalization than they did in the past.
The shift to more sustainable practices is becoming increasingly important in the modern eCommerce landscape. For example, Sustainable Biz Canada reported that "Canadians (at 58%) slightly outpace the global average in their preference for a more sustainable way to return retail goods, according to a study from Mississauga-based Internet of Things (IoT) solutions provider SOTI Inc." Canadian companies must recognize this trend and develop strategies to leverage sustainability as a competitive advantage over their online rivals.
When Google announced a two-year plan to kill off third-party tracking cookies for users of its proprietary Chrome browser, it sent a shockwave through any industry which relies on digital advertising to carry out its business – which in this day and age is practically all of them. Since then, Google has offered cookie support a stay of execution, kicking the can down the road until the close of 2023, but advertisers should not interpret this as a sign that Google has any intention of reversing the decision.
Now the worst days of the pandemic seem to be behind us, the time has come to renew our focus and get back on track with the digital transformation strategies we were working on before the apocalypse. With that in mind let’s catch up with the state of play and look at the top emerging – or in some cases re-emerging – retail technology trends in 2022.
Omnichannel retail was important before the COVID-19 crisis came along and transformed the way we lived, worked, and shopped. For many companies – most notably those in the restaurant business – this meant pivoting to an omnichannel mindset – continuing to do business via the power of digital technology. Even though the danger has now largely passed, omnichannel is here to stay and reassert its position in the future of retail.
If anyone had said just ten years ago that a retailer which has historically been so heavily focused on physical retail such as Walmart could be competing with Amazon in the ecommerce arena, this author would probably have asked what they had been drinking. However, after the company has spent years investing in its ecommerce offerings, Walmart is not only keeping pace with Amazon, but actually starting to catch up.
As we move ever further from the worst days of the COVID-19 crisis, brands the world over are adjusting their business models to better meet the needs of the post-pandemic customer. To acquire new customers and retain existing ones, retailers are making serious roads in reinforcing their online business through innovative new features and offerings – from loyalty schemes to personalized services.
In the ecommerce world, we all know how important a great smartphone app can be when determined success or failure. While many people are happy to use their browser to access ecommerce platforms, the major preference is to engage with brands via a bespoke app.
As the world continues in its apparent permacrisis, supply chains are not the only part of online retail feeling the bite. One area of retail which is particularly appropriate in this current situation is the supermarket sector. As inflation continues to push up the price of food products at an alarming rate, supermarket chains are noticing a surge in demand for staple items.
Ecommerce has seen its dominance of the retail space grow even faster in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis and we are seeing many brands which previously had a strong focus on physical retail fully embrace the benefits of online shopping. Perhaps the most well-known retailer in this space, big-box wholesaler, Costco has been at the fore of this trend and has seen its own ecommerce sales rise in the face of changing shopper behavior.
The global COVID-19 crisis had a significant impact on almost all levels of society, but it’s fair to say some industries were hit considerably harder than others. However, now the worst days of the pandemic are behind us, the new retail landscape provides fresh opportunities. Investment in key areas now will give ecommerce and omnichannel retailers the best possible opportunity to find new levels of success in the post-COVID arena.
Successive global crises and geopolitical upheavals including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Brexit, and many more besides, have transformed the way businesses around the world interact with one another, the cost of goods and services, and the ability to move products from one country to another. Meeting these challenges and effectively managing increasing costs is going to be the main factor which determines the success or failure of retailers over the next few years.
eTail Canada partnered with the WBR Insights to conduct a study about how retailers build meaningful relationship with customers, who in turn develop emotional connections with those brands. Retailers who confirm these connections highlight standout interactions with customers to validate those connections.
Inspired by Amazon, Loblaw's online marketplace packages the company's merchandise offerings with complementary goods for a convenient shopping experience.
Walmart Canada steps up its eCommerce game with new smart distribution facility in Ontario, equipped with the latest AI and automation tech for streamlining.
Metro leverages digital technology to support its grocery delivery model for the wave of millennials latching on to the online grocery shopping trend.
Lowe's plans to spend $500 million per year through 2021 and hire 2,000+ engineers to make improvements to its website, supply chain, merchandising & more.
Best Buy deploys digital tech to help build stronger, more personal customer relationships, reducing frustrations with digital support.
Sephora has long been highly regarded for its innovative products and in-store experiences, but now with email, mobile, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence technology, it's conquering ecommerce as well.
Pickup spots are nothing new in the ecommerce world , but the new robotic towers launched by Canadian Tire certainly seem to be a step up in terms of the technology being deployed
Loblaw customers can arrange for their groceries to be delivered to the station so they can be collected when they arrive. This means they can place their order while still at work, arrange delivery for the time they know their train gets in, and so avoid having to make any detours on their way home.
IKEA presently only generates around 6% of sales via ecommerce. Up to this point, the Swedish-founded company has been resistant to going all in on online sales. However, with those proportions predicted to rise to around 25 to 30% soon, the time has come for the Swedish furniture giant to start taking eTail seriously.
The world is big enough for both and the spirit of competition and the drive to succeed, both of which can offer exciting opportunities for users, tech startups, and the e-commerce world.
Amazon is now looking to grow further by becoming an online pharmacy. It's easy to see why Amazon has been considering roads into the industry. The UK pharmacy market alone is worth £12 billion/year.
While the initial response to the Facebook Marketplace has been lukewarm, Facebook isn't giving up on the service yet. Looking for inspiration from services such as Zillow, Facebook is now expanding its marketplace.....
Walmart is the world's largest company, but with ecommerce being an increasingly popular method for consumers, Walmart has needed to look outside its retail store roots for ways to connect with its base.
Even in 2018, many companies are still finding new ways to diversify during their digital transformation, and long-time retail giant the Hudson's Bay Company is no different.
Casper has had tremendous success breaking into a market dominated by a few big players, and no small part of this success is down to how it presents itself through content marketing.
Indochino is making a decisive push into the realms of bricks-and-mortar, with omnichannel its prime focus.
Many businesses are looking for ways to become more sustainable. Grocery Delivery company SPUD is looking to prove that sustainability is more than just a name.
Song and Ratnani have built a brand that’s as much about what it sells as it is about embracing and even pioneering change. They believe that the next phase of digital retail will incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning to further personalize the customer experience.
Now, Canada’s oldest retailer (Hudson Bay Co.) is positioning itself to be the frontrunner in online commerce, and is doing so by placing its future in the hands of robots.
It’s becoming something of a global phenomenon. Increasingly, more and more brands are deciding to spread their wings and “go retail”, either by opening online stores or, as is the case with Canada Goose, actual physical locations on the high street.
The beauty industry has, over recent years, enjoyed much success through influencer marketing initiatives, but L’Oréal’s influencer marketing strategies have always been especially powerful and innovative.