There Is Much We Can Learn from Retail in China

Shopping is different in China. There, it’s an integral part of social conversations, and it’s not uncommon for people to show each other what’s in their digital shopping carts at dinners and other gatherings. Online, Chinese retailers offer shoppers a… Continue Reading

Tired of Your Old Jeans? Recycle ’Em!

US retailer Target just announced that for a two-week period (March 11–24), customers in the Pacific Northwest can drop off any kind of denim jeans at its stores and receive a coupon good for 20% off a new pair of… Continue Reading

Channel Swaps: Walmart Online vs. Amazon Offline

Walmart versus Amazon is perhaps the biggest retail battle of our times—and Amazon’s encroachment into brick-and-mortar grocery retailing with its Whole Foods Market acquisition has only heightened the competition. Coincidentally, both of these retail giants have recently made the unusual… Continue Reading

As the World (Re)turns: Returning Stuff Is a Whole Lot Easier than It Used to Be

In the ancient days, before e-commerce, when you wanted to return something, you had to go back to the store where you bought it (if you bought it in a store) or wait in line at the post office, if… Continue Reading

Our Top Digital Retail Trends for the Holiday Season

This holiday season will see digital channels capture more spending, digital devices play a greater role in the shopping process and digital assistants help more shoppers. Here, we share our top trends in digital retailing for this holiday season. US… Continue Reading

The Intelligent Voice Appliance Market Is Getting Quite Crowded

In the beginning, there was Siri. The groundbreaking voice assistant only worked with recent-model iPhones, however, and its imperfect voice recognition led it to be the object of many a joke and cartoon. Siri’s wake saw additional assistants from other… Continue Reading

Walmart and JD.com Strengthen Partnership and Launch New 8/8 Shopping Festival

The past week brought news that Walmart and JD.com, China’s largest e-commerce company by revenue, are expanding the strategic partnership they formed last year. One element of this is the launch of a new shopping event—the JD-Walmart 8/8 omnichannel shopping… Continue Reading

Amazon Is Playing Its Part in Changing the Back-to-School Shopping Season

Economic conditions look good for back-to-school spending this year—unemployment is low, consumer confidence is at a 16-year high, housing prices have risen and gas prices remain low—leading to healthy forecasts for shopping this season. Fung Global Retail & Technology expects… Continue Reading

Reviewing WeChat, a Communication, Connection and Commerce Ecosystem with Almost a Billion Users

We recently attended the Rise 2017 Conference in Hong Kong, which is one of the largest technology conferences in Asia. The event featured a talk by Stephen Wang from Tencent, which owns the WeChat mobile app. Wang gave an overview… Continue Reading