New York SBDC Research Network

By Rimma Kats eMarketer Cashierless stores, like Amazon Go, have great potential to shake up the brick-and-mortar landscape. According to GPShopper, 48% of US internet users believe scan-and-go technology would make shopping easier. And 43% would rather try scan-and-go than wait in a checkout line. Respondents said they'd be most interested in scanning groceries, home goods and fashion items. Similar findings were reported by RIS News, which asked US digital buyers which new shopping options—ranging from drone delivery to augmented reality in-store—they would most like to use. Grab-and-go stores with self-checkout was the leading response, with 59% of respondents saying they’d use it. But a world without cash, credit cards or even a mobile wallet isn’t here yet. Here’s what retailers need to know about how to get there.

By Krista Garcia From eMarketer According to a new study by Snowflake Computing and Harvard Business Review, companies that make data-driven decisions have the best chance for longevity. Yet across industries, they found that only 5% of retail and CPG enterprises qualify as data-driven, half of the survey average (10%). This stands in opposition to stated goals. The retail industry had the highest number (89%) that placed great importance on getting better insights into customer needs and expectations. Faster decision-making was also a priority (79%) as well as improving process and cost efficiency (68%). What is holding retailers back? The biggest challenge cited was human in nature; 44% said they lacked the digital and data analytic skills to transform. More than one-third cited internal resistance to change while 29% blamed legacy processes.

Excerpt from an article by Krista Garcia To read more, visit  eMarketer "Much has been written about value exchange and the push-pull of consumers' willingness to give up personal info for personalization, offers or other supposed special treatment. Many US internet users, however, are reluctant to reveal anything more than their name and email address to marketers. At the minimum, a retailer should be able to discern and differentiate a consumer at some point during a shopping journey. An April 2018 BRP (Boston Retail Partners) survey of retailers in North America found very different capacities for identifying customers in-store vs. online. That’s not completely surprising since digital activity has been easier historically to track than behavior in-store. The bulk of customer identification in-store happens at checkout, cited by 57% of respondents. One-fifth of retailers said they couldn't ID a customer in-store at all, while 13% said they can ID a customer whe...

Obtained From:   eMarketer A recent  HRC Retail Advisory  survey of consumers in North America found that nearly all respondents (95%) only want help from a sales associate when they need it. Therein lies the issue—how to balance shoppers’ need for self-sufficiency with in-store tech investments meant to help staff on the front lines? More than half (53%) of consumers surveyed ranked the in-store experience as the most important factor while shopping, but what does that exactly mean? A good number of respondents (30%) said mobile checkout was important to them, and almost as many thought apps that would make personalized recommendations were as well. But sales associates who served this same function were less desirable, cited by just 17%.  A separate survey of US internet users by  Zebra Technologies  discovered that the younger the consumer, the more likely they are to be receptive to sales associates using tech for assistance. Indeed, 58% of respo...

Obtained from:   eMarketer One of the most significant changes is that, as the global financial crisis recedes in memory, consumers tend to be less focused on saving. In 2010, 70% of respondents said they were increasingly looking for ways to save money. That number has gradually dwindled down to a low of 40%.  The McKinsey survey also probed attitudes among those who said their buying behavior changed last year. It found that there was a rough split between those who said they tended to have shifted toward purchasing private-label or less-expensive brands, and those who said they had tended to trade up to more expensive purchases. The results indicate more buoyant spending patterns than some other recent surveys. For instance, an  IRI  survey from Q3 2017 found that 65% of US internet users said they anticipated purchasing more private-label products in the future.  

From: eMarketer Brick-and-mortar retailers often gripe that they are at a competitive disadvantage against online retailers because of their relative inability to map a more complete view of their customers are and their traffic, browsing and purchasing behavior. As malls, department stores and other retailers struggle to drive traffic, some players are considering sharing data. Mall developer Westfield, the owner of 35 shopping centers, is seeking to persuade retailers, brands and even competing malls to share data such as what consumers have just bought to allow partners/rivals to better target potential customers for related sales.

From: eMarketer Despite the struggles of brick-and-mortar- retail, the purchase of physical gift cards has grown for three consecutive years, according to new survey data. Digital gift card purchases also has risen sharply this year. Consumers spent an average of $38 more than the value on their gift card this year—up $10 over 2016. And 44% of respondents said having a card caused them to go to a store they would not have visited otherwise.

From eMarketer : Brick-and-mortar retailers may be able to wow shoppers with wonderful touch-and-feel experiences and in-person customer service, but they are still at a big disadvantage when it comes to price—a key purchase factor for many consumers. From apparel and furniture to televisions and sporting goods, prices of goods are declining. But online prices are dropping at a much faster rate than in-store price tags, according to Adobe’s Digital Price Index study, which compares the prices of baskets of comparable goods online against those in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measured by the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. The study, which looks at a total of 18 product and service categories, suggests that price deflation can be seen in most categories, whether online or in physical stores, but the declines are more distinct online... For instance, online apparel prices in June fell 4.1% from a year earlier, compared with a 0.6% decline in-store during the...

From:  eMarketer.Retail The rollout of EMV chip cards in recent years may have deterred criminals from making fraudulent in-store purchases, but it hasn’t stopped them dead in their tracks. They simply found a new target: call centers. Call center fraud rates have increased steadily every year since at least 2013 and more than doubled between 2015 and 2016, according to an annual call center fraud study by the research lab of Pindrop, which helps financial institutions and retailers battle call-center fraud. It counts among its investors Google Capital and Citi Ventures. For retailers, so-called chargeback fraud is the most common: Criminals call a retailer, make a fraudulent purchase using someone else’s identity and credit card number, and have the product sent to another address. Loyalty cards also have surfaced as a major area of attack as criminals use them to cash out reward points, said David Dewey, director of research at Pindrop Labs, in an interview. The report...

From: The Census Bureau MARCH 6, 2017  — This  report  provides national estimates of total annual sales, e-commerce sales, end-of-year inventories, purchases, total operating expenses, inventories held outside the United States, gross margins, and end-of-year accounts receivable for retail businesses and annual sales, total operating expenses, and e-commerce sales for accommodation and food service firms located in the United States.   The  Annual Retail Trade Survey (ARTS)  sample covers employer businesses classified in retail trade sector and accommodation & food services sector located in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The ARTS excludes data for businesses located in the U.S. territories. The data are published on a  North American Industry Classification System   basis and the estimates are used to benchmark the monthly retail sales and inventories estimates each spring. 

From  eMarketer.Retail A survey of retail executives, the vast majority of them from primarily brick-and-mortar chains, found widespread concern about enhancing the value of their physical stores. The polling from  RIS News  and  Gartner  found that more than one-third of respondents said optimizing stores and upgrading store-level bandwidth and infrastructure would be a top challenge in the coming years. Worry about physical stores fits the industry narrative of the moment, with chain after chain announcing new or expanded efforts to shutter brick-and-mortar locations. A  recent study  estimated that efforts to close stores actually need to be accelerated if the industry as a whole is to address a glut of retail space. 

From eMarketer Retailers, still struggling to adjust to millennial shopping preferences, face a new wave of disruption from the youngest millennials, with Gen Z in their wake. While there are some similarities between the youngest millennials and their older predecessors, there are also distinct differences, according to an Accenture survey of nearly 10,000 consumers ages 18 to 37 across 13 countries. For instance, while Facebook remains the most popular social platform for both younger (21-27) and older (28-37) millennials, YouTube is actually the most regularly used social media platform among the very youngest group, those 20 and under. Meanwhile, two-thirds of the younger shoppers said they regularly use Instagram, compared with only 40% of the older ones. Echoing other survey findings, the study found the younger group was twice as likely as the older millennials to use Snapchat. Why does their social media preference matter?

This  report  provides national estimates of total annual sales, e-commerce sales, end-of-year inventories, purchases, total operating expenses, inventories held outside the United States, gross margins, and end-of-year accounts receivable for retail businesses and annual sales, total operating expenses, and e-commerce sales for accommodation and food service firms located in the United States. The  Annual Retail Trade Survey (ARTS)  sample covers employer businesses classified in retail trade sector and accommodation & food services sector located in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The ARTS excludes data for businesses located in the U.S. territories. The data are published on a  North American Industry Classification System   basis and the estimates are used to benchmark the monthly retail sales and inventories estimates each spring.

From Marketing Profs : To many retailers today, Amazon.com seems unstoppable. The website that ate retail has overtaken a fellow titan, Wal-Mart, as the second-largest seller of consumer electronics, and it has category No. 1 Best Buy in its sights. As retail witnesses the shuttering of former retail heavyweights, including Sports Authority and Sports Chalet, and the slimming of long-term players, including Macy's, Walgreens, and the Gap, smaller retailers are often left wondering whether there is, in fact, a path to success when you don't have millions to spend on marketing. Here's the key: An underdog doesn't win by beating a giant at its own game, but by outwitting, outmaneuvering, and out-strategizing it. Offering hope to retail are the stories of nimble retailers, including Ulta, TJ Maxx, and H&M, which are continuing to grow and open new stores year after year. Those successes prove that although midmarket retailers might not be able to compete with Am...

Here are a few links discussing point-of-sale systems that are open-source: The Top 6 Free and Open-Source POS http://blog.capterra.com/the-top-6-free-and-open-source-pos-solutions/ 3 Open-Source Point-of-Sale Systems for Small Business http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/ProductReviews/Software/3-open-source-point-of-sale-systems-for-small-business.html The Best Point of Sale Software for 2016 TopTenReviews.com   Top Point of Sale Software Products Capterra http://www.capterra.com/point-of-sale-software/  Software Advice Compare Retail Point of Sale Software Other reviews of open-source software: Bossie Awards 2015: The best open source applications By  InfoWorld staff ,  InfoWorld  | Sep 16, 2015

Nearly one-third (31%) of online retailers in the United States with annual marketing budgets exceeding $1 million do not personalize their websites in any way, according to a recent report from Retention Science. Moreover, of the 69% of companies that do personalize their sites, just 21% offer personalized offers to visitors. A similar percentage (33%) of online retailers with annual marketing budgets under $1 million also do not personalize their websites; of the 67% that do, only 16% present personalized offers. The most popular form of website personalization for large and small companies is product recommendations. Other common site personalization tactics include shopping cart reminders, displaying a customer's name, and social integrations. Read more from MarketingPros

SNAP ( Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program , formerly Food Stamps) offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities. SNAP is the largest program in the domestic hunger safety net. The Food and Nutrition Service works with State agencies, nutrition educators, and neighborhood and faith-based organizations to ensure that those eligible for nutrition assistance can make informed decisions about applying for the program and can access benefits. FNS also works with State partners and the retail community to improve program administration and ensure program integrity. Apply online to accept SNAP benefits at your store or Farmers’ Market. It’s fast and secure. You can complete the online application in as little as 15 minutes. It’s so easy. By applying online, you can also check the real-time status of your application online using your USDA account. Applying to accept SNAP benefits at your store or...

Sales Tax 101 for Small Business Owners and Online Retailers How to Start a Retail Business; A Step-by-Step Guide Ultimate Guide to the Retail Industry 4 Tips for Getting Large Retailers to Stock Your Products  for inventors and entrepreneurs Monthly and Annual Retail Trade statistics  from the U.S. Census Bureau

The Internet Retailer bills itself as the portal to e-commerce intelligence, and it is. The site contains articles, a vendor directory, many free resources, and a helpful blog.

Once upon a time, syndicated data providers were the main source of retail POS data, and what was available was limited and extremely expensive. But times have changed, with richer, more detailed demand data becoming available from more and more sources: syndicated data providers, brokers, third party data managers, and increasingly, retailers themselves — usually for free. But not all consumer goods (CG) companies are aware of who’s sharing and what’s available — even from their own customers. While it’s true that few retailers share data on the level of Walmart with its Retail Link® portal, more and more are grasping the benefits of enabling their suppliers to access store-level sales and inventory information in virtually real time, and taking steps to make it more available. Store-level demand sensing is the fuel that fires a responsive, profit-enhancing CG demand chain. The ultimate goal is a robust analytics solution that drives actionable business decisions, from supply and ...