Home delivery is shaping up to be the sticky widget in retailers' toolboxes this holiday season - and one that could affect customer loyalty for a long time to come - as half of all consumers won't give merchants a second chance following a disappointing online experience.
Walmart has been privately testing drones inside facilities and is now seeking permission from federal regulators to test them outdoors for various uses, including home delivery.
The majority of U.S. shoppers plan to do the bulk of their holiday shopping this year online. But retailers know that not all shoppers are created equal, and new research highlights some of the differences.
Nearly half of online retailers are "very" or "extremely" confident that holiday sales this season will outperform last year, according to a new survey by Bigcommerce.
RetailNext has predicted a positive U.S. retail performance for the months of November through December. Over the holidays, sales are expected to rise 2.8 percent, driven in large part by an exceptional 16.2 percent increase in digital sales.
A growing number of consumers go to Amazon first when shopping for online products. According to a Survata study, commissioned by BloomReach, 44 percent of shoppers go straight to Amazon, beating out the 34 percent who go direct to search engines and 21 percent who go directly to a retailer's e-commerce site.
