Michael Haydock, Chief Scientist, IBM Global Business Services, Retail Analytics Leader
By Michael Haydock
Jewelry sales are set to shine this year and expected to grow more than 11 percent in the second quarter and nine percent overall this year, according to a new Big Data-based retail forecast from IBM.
According to the analysis, improved consumer confidence, lower unemployment and enhanced stock dividends from the fourth quarter of 2012 have combined to leave people ready to start spending on luxury items again, like jewelry.
In addition, key retailers are buttressing the economic landscape and driving sales by leveraging Big Data analytics to better understand and respond to customers and trends. Sterling Jewelers, for example, which owns the popular Jared and Kay brands, overhauled its digital channels to better respond to changing consumer preferences. The move led to an increase in online sales of 49 percent this past holiday season. Continue Reading »
By Joanna Brewer, Writer/Communications, IBM
Keith Mercier, Associate Partner, IBM Global Business Services, Retail Center of Competency
Growing up in a military family, Keith Mercier‘s fashion choices were limited to what was available at the military base exchange. At age 12, his love of fashion hit him like a bolt of lightning in the form of a bright red, v-neck, cashmere Lacoste sweater.
Dubbing himself the “fashionisto,” Mercier says, “In the fashion business you have to think like a fashionista – a truly devoted follower of fashion – if you are going to surprise and delight them and keep them coming back.” Continue Reading »
Craig Hayman, General Manager, IBM Industry Solutions
By Craig Hayman
Since IBM launched its Smarter Commerce initiative two years ago, we’ve seen companies across industries transform the way they buy, market, and sell products and services.
Why? Because they’re learning that the consumer – and we’re all consumers – is increasingly in charge.
The term “Chief Executive Customer” comes to mind. More and more customers are using social networks, mobile devices, Web sites and influencers to make their buying decisions. There’s a digital explosion out there, and there’s no turning back. This is a $130 billion-plus market opportunity. Continue Reading »
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Jeffrey Nichols, IBM Research Staff Member
By Richard Silberman, Writer/Researcher, IBM Communications
Jeffrey Nichols is putting a new twist on Twitter that could change the way businesses use social media to identify, engage and market to customers.
“What we actually see from Twitter is just the tip of the information iceberg,” said Nichols, who manages the social media and crowd research team at IBM Research in Almaden, Calif. “Below every tweet there’s a lot more information that people have that they’re not sharing.”
Determined to extract hidden information from social media, Nichols is developing strategies to ask questions directly of targeted strangers over Twitter. The crux of Nichols work is to move from the ubiquitous reactive approach to social media, where marketers follow and respond to what people are saying, to a proactive model where they can reach out to individuals to collect specific information. Continue Reading »
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Zoran Lemut, CIO, Kemofarmacija
By Zoran Lemut
Kemofarmacija is the leading wholesaler of healthcare products in Slovenia, offering customers more than 16,000 different products ranging from medicine and medical devices, to nutritional and cosmetic products. Though we have enjoyed the industry leadership position, we only recently began to fully exploit our online sales channel. It was an area that we knew required analysis and insight of our growing data volumes – our Big Data.
While more and more of our customers were looking to make their purchases online, our competitors were over taking us with more aggressive web-driven sales models. We were not maximizing opportunities for cross-selling or more targeted online marketing and on top of it all, our website was simply not easy to navigate. Our challenge was as simple as it was profound: update our online operation to meet the needs of the evolving market. Continue Reading »
Dr. Elizabeth Evans, Associate Dean, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University
By Dr. Elizabeth Evans
For retailers around the globe, mobility, social media and Big Data are intersecting to create a bold new world of shopping. Consider what is possible in the matter of only a few minutes today.
A female shopper admiring a purse in the retail store can use her smartphone to take a picture of the purse and send it to her best friends via social media for their thoughts on the style and color. She can also do a quick price check via an app on the smartphone to compare prices elsewhere, as well as check for digital coupons or loyalty points. Once she gets her friends’ feedback, within moments, she can make a purchase using her mobile wallet.
The question for retailers is increasingly: will she buy the purse she’s holding, or buy it online from her phone? It’s a big question. Because once the company that sold her the purse will add the purchase information (customer, item, date, time, etc.) to their database and establish a digital communications and promotion program personalized for that specific consumer, possibly altering the way she shops in the future.
This simple illustration of what we call “mobile retailing” exemplifies the integrating effect that technology innovation is demanding of retailers. In order to deliver a satisfying customer experience IT, operations, merchandising and marketing must be fully aligned; whether the customer makes the purchase in-store or online will depend upon this alignment. Continue Reading »
Karen Lowe, General Manager, Global Retail Industry, IBM
By Karen Lowe
The beginning of every new year is a fresh opportunity to define strategies for success in the year ahead. Once again, I look forward to discussing the state of the retail industry with clients and influencers at the National Retail Federation’s (NRF’s) BIG Show when it kicks off this weekend.
This year, IBM continues its focus on making retail smarter, enabling retailers to put their customers first. One of the most profound challenges facing retailers today is the need to allow customers to connect and shop anywhere, anyhow and anytime.
We all know that technology has driven major changes in how we browse, compare and purchase products. Shopping from mobile devices is increasing exponentially. In fact, 70 percent more consumers used a mobile device to visit a retailer’s site on Cyber Monday in 2012 than 2011, according to the IBM Digital Analytics benchmark. Continue Reading »
Miika Malinen, eCommerce Director, Hong Kong Department Stores
By Miika Malinen
Finland is a beautiful country, marked by thousands of lakes and streams. It’s no wonder that so many people here love fishing. They’ve even formed a very close-knit online community to share their love and knowledge of the sport. In these communities, fishing enthusiasts interact with one another, sharing their thoughts and opinions. And this is where my company, Oy Hong Kong Import Ltd., which owns and operates 24 Hong Kong Department Stores across southern Finland, saw an opportunity.
Our stores sell a vast range of merchandise: gardening, tools, outdoor equipment, housewares, electronics and appliances, accessories and toys. In an effort to grow our business within the Finnish market, we took our business online with a new retail site that specializes in fishing equipment. Our goal was for this store to supplement our existing outlets, while making Hong Kong Department Stores a credible name in the fishing community.
Jill Puleri, Global Retail Leader, IBM
By Jill Puleri
2013 will mark the beginning of an era for every retailer, no matter how small or large, to engage and interact with customers in ways unlike ever before. And for the first time in decades, retailers will be targeting a new and growing consumer group. Since the 1960’s, retailers have focused their efforts on connecting with Baby Boomers, the largest demographic and the one responsible for more than half of consumer spending.
But as the Baby Boomer generation has matured, so to have their children. This new consumer group representing more than 95 million in the U.S. alone is referred to by the media as ‘Generation Y’ or ‘Millennials.’ But in my line of work, we call them the ‘Future of Retail.’
Over the past few years, my clients have noticed huge spikes within this customer demographic, and they’ve also seen the downfalls of failing to secure their loyalty. Continue Reading »
Dr. Kiseol Yang, Assistant Professor-Merchandising & Digital Retailing, University of North Texas
By Dr. Kiseol Yang
(Third in a Series on the Holiday Shopping Season. For the Complete Package Go to the Bottom of this Post.)
The sales and consumer shopping patterns that came about on Thanksgiving and Black Fridaydemonstrated that consumers are more technologically empowered when it comes to finding better deals across channels.
This was evident in a 17.4 percent and 20.7 percent increase in online sales on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, respectively. When compared with the same weekend in 2011, an increasing number of consumers chose to shop online with their PCs, smartphones or tablets as opposed to waiting in lines at brick-and mortar stores.
