Digital disruptions continue to play an important role in the evolution of retail. The dot-com era of the 1990s begets the dot-com bubble that burst to create the dot-com collapse. By 2003 the few dot-com survivors began playing an important role in retail. By 2010 e-commerce had reached a level of significance creating the term multichannel retail, describing retailers who participate in stores and online. The field has evolved, and entered the era of New Retail. -Jim Tompkins, CEO, Tompkins International and MonarchFx

Omnichannel fulfillment has been increasingly adopted by big-box retailers and other outlets with large brick-and-mortar footprints. Online sales of large bulky items, such as furniture and kitchen appliances, are a rapidly growing segment as shown by the growth of white glove delivery companies such as XPO Logistics. Reliance on these last-mile delivery companies and the physical nature of bulk size items will push omnichannel fulfillment adoption at an increasing rate. -Paul D'Arrigo, Vice President of Information Technology, Spend Management Experts

Once known as the world's manufacturer, China has emerged as a destination for retailers from around the world to sell. A growing middle class with consumers willing to spend, Chinese retail sales grew 9.6 percent in 2016 and was on track to surpass that for 2017. Primarily fueled by e-commerce, retail is undergoing a big change and evolving in what is called O2O – online to offline. -Cathy Morrow Roberson, Founder/Head Analyst, Logistics Trends & Insights LLC

This just in: People are still shopping in physical stores.

If you want an explanation of why brick-and-mortar retailers are struggling today, industry observers say, look no further than Amazon. But there’s more to the picture than that.