nChannel Data Shows December Retail Sales Rose 68 Percent Year over Year
Columbus, OH (PRWEB) February 04, 2015 -- According to the Commerce Department, retail sales fell nearly one percent from November to December - the biggest drop since January. However, new data from nChannel’s community, which consists of nearly 1,000 retail outlets, reveals total revenue in December 2014 increased 68 percent over December 2013.
“In order to maximize success during peak seasons, like the holidays, retailers today must focus on optimizing their multichannel shopping experience,” said Steve Weber, president and CEO of nChannel. “It starts by understanding where there are opportunities to make improvements and how best to streamline operations.”
nChannel, the leading provider of multichannel management software that simplifies selling for retailers, today announced key findings from the 2014 holiday season, along with lessons learned.
• eCommerce 101: New customers pave the way for continued retail growth, particularly during the holiday season. In November and December, nChannel’s community saw a 66 percent increase in new customers.
o Lesson Learned: Retailers must ensure their eCommerce store offers perks that make the shopping experience convenient and tailored to their shoppers’ wishes. For example, 24x7 customer service, in-store pickup, personalized content marketing, free shipping, and flexible payment options – all things that help retailers big and small compete with the abundance of online shopping platforms.
• Shipping Done Right: Drop shipping (moving items from the manufacturer directly to the customer without going through a distribution channel) is playing a more critical role in the multichannel experience, as it improves retail operations and the overall consumer experience. In November and December, nChannel subscribers saw an 87 percent increase in orders that were drop shipped compared to 2013. Retailers should remember that shipping policies could make or break a customer’s experience.
o Lesson Learned: Cloud-based connections help sellers of all sizes easily deploy and take advantage of tools and technologies that increase efficiencies, reduce costs and level the competitive playing field. By connecting to suppliers, retailers have access to more products and can ship customer orders faster. However, in order to maintain a positive customer experience, they must be able to consolidate shipping information from those suppliers to provide status updates to the buyer regardless of where the items are being shipped.
• Transactional To-Dos: For nChannel subscribers, there was a 60 percent increase in transactions during this holiday season; however November saw the biggest lift with a 182 percent jump, while transactions in December saw a meager 15 percent increase year over year.
o Lesson Learned: Retailers need a multichannel order management system to make sure customers get what they ordered – accurately and in a timely manner. Retailers should be able to split orders by line item and route them to multiple fulfillment locations to optimize inventory while providing the most expedient shipping location for customers.
For more information about best practices, visit https://www.nchannel.com/blog/
About nChannel
nChannel is the leading provider of multichannel management software that simplifies selling for retailers of all sizes. nChannel provides a single, cloud-based platform that easily integrates with existing systems to help sellers improve the management of product information, streamline supply chain processes and enhance the overall shopping experience for customers. With better business intelligence and increased exposure, nChannel subscribers are improving multichannel operations resulting in new opportunities for repeat business and revenue and making them more competitive than ever before.
Shilpa Marano, nChannel, http://www.nChannel.com, +1 (614) 572-5080, [email protected]
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