To keep customers happy, retailers play a daily game of beat the clock. For some retailers, smart supply chain management strategies and 3PL partnerships keep the orders flowing. For others, well…time may be up.

Bricks and mortar aren’t dead yet. According to Census Bureau estimates, just 7.8 percent of all U.S. retail sales in the first quarter of 2016 took place online. But that’s a good deal more than one decade ago, when online sales for the first quarter of 2006 amounted to 2.8 percent of the total.

And among people who already favor online shopping, the allure of e-commerce continues to grow. That group made 51 percent of its purchases online, up from 48 percent in 2015, according to a 2016 survey of 5,000 online shoppers, conducted by comScore for UPS.

Technology continues to reshape the retail world. As more consumers click to buy, e-commerce giants such as Amazon put increasing pressure on merchants of all types to offer more flexible shopping choices—both in-store and online—and faster fulfillment. Omni-channel options? Next-day delivery? Free returns? Shoppers want it all. And successful retailers keep honing their strategies to meet their demands.

Are retailers ready to deliver? Maybe not all of them. For example, in a survey conducted by consulting firm McKinsey at the World Retail Congress in April 2016, only 21 percent of respondents said they are more confident than one year ago in their ability to deliver omni-channel experiences. Another 45 percent say they are making progress too slowly.

Another set of opportunities and challenges arises as retailers globalize their operations. Whether they open locations in new countries or use the web to reach across oceans, companies selling to consumers in international markets have to refine their distribution strategies.

What’s new these days in the new world of retail? Here are some observations from the leading edge.

UPS’s online shopping figures come from the 2016 edition of its annual Pulse of the Online Shopper survey. This year marks the first time that survey respondents say they made more than half of their purchases online.

UPS uncovered some significant changes in the habits of consumers who favor online shopping. Seventeen percent of respondents say they plan to do less shopping in stores in the future and more online. Shopping via smartphone has increased by 10 points since 2014; 77 percent of online shoppers now use that mode.

Also, consumers are more apt than ever to use multiple channels to complete transactions. Purchases that combine store visits with at least one online channel account for 38 percent of all purchases—two percent more than in 2015, the survey finds. Half of shoppers who buy online had purchases shipped to brick-and-mortar stores for pickup.

See Full article @inboundlogistics.com