With omnichannel, consumers and their mobile phones are doing pricing, web shopping and so forth. But what about manufacturers? They have omnichannels of their own, and suppliers to those retailers are an intrinsic part of retailers' strategies, yet the media is paying this scant attention.

Walmart is out to improve the quality of product information available to consumers on the internet - particularly from social media sources - with a supplier data collection program that will launch later this year.

Avid online shoppers have raised the bar on what it takes for a retailer to stay competitive. Consumers want advanced mobile features, flexible shipping options and hassle-free returns, according to the fourth annual UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper study.

Through 2020, consumers in the interior regions of Brazil are expected to account for more than 45 percent of growth in the retail sector, or $60bn in new purchases. Yet few of the country's retailers are prepared to capitalize on this growth opportunity, largely because they've focused their efforts almost exclusively on Brazil's highly populated coastal cities, according to a report by The Boston Consulting Group and its Center for Consumer and Customer Insight entitled Capturing Retail Growth in Brazil's Rising Interior.

Although the term "omnichannel" has become most associated with success in retail and consumer goods, few companies are confident in their omnichannel abilities, according to a new study by Ernst & Young and the Consumer Goods Forum. They blame the supply chain.

Analyst Insight: The rise of omnichannel fulfillment and e-commerce is having a dramatic impact on distribution network design. As omnichannel fulfillment becomes the new normal for consumers, distribution and logistics professionals are increasingly reassessing their fulfillment networks, the attributes of their distribution facilities and the expectations placed on their partners. This reassessment is leading to more innovative fulfillment options, but uncertainty remains on the profitability of additional customer service solutions. – Barry Blake, Vice President, Research, SCM World

Analyst Insight: While e-commerce is buzzing, it's still only 6 percent of total U.S. retail spend. For CPG companies, the Online Search to Offline Purchase (O2O) market (30 percent to 40 percent of retail spend) growth is driven by mobile commerce. Some 74 percent of smartphone owners use their device while shopping with 79 percent ultimately making a purchase as a result, according to Retailigence. As the "moment of truth" shifts to the "point of demand", more information is available to support supply chain decisions. – Rich Sherman, author and founder at Gold & Domas Research