The motion specifically calls for approving and authorizing its debtors to close stores, approve procedures for store-closing sales, and approve “modifications to certain customer programs.”

Those programs include the debtors’ — Conn’s — return policy and acceptance of gift certificates, the filing said.

Conn’s announced June 26 that it received a delinquency notification from Nasdaq regarding its failure to file Form 10-Q for the results from its first fiscal quarter of 2024, which ended April 30. Amid filing delays, the furniture, appliances and electronics retailer, which operates Conn’s HomePlus stores, was seeking refinancing and considering bankruptcy, Bloomberg reported July 1.

Conn’s Inc. web sales by year

Prior to the filing, Conn’s had been growing its online sales for the past five years. For its fiscal year 2024, which ended Jan. 31, its consolidated revenue declined 7.8% year over year to $1.2 billion. The company attributed that drop to a 9.1% decline in total sales and a 3.6% reduction in finance charges and other revenues.

Conn’s bankruptcy

Conn’s continues to operate and manage its properties during the bankruptcy proceedings. The company currently has about 3,800 full-time and 150 part-time employees, according to the filing. It operates 553 retail stores and 22 distribution centers across 15 states, the filing detailed.

Among the pending authorizations requested in the filing, the Conn’s bankruptcy would include “the sale or disposition of the Store Closing Assets free and clear of all liens, clams, and encumbrances.”

Conn’s Inc. is No. 568 in the Top 1000 Database. The Top 1000 ranks North America’s largest online retailers by annual web sales. Within the database, Conn’s falls under the Consumer Electronics category. It also sells furniture and mattresses, home appliances, home office products, accessories, and “seasonal items from leading global brands,” the filing said.

Do you rank in our databases? 

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the online retail industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post Conn’s files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

Independent sellers, specifically, sold more than 200 million items over the course of the 48-hour Prime Day event. Amazon said most of them are small and medium-sized businesses.

Additionally, Amazon said its new AI-powered conversational assistant — which it calls Rufus — helped millions of customers shop during the event.

“Millions more Prime members shopped the two-day shopping event compared to Prime Day 2023,” Amazon said in a statement.

Amazon is No. 1 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s database of North America’s largest online retailers based on web sales. It’s also No. 3 in the Global Online Marketplaces database, which ranks the 100 largest global marketplaces by third-party gross merchandise value (GMV). Digital Commerce 360 projects Amazon’s total web sales in 2024 will reach $469.01 billion.

How much did Amazon make in sales during Prime Day 2024?

Although Amazon didn’t reveal exactly how much it made in Prime Day 2024 sales, third-party data provides insights into how the event went.

The average order value (AOV) during Prime Day 2024 was $57.97, according to data from Numerator. Numerator is a data and technology company that provides market research. Its data is based on a collection of 93,513 unique orders during Amazon’s 48-hour event, from 35,588 households.

More than half (60%) of households that shopped Amazon during the Prime Day 2024 sales event placed two or more orders. This brought the average household spend to about $152, Numerator said. 40% of households made just one order, whereas 24% made two orders.

Additionally, 23% of households for which Numerator has data spent more than $200. 22% of households spent more than $100 but no more than $200. Similarly, 21% of households spent more than $50 but no more than $100.

The average price per item was $28.06, Numerator found. Based on the number of units purchased, the top-selling items were the Amazon Fire TV Stick, premier protein shakes, Liquid I.V. packets, Glad trash bags and COSRX snail mucin serum.

88% of shoppers were Prime members, according to Numerator, and 85% have been Prime members for more than a year. 98% knew it was Prime Day before shopping, and just over half (53%) said Prime Day was their main reason for shopping. Moreover, 54% compared prices from other retailers.

Whereas 41% of consumers Numerator surveyed said they didn’t shop other sales, more than a third shopped other Mass Merchants‘ summer sales promotions. 35% said they shopped Walmart Deals, which ran July 8 to 11. Similarly, 34% shopped Target Circle Week. Just 11% said they shopped from Consumer Electronics retailer Best Buy’s Black Friday in July promotion.

Impact of Amazon Prime Day 2024 on US online retail sales

On the second day of the Amazon Prime Day 2024 event, July 17, consumers spent $7 billion online — and that’s outside of Amazon itself — according to data from Adobe Analytics.

Adobe’s analysis is based on 100 million stock keeping units (SKUs) across 18 product categories and covers more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites. 200 online retailers in the Top 1000 use Adobe Analytics for their web analytics, and 97 use it for site design and development. Top 1000 online retailers also use it for content delivery and management, as an ecommerce platform, a marketing platform, for personalization and more.

That $7 billion is shy of the first 24 hours’ $7.2 billion, which marked a new record, yet it still represents 10.4% year-over-year growth.

However, it brings the total of U.S. online retail sales — excluding Amazon — to $14.2 billion during the full Amazon Prime Day 2024 sales event, according to Adobe. That’s both an 11% year-over-year increase and a new record for online sales during the Prime Day event.

Sales growth by category

Specific categories drove the sales, Adobe data shows. Electronics sales as a whole increased 61% over the two-day event compared to average daily sales in June 2024, Adobe said. Across specific products, tablets had the largest sales growth at 117% over the two-day event, followed by:

• Televisions (up 111%)
• Headphones and Bluetooth speakers (105%)
• Fitness trackers (88%)
• Computers (80%)
• Smartphones (71%)
• Cameras (60%)

Among home, furniture and appliances sales, small kitchen appliances saw the largest growth over the two-day sales period at 76%. Kitchenware and cookware sales grew 25% and mattresses 21%. Meanwhile, Home office furniture sales grew 14% and bedroom furniture 11%.

Within the apparel category, sales of suits grew the most, at 36% across both days. Outerwear (19%), footwear (17%) and accessories (17%) accounted for the next-most sales growth.

“The electronics, apparel, and furniture categories make up nearly half of e-commerce spend but has seen low single digit growth in the first half of 2024,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, in a statement. “It’s clear now that the Prime Day event has been a catalyst across these major categories, with discounts deep enough for consumers to hit the buy button and upgrade items in their homes.”

Trending spending habits

Almost half of that total came from mobile devices. Mobile commerce drove close to half (49.2%) of online purchases on the second of Amazon’s two-day event. For both days combined, consumers spent $7 billion from their mobile devices. That’s 18.6% year-over-year growth.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) accounted for 7.6% of online orders during the Amazon Prime Day 2024 sales event. BNPL drove $1.08 billion in online spending during Amazon’s Prime Day 2024 sales event. That’s 16.4% year-over-year growth.

Retailers have leaned into discounts to drive growth since the 2023 holiday shopping season, Adobe said. Amazon Prime Day’s sales event drew discounts from other retailers, according to Adobe Analytics, including:

• Electronics peaking at 23% off listed price (vs. 14% in 2023)
• Apparel discounts at 20% (vs. 12% in 2023)
• Home/furniture at 16% (vs. 9%)
• Televisions at 16% (vs. 5%)
• Toys at 15% (vs. 12%)
• Appliances at 14% (vs. 7%)
• Sporting goods at 11% (vs. 6%)
• Computers at 11% (vs. 8%)

Consumers selected curbside pickup for nearly a fifth of U.S. online orders (18.9%) during the two-day sales event (among retailers offering the service). That’s down slight from 20.2% in 2023.

Prime Day’s effect on online retail

Globally, sales growth for retailers other than Amazon was flat year over year during the Prime Day 2024 event, according to ecommerce platform provider Salesforce.

That wasn’t the case in North America, though. As a whole, North American online sales grew 3% year over year during the sales event. The United States led that total growth for the continent, accounting for most of the sales during the period. However, Canada’s online retail sales grew at a faster rate: 8% year over year.

In North America, 76 of the top 2000 online retailers use Salesforce as their ecommerce platform, according to Digital Commerce 360 data. And in 2023, those 76 online retailers combined for more than $136.077 billion in web sales.

Consumers locked in on deals as they become increasingly focused on value, said Rob Garf, vice president and general manager of retail and consumer goods at Salesforce, in a statement. Makeup, skin care, and apparel were the big winners heading into the back-to-school season, he added.

“Amazon’s annual Prime Day gives us a glimpse into what we can expect this holiday season,” Garf said. “And retailers must be smiling. Online traffic and demand were up. And much of the online growth was based on people buying more, not just higher prices.”

In contrast, TikTok’s “Deal for You Days” did not drive the same results as Amazon this year, Salesforce said. Discounts timed to coincide with TikTok’s sales event averaged 18% off product prices. That compares to 22% discounts, on average, during this year’s Prime Day event, according to Salesforce data.

Salesforce also broke out which categories had the largest sales growth and discounts during the full span of the 2024 Prime Day event.

Top-performing verticals by sales growth

1. Health & Beauty (16% increase). Makeup sales, specifically, grew 30%. Skin care sales grew 14%.
2. Active Footwear (12%)
3. General Footwear (12%)

Highest discounts globally by category

1. General Apparel  (average discount of 28%)
2. Beauty & Makeup (26%; was 21% in 2023)
3. Beauty & Skincare (22%)
4. Home & Furniture (22%)

Global discounts grew 8% year over year during the full 48 hours of the Prime Day 2024 sales event, Salesforce said. The average discount rate across categories was 20%.

Highest discounts by category in the US

1. General Apparel (average discount of 33%)
2. Home & Furniture (21%)
3. Health & Beauty (21%)

Discounts from U.S. online retailers grew 10% year over year during the same period, according to Salesforce. The average discount rate across categories was 22%. For online retailers in Canada, those figures are 11% and 27%, respectively.

“For the first time in a long time, we’re seeing order volumes turn positive and discounting is high,” said Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights at Salesforce, in a statement. “The lesson is a simple one — if retailers deliver on discounting and providing true value, they will release that pressure valve of built-up demand and see incredible success. If they don’t, retailers may risk losing out as shoppers will go elsewhere.”

Here’s last year’s article summarizing Amazon Prime Day sales results.

Do you rank in our databases? 

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the online retail industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post Prime Day 2024 drives record sales for overall US ecommerce appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

The new Digital Commerce 360 report, B2B Marketplace Growth Strategies, covers the growth strategies of these and other companies and is available for free download.

B2B ecommerce can be complicated for both buyers and sellers.

The spirits industry is a good example.

Advanced Spirits, a Houston alcoholic beverage distillery and services company, has launched Barrel Hub, an ecommerce platform for the wholesale bulk whiskey market.

Like other marketplaces featured in the DC360 report, Barrel Hub offers online tools designed to smooth out the purchasing process.

“From our soft launch, we know one of the most pressing questions that buyers and sellers have is around purchase price,” says Advanced Spirits president Rob Arnold. “What is the current value of this whiskey barrel?”

But he adds: “The lack of transparency in the wholesale bulk whiskey market makes this question hard to answer. Therefore, Barrel Hub has introduced a bid feature, so that buyers and sellers can collectively set fair market values.”

At Science Exchange, “our supplier orchestration platform sits on top of P2P [peer-to-peer] and ERP [enterprise resource planning] systems and includes a powerful workflow engine and integration platform, automating the entire process of collaborating with suppliers from intake to payment,” says CEO Elizabeth Iorns. “This improves how life sciences companies collaborate with suppliers, enabling faster project execution, improving compliance, significantly reducing costs, and ultimately bringing therapeutics to market faster.”

Science Exchange features include:

• Users can access Science Exchange’s existing network of 3,800 suppliers under a standard legal agreement and synchronize existing suppliers they use daily.
• Automated guided buying tools also help each transaction comply with purchasing and third-party risk management (TPRM) policies.
• Configurable workflow automation supports purchasing and compliance requirements across sites, teams and purchase categories, among other areas.

The B2B Marketplace Growth Strategies report also covers statistics on marketplace industry growth and provides an inside look at marketplace strategies in case studies on OnlineMetals.com, electronic components and hardware distributor Bisco Industries, and the apparel business FashionGo.

In addition, the report also covers how the used-vehicle marketplace is using AI and computer vision technology to help buyers evaluate vehicles online before  purchasing, and how a new AI-powered catalog management tool from marketplace technology company Mirakl expedites how online sellers list their products.

B2B Marketplace Growth Strategies  is available as complimentary download.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

Submit a nomination

Nominate a game-changer for the Global B2B eCommerce Industry Awards from Digital Commerce 360 and the B2B Ecommerce Association.

Sign up

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at mark@digitalcommerce360.com. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. 

The post What’s behind the rapid growth of B2B marketplaces appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

The smaller screen size can make it more difficult to find products, so Casio UK and its G-Shock watch website, have been using content personalization and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered search in an effort to boost conversion. So far, it seems to be working.

One way has been through creating a sense of urgency. Casio UK has tested FOMO (fear of missing out) messaging on its website. Monique Green, ecommerce manager at Casio UK, told Digital Commerce 360 that an SKU with less than 10 remaining units for sale will display messages such as “last chance” or “only five left in stock.” This has driven conversion rates up to 18%, according to Casio.

Using technology from Nosto, Casio UK’s website will display how many times a product has been viewed (on its Casio site) or purchased (on its G-Shock website) in the past 24 hours. Nosto is a commerce experience platform (CXP) that offers automation and AI tools to provide insights on ecommerce data.

Casio sells watches, calculators and musical instruments. It has different ecommerce websites for:

• North America
• Latin America
• Europe (including a separate website for the UK and Ireland)
• The Middle East and Africa
• Asia and Oceania

Casio UK taps Nosto for personalization tools

Although Casio sells wholesale, it said it wants to encourage shoppers to buy directly from both its Casio and G-Shock websites. Using a Nosto feature, Casio and G-Shock’s UK websites have achieved a 40% conversion rate on a retention campaign that triggers a pop-up message offering consumers a discount code. The catch is that it appears when a shopper copies and pastes product details to potentially search online for the same product elsewhere.

Danny Power, head of digital at Casio UK, told Digital Commerce 360 that the retailer’s focus “has been on DTC improvements in the past 5 years anyway, to understand the customer more and serve content that fits.”

He added that Casio UK had “a lot” of customers shopping directly on its websites during the pandemic, but that tailed off over the past few years and is building back up toward peak levels.

“Stock was difficult to move to retailers as their warehouses shut, so customers had to come direct during [the COVID-19] pandemic,” Powers said.

Additionally, Green said, Nosto will generate a pop-up on Casio UK’s site suggesting returning visitors pick up where they left off. That pop-up would take consumers to pages they’ve already visited, nudging them to convert.

“If I want to put a banner on the site, that’s a bit different,” she said. “I would go in and manually do that. But a lot of the things like PLP, products gone out of stock, that would drop to the last page. No one wants to see an out-of-stock product they can’t buy. So that’s, I’d say, like 90% just working in the background.”

Product recommendations

Casio UK said it also uses Nosto’s product recommendations feature “to help consumers find the right products quickly.” The retailer said it uses A/B testing to optimize where those recommendations appear across its site. That can include triggering a notification on a product listing page that a newer model of a product is available. This is driving 26% of sales on G-Shock’s UK site and 11% on Casio UK’s.

Green said Casio UK doesn’t have options on its site to save a product for later or to compare it with another product. However, the site shows recently viewed products at the bottom of the page as consumers are browsing.

“So for example, our GA 2100 is our best seller, and we have it in like four different colors,” Green said. “So before, you would only see that product when you clicked on it. Now, when you click on that product, you can see the different colors also on the PDP.”

Improving search functionality

Casio said Nosto’s AI-powered search makes it easier for consumers — especially those on mobile — to find products on its website by entering attributes including color, shape, or product names.

12% of Casio and G-Shock UK’s site visitors use the search bar during their buying journey. But Casio said its “previous search functionality suffered from a lack of advanced product data processing, meaning it couldn’t provide relevant matches to complex queries unless the team spent time manually linking attributes for each product.”

Other technology Casio UK uses

Green said Casio UK also uses Yotpo for user-generated content. Yotpo is a retention marketing platform that retailers can use to produce reviews, text messages, email, subscriptions and more. Casio UK also uses Hotjar, which offers website heatmaps and behavior-analytics tools.

Heat maps are “really useful, especially when you’re trying to see what’s annoying people or bugs,” Green said. “Or if someone’s clicking on something loads and it’s not working, it helps you pick up things on the website. … But because it requires you to go back and watch it, it’s quite time consuming.”

Do you rank in our database?

Submit your data with this quick survey and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post Casio UK drives conversion through personalization tools, AI-powered search appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

“Inflation is still high, mortgage rates are high and consumer confidence scores are trending lower,” Barry said during the electronics retailer’s quarterly earnings call. “Consumers continue to make tough choices with their budgets, trading down in some areas while still prioritizing spend and others like services and experiences like travel.”

Net earnings were $246 million for the quarter, compared with $244 million in the year-ago period.

Best Buy ranks No. 8 in the Top 1000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. It falls under the Consumer Electronics category.

Best Buy Q1 online sales

Overall, the decrease in Best Buy Q1 revenue was primarily driven by a comparable online sales decline of 6.3%. But there were bright spots. The decline was not as steep as forecast, and there was an uptick in sales of phones, services and laptops.

Despite the decline, online sales’ share of Best Buy’s total business rose to 30.8% versus 30.5% during the same time last year. Best Buy reported that the speed and efficiency of online delivery continued to improve, with 60% of packages delivered or available for pickup within one day and 40% of digital sales picked up in stores by customers. Best Buy estimates 90% of those online orders are available to pick up in stores within 30 minutes.

Barry predicted that sales will remain “flat” through the end of 2024 and that credit losses will be a drag on revenue. However, Barry says there are also “exciting” developments that Best Buy is focusing on as future revenue drivers, including harnessing the popularity of artificial intelligence (AI) to continue to boost laptop sales.

“We expect the category to benefit as early replacement and upgrade cycles gain momentum and new products featuring even more AI capabilities are, at least as we move through the year,” Barry said. “We have seen early signs of improvement as a year-over-year comparable sales for laptops turned slightly positive in the fourth quarter and that trend continued in Q1.”

Best Buy Q1 earnings

For the quarter ended May 4, 2024, Best Buy reported:

• Domestic online revenue decreased 6.1% to $2.52 billion.
• Best Buy online domestic revenue accounted for 30.8% of total domestic sales.
• Overall, domestic revenue declined 0.9% to $13.41 billion.

Do you rank in our database?

Submit your data with this quick survey and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post Best Buy Q1 online revenue and overall revenue slip appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

Krizia Labayen, ecommerce and marketing director, Bisco Industries

Its legacy ecommerce platform had catered to procurement teams who searched dutifully and narrowly by SKUs and part numbers organized by manufacturers and brands. Bisco distributes electronic components and fasteners used for production operations in industries including aerospace, industrial equipment, instrumentation, marine and military.

But Bisco devised a plan to appeal more to other potential customers like engineers who, at the top of the purchasing funnel, needed more product information to shop by electronics product categories. The new strategy also included bringing in more suppliers to expand Bisco’s supply chain and purchasing options.

Fast track to fast growth

It didn’t take long to see some results. After relaunching its ecommerce platform in 2020, Bisco realized 40% revenue growth the first year, followed by additional 20% growth over the next two years, says Krizia Labayen, ecommerce and marketing director.

Using headless technology architecture, Anaheim, California-based Bisco worked with systems integrator Clouda Inc. to relaunch its website on a VTEX commerce platform, providing more flexibility in managing product data and content from suppliers, introducing new features like “Quick Quote” to accommodate engineers and other buyers, and setting up marketplace technology to accommodate third-party sellers. The Bisco ecommerce site runs on the VTEX IO platform, which VTEX describes as a “low-code serverless development platform designed to help create scalable, production-ready web applications.”

Labayen says the changes have upgraded how Bisco fosters commerce through its sales reps and other company professionals as well as directly with online customers.

“There’s been some really solid progress being made there,” she says, adding, “The features we’ve been able to add on the site have really helped us to service both internal and external users.”

Helping sales reps as well as online buyers

Bisco operates 51 sales offices throughout the U.S., a presence it maintains with local, personalized service to differentiate from its competition. But the ecommerce platform complements the sales office network, providing sales teams with comprehensive, up-to-date product information as well as more purchasing options for customers.

For example, the Quick Quote feature provides pricing information engineers may need to authorize purchases with financial managers while also giving useful leads to Bisco’s sales reps.

“That is a huge additional value,” Labayen said in a recent interview. “It generated over 20,000 leads in the last 12 months. That equated to about $1.2 million of additional business.” And those were new customers looking for products online.” Bisco does more than $330 million in annual revenue.

A product detail page on BiscoInd.com.

She adds that Bisco has restructured its product catalog within the VTEX platform to make it more “category-driven” as well as SKU-driven. Bisco’s site has more than 540 active brands and over 3.1 million SKUs.

Giving engineers the online experience they need

“It really allows us to engage with those engineers that are looking for specifications in the part they’re looking for,” Labayen says. “And it’s wonderful because we’re still having all the buyers with SKU-driven searches on the site while we’re also engaging the engineers.”

In addition, Bisco provides on its ecommerce site:

• Custom pricing and availability display: Custom buying tables enable Bisco to meet each customer’s complex purchasing needs by displaying real-time stock, unit of measure, unit price, price breaks, the extended price for large orders and the number of days to delivery.

• Multiple warehouse and back-order functionality enable buyers to plan out purchases in advance even amid supply chain constraints.

The distributor — which operates seven U.S. distribution centers and dozens of domestic sales offices — uses commerce data compiled and analyzed on the platform to identify and develop new markets.

Growing internationally

After recording significant international online sales, Bisco supported further global growth by deploying multilingual content in ten languages on its ecommerce platform and launched its first overseas sales office in Manila. In addition to English, Biscoind.com lets site users view content in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese.

VTEX recently launched the VTEX Data Pipeline data-management tool, which uses AI to centralize digital commerce data from multiple channels and provide demand forecasting to B2B sellers.

The VTEX platform uses APIs and other integration tools to accommodate large as well as small suppliers depending on how they want to connect their product catalogs to Bisco’s platform. The integration with suppliers lets Bisco’s customers view available inventory and expected delivery times for items from multiple suppliers, without having to call someone to confirm product availability. “The customers will know that they have access to that inventory,” Labayen says.

Turning on marketplace sellers

Bisco is also deploying VTEX technology for marketplace functionality on the same platform at Biscoind.com that supports its own first-party direct ecommerce sales.

Labayen adds that the marketplace functionality will further add to customers’ purchasing options by letting them purchase directly from participating suppliers.

“We’ve been focusing on a lot of enhancements to the Bisco ecommerce site to allow us to really bolster up our catalog and optimize user experience,” she says. Bisco has the marketplace infrastructure in place to onboard suppliers that want to start selling in the marketplace, she adds.

Bisco’s Anaheim, California, headquarters.

Capturing young buyers

Labayen adds that providing Bisco’s customers more digital commerce options is critical to the company’s growth.

“The industries that we serve, the procurement agents and engineers are getting younger, and they want to engage online. And we have to be able to service that demand and do it efficiently.”

She adds, “Even if we have existing relationships with buyers who have been with their companies for 20 years, we want to be able to reach the new buyers that have just joined their organization as they’re searching for products online.”

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

Submit a nomination

Nominate a game-changer for the Global B2B eCommerce Industry Awards from Digital Commerce 360 and the B2B Ecommerce Association.

Sign up

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at mark@digitalcommerce360.com. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. 

The post Bisco Industries evolves from old legacy to new marketplace appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

The growth story this year shows no signs of slowing down. For evidence, look no further than major retailers — including Walmart, Home Depot, Saks and others — that have expanded, rebranded, created or otherwise shared new plans for their retail media networks.

More could be coming. In December 2023, Deloitte published a poll finding that 64% of retailers said they plan to implement a retail media network by the end of 2024.

What are retail media networks?

Retail media networks are a type of advertising platform where retailers can sell ad space on their own digital channels to third parties. Advertisers can target their ads using the retailer’s first-party data on customers, including information from loyalty programs. Ads can be placed on retailers’ websites, within mobile apps or in stores via screens and displays.

Retail media networks also open up a new revenue stream for retailers.

Here are the most important developments so far in 2024.

1. Albertsons works with Criteo

Albertsons Media Collective, the advertising piece of the grocery chain, is working with commerce media platform Criteo to expand in-store retail media offerings for advertisers. Criteo is helping Albertsons develop new ad formats, like sponsored video and commerce displays, it said.

Albertsons Media Collective can use a combination of first-party data, in-store sales and other shopper information to give advertisers better ad-targeting abilities.

Albertsons is No. 24 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of North America’s leading retailers by online sales.

2. Instacart uses Google shopping data for CPG partners

Instacart announced in January that it would make Google Shopping accessible to Instacart advertisers.

“Instacart’s closed-loop platform and first-party retail media data are critical differentiators for CPG brands,” said Laura Jones, chief marketing officer of Instacart. “Today, our team works with more than 5,500 brand partners to help them grow their businesses and drive incremental sales. With our collaboration with Google, we’re now able to layer our valuable retail media data over Google Shopping ads’ capabilities to enhance audience signals for our CPG partners’ campaigns off of Instacart,” she said.

Instacart is one company experimenting with retail media networks.

The grocery delivery company also debuted ads on Caper Carts. Instacart described them as AI-powered smart carts that will make personalized recommendations through advertisements. Recommendations will be based on the time of year, ongoing promotions, and other products already in the customer’s cart, Instacart said.

3. Macy’s Media Network recruits VP from Walmart Connect 

Macy’s hired Michael Krans as a vice president in March who is in charge of running the Macy’s Media Network. Krans spent the two years prior at Walmart Connect, Walmart’s retail media network. 

The Macy’s ad network collaborates with advertisers across Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, helping them target the retailer’s customers. The goal is to lead to discovery and brand awareness among Macy’s customers. It launched the network in 2020.

“Macy’s Media Network is one of retail’s premier platforms for advertisers helping them to connect with highly engaged customers across Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, giving marketers a host of opportunities to more effectively leverage their media campaigns,” Max Magni, chief customer and digital officer, said in a statement.

Macy’s ranks No. 14 in the Top 1000.

4. Lowe’s and Google team up on a retail media solution

In March, Google announced a retail media solution in partnership with Lowe’s.

The beta uses Google’s Search Ads 360 product to facilitate retail media campaigns. The program extends advertisers’ reach to new third-party channels beyond the retail media network’s owner. 

“With self-service, retailers will be able to selectively share first-party audiences with their brand partners in a privacy-centric way, without exposing user-level data,” Google project manager Ewan Fisher said at the time. “This lets brands reach high-intent shoppers with relevant ads, increasing performance while respecting consumer privacy.”

Google is also looking for future retail partners, he added.

Lowe’s is No. 11 in the Top 1000.

5. Home Depot rebrands its ad operation as Orange Apron Media

Home Depot relaunched its retail media network as Orange Apron Media four years after it first formed. The name is a reference to uniforms its employees wear, and an attempt to differentiate the network from the proliferation of other retail media networks across the industry, Orange Apron Media vice president Melanie Babcock told Digital Commerce 360.

Advertisers can purchase ad space on Home Depot’s website, including on banners and product carousels and in promotional emails. In select stores, they can also buy ads to display on in-store TVs and end caps. 

Home Depot currently reports a few thousand supplier advertisers. It plans to double that number over the next few years, Babcock said.

Home Depot is No. 4 in the Top 1000.

6. Chase brings banking into the retail media network game

Chase ventured into the retail media network space with Chase Media Solutions in April. The digital media business will give brands a way to connect with Chase’s 80 million customers, it said. It said Chase Media Solutions is the only bank-led media platform of its type, with advantages over the more typical retail media networks.

“Like retailers, we have first-party data and a dedicated audience,” Rich Muhlstock, president of Chase Media Solutions, said in a statement. “But what sets us apart is the unrivaled scale and insights from our customers – having long-served as a trusted guide for their financial decisions. Chase reaches across brands, merchants and shopping verticals, providing a comprehensive view of purchase behavior; this strengthens the degree of personalization, helping brands deliver offers that stoke consumer interests.”

Initial partners include Air Canada, Solo Stove, Blue Bottle and Whataburger.

7. Walmart outlines growth plans for Walmart Connect

In early April, Walmart shared updates and goals for Walmart Connect, its advertising business. 

A few of the many changes coming to Walmart Connect include:

• Greater on-site display access
• Advertising for complementary brands that don’t sell through Walmart
• Media partnerships with Roku and TikTok
• Self-service capabilities for in-store advertising
• Better analysis tools

The retailer has made other moves to grow its advertising business, including with its proposed acquisition of Vizio. Walmart could use data from Vizio’s 18 million active users to improve ad targeting for Walmart Connect.

Most recently, it announced an integration with the advertising technology platform Infillion in Mexico. The partnership will allow Walmart to offer its advertisers in Latin America elevated media plans optimized with artificial intelligence (AI), it said.

Walmart Connect generated about $3 billion in sales last year and is growing quickly. In Walmart’s fiscal fourth quarter report, chief financial officer John David Rainey said sales increased 22% year over year.

Walmart is No. 2 in the Top 1000. It is also No. 9 in the Global Online Marketplaces Database, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of top online marketplaces by third-party gross merchandise value (GMV).

8. Saks creates luxury retail media network

Saks announced the launch of Saks Media Network to connect customers with digital advertisers. The ecommerce retailer said it will be one of the first retail media networks in the luxury retail space.

Saks said it will use the company’s “iconic brand, rich first-party customer data and robust traffic of over 435 million annual site visits,” to increase the revenue of brands that sell on its website through sponsored product ads and display banners.

Several prominent brands that sell through Saks are already using the Saks Media Network, it said, including Stuart Weitzman and Rag & Bone.

Saks’ retail media network also strengthens its relationship with the brands it sells, the retailer said. Its in-house media team creates custom strategies for retailers to drive business to their brands.

SaksFifthAvenue.com and SaksOff5th.com are owned by Hudson’s Bay Co. The parent company is No. 26 in the Top 1000.

9. Best Buy partners with CNET

Best Buy announced a new agreement with tech news website CNET to integrate the publication’s recommendations and content across the Best Buy website, stores, and mobile app. 

The consumer electronics retailer called it a “new retail media model between a media publication and retailer.” Advertisers can share ad spaces across the two companies, leveraging the audiences of both across the funnel. They have a combined 50 million unique visitors monthly, Best Buy said. 

“This partnership sets a powerful precedent for how content and retail media brands can collaborate to bring more opportunities to both consumers and advertisers,” said Lauren Newman, executive vice president of revenue at CNET. “With a focus on data-driven insights, we’re introducing a new standard to help brands expand audience reach and measure the impact across what was previously a fragmented digital media ecosystem.”

Best Buy first launched its retail media network, Best Buy Ads, in 2022. It ranks No. 8 in the Top 1000.

10. T-Mobile announces a retail media network

T-Mobile Advertising Solutions, the company’s ad business, will add a retail media network to its portfolio, it said. The network will extend across 20,000 screens in more than 11,000 T-Mobile stores across the U.S., reaching 58 million consumers each month. Advertisers can reach an additional 7 million consumers each month through the company’s T Life loyalty app, it said.

Finally, T-Mobile also announced a partnership with streaming company Plex to expand its connected TV (CTV) reach. Advertisers can use Plex’s free, ad-supported video on demand to reach consumers with relevant ads, T-Mobile said.

Do you rank in our database?

Submit your data with this quick survey and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post These are the 10 biggest retail media network updates of 2024 so far appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

Members will gain access to perks like free shipping and exclusive deals, Newegg said.

“Joining most retail membership clubs requires a large financial commitment that really detracts from the excitement of joining the program and the potential savings,” said Kidd Liu, senior director of business systems development for Newegg. “Newegg+ is designed to help customers shop Newegg easier from day one with outstanding free benefits. Since Newegg+ is free and the positives are immeasurable, every customer should be compelled to join.”

Newegg is holding a launch sale for members through April 28.

Newegg is No. 68 in the Top 1000. The Top 1000 database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers by web sales. Digital Commerce 360 categorizes Newegg as a Consumer Electronics retailer.

What are the benefits of Newegg’s membership?

The electronics retailer said it evaluated customer needs and expectations based on feedback to decide what benefits to include in the new membership. Newegg+ gives customers a “VIP-style shopping experience” on the Newegg app and website, the retailer said.

Newegg membership features include:

• Free domestic shipping on more than 1 million products featuring a Newegg+ badge.
• Exclusive early access to new products and deals.
• Member-only deals on top of other promotions.
• Discounts on product warranties.
• Advanced return processing.
• Priority customer service assistance.

The retailer plans to continue expanding the program as it gains data from members.

“The most passionate and devoted customers anywhere loyally shop Newegg for their computer needs, so we’re glad to reward them with a special membership program that gives every member front-of-the-line access to hot new products and deals,” Liu said. “We’ve assembled amazing benefits for members and expect to continue to explore ways to expand Newegg+ in the future as members share feedback.”

Loyalty programs among Top 1000 retailers

Digital Commerce 360 distinguishes between loyalty programs, which are free to join, and paid memberships, like those offered by Costco and Amazon. Newegg’s new offering is a free loyalty program. 

Fewer than one-third of Top 1000 retailers have a loyalty program. The number of Top 1000 retailers with loyalty programs has grown 16.8% since 2019, according to Digital Commerce 360 data. The majority of the growth took place in 2020 and has remained nearly flat since. 

Though not strictly necessary, “rewards programs can be very useful for retailers both because they enable them to gather information about customers and drive certain behaviors,” Neil Saunders, managing director of retail analysis firm Global Data, previously told Digital Commerce 360.

If a retailer does choose to use a rewards program, it must have a clear purpose, he said. 

“Is it to increase loyalty, to stimulate consumers into spending more, to gather data, to improve price perceptions, and so on?” Saunders said. “Knowing the purpose is vital as it then allows retailers to work out the cost of a scheme versus the potential reward.”

Other ways Newegg appeals to consumers

Newegg was an early adopter of live shopping through TikTok and other platforms. It fully embraced TikTok Shop as part of its live shopping strategy over the 2023 holidays. The technology retailer held a 24-hour livestream shopping event on the platform for Cyber Monday, with great success, it said.

“TikTok is a great way to get Newegg in front of people who have not shopped from Newegg before,” director of Newegg studios Drew Roder said.

Newegg’s top-selling products on TikTok have been gaming related, producer Ben Tibbels said. The retailer is best known for selling computer components, but TikTok Shop customers skew younger and toward gaming items, he said. Gaming controllers and other tools for co-op games have been very popular, he said. The retailer regularly sees repeat customers on TikTok Shop and takes requests on new categories to offer through the platform.

Do you rank in our databases? 

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post Newegg creates free membership program, offering perks to participants appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

The retailer follows a few other early adopters in using the Vision Pro as a way to preview purchases before actually buying them. 

“Best Buy Envision is another way we’re utilizing innovative technology to humanize consumer electronics like no one can,” said Brian Tilzer, chief digital, analytics and technology officer for Best Buy. 

Best Buy is No. 9 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of North America’s leading retailers by online sales. Digital Commerce 360 categorizes it as a Consumer Electronics retailer.

How does Best Buy’s Vision Pro app work?

Vision Pro users can download the Best Buy Envision app and see 3D images of how different products will look in their space. Best Buy says featured products include hundreds of big-screen TVs, appliances, fitness equipment and furniture.

“The app allows our customers to see, in a lifelike way, how technology will look and feel right in their own homes, delivering an immersive and personalized shopping experience,” Tilzer said in a statement. According to the app store listing, consumers can mix and match different products to see how they look together.

Consumers can see how Best Buy products will look in their homes.

When the consumer finds a product that interests them, they can access pricing information and customer reviews. The app also allows the user to send a link to the product through a text message or email. Further, they can even make the purchase with the Vision Pro by opening the product page in the Vision Pro Safari app, Best Buy said.

“Best Buy Envision was designed by our team specifically for the Apple Vision Pro. It creates a totally new experience that will take your shopping to the next level and leave you feeling confident in your choice to upgrade to the one TV size bigger,” the retailer said in the statement.

How other retailers are using the Vision Pro

Several online retailers have released Vision Pro apps to facilitate virtual stores and omnichannel experiences.

Lowe’s (No. 11 in the Top 1000) introduced a home design use case for the new headset. The hardware and home improvement chain’s Style Studio app allows Vision Pro owners to choose from preset kitchen designs created by stylists, or create custom designs from their own selections of materials, fixtures and appliances. Similarly, Wayfair’s (No. 10) Decorify app lets consumers upload photos of their homes and redecorate them in various styles using products available through Wayfair.

J. Crew (No. 78) released a virtual closet app. That experience encourages customers to style outfits on a virtual mannequin with input from stylists. E.l.f. Cosmetics (No. 682) took a slightly different approach. Vision Pro users can use its app to purchase e.l.f. products with Apple Pay and take part in paint-by-numbers activities and guided meditation.

Online marketplace StockX also created a shopping app for the Vision Pro. It features a 3D sneaker showcase designed to recreate the experience of shopping in a store, StockX said.

StockX is No. 23 in Digital Commerce 360’s Global Online Marketplaces Database, ranking the 100 largest such marketplaces by third-party gross merchandise value (GMV).

Other Best Buy technology

The retailer recently said it will launch a generative AI assistant to handle customer inquiries on BestBuy.com, the Best Buy app, and through its phone support line. The assistant is scheduled to launch in late summer 2024. It will be able to help customers troubleshoot problems, change delivery scheduling and manage subscriptions and memberships, Best Buy said.

Best Buy also uses generative AI for customer service agents to make their roles easier. The technology gives agents real-time recommendations on how to respond to customer inquiries. It also summarizes conversations and uses data from calls to make better recommendations in the future, Best Buy said. The use of AI improves the accuracy of data collection and reduces average engagement time with agents by about 5%, CEO Corie Barry told investors in February.

Do you rank in our databases? 

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post Best Buy launches Apple Vision Pro app to preview new tech purchases appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

That’s among the findings of a recent survey of over 700 product engineers, designers and developers by digital manufacturer Proto Labs Inc.

The company’s market research team surveyed product development professionals across such manufacturing industries as aerospace and defense, automotive, medical equipment and devices, industrial equipment and consumer electronics.

“Respondents made clear today’s product development process is driven by a need for speed,” Protolabs says in the report, “Product Development Outlook 2024: Innovation challenges of today and the future.”

Protolabs provides digital manufacturing services, including 3D printing, injection molding, CNC machining and sheet metal fabrication. Its customers use its services for work ranging from product prototyping to production.

“As a manufacturer serving customers from prototyping to production, we have a front-row seat to watch companies bring products to market faster than ever,” says Luca Mazzei, strategic growth officer.

For now, little help expected from AI

Among the report’s findings:

• While 53% of respondents said they’re developing products “faster than ever,” more than 80% are “looking for ways to be even faster.”
• 65% cite market competition as the primary motivating force behind expediting product development.

The report identified marked improvements in supply chain expectations and the availability of production materials:

• 33% of respondents predicted they would have to deal with materials shortages this year, down sharply from 70% a year earlier.
• 44% predicted material shortages would impact their product development operations over the next five years, down from 74% a year earlier.

The report also revealed how product development professionals expect other trends, including skilled labor shortages and AI, will impact their workload and operations:

• 78% of respondents said the biggest pressure for developing products will come from customers expecting rapid product iteration and modernization.
• 65% cited as a significant challenge a shortage of skilled workers.
• 66% said they expect AI to have “little or no impact” on product development over the next five years before it matures as a technology.
• 63% said they expect sustainability and environmental impact trends will have “little or no effect” on product development.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

Submit a nomination

Nominate a game-changer for the Global B2B eCommerce Industry Awards from Digital Commerce 360 and the B2B Ecommerce Association.

Sign up

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at mark@digitalcommerce360.com. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. 

The post A digital manufacturer IDs ‘need for speed’ in product development appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.