Amazon now accounts for roughly 50 percent of all online retail sales growth in the United States and 24 percent of total retail sales growth, according to Macquarie Research.

Today, omnichannel is so much broader than just the technology platform the customer uses for purchases - web, store, mobile, catalogue and so on. At its heart it is really about fulfillment - the customer's choice of fulfillment.

Customer service is an indisputably important factor when it comes to online retail. Good customer service can be the greatest sales asset a retailer can have, encouraging loyalty and word-of-mouth recommendations. But bad customer service cannot only see a particular sale lost in an instant, but long-term irreparable damage done to the brand.

Of the 74 percent of online American adults who are likely to purchase health and fitness technology in the next 12 months, one in three (35 percent) plan to buy a smart watch, according to the latest research from the Consumer Technology Association.

Retailers predict import volumes at the nation's major container ports will finish the year on a high note despite weak demand during this year's traditional peak shipping season.