This year, the retail industry experienced a true converging of channels, with brick-and-mortar retail and online retail becoming just retail. Amazon brought cashierless checkout into practice at its Amazon Go stores, where shoppers walk in, take what they need and leave, completing their purchase in an app.
The industry giant also showed up in physical stores through its returns experiment at Kohl's stores, which boosted traffic and brought new customers in for Kohl's. Nike became the first brand to sell via Snapchat this year, and Amazon continued to bring its Prime discounts to Whole Foods stores in more markets. Department store retailer Nordstrom upped its investment in digital retail by acquiring startups BevyUp and MessageYes, while Macy's announced plans to continue growing its Style Crew influencer program, which already includes more than 400 of the retailer's employees.
Amazon's Prime Day further cemented its importance on the retail calendar this year, with reports estimating the 36-hour event brought in $4.2 billion in sales, and Target, Macy's, eBay, Kohl's and other retailers getting in on the action with their own deals.
Amazon, Amazon, Amazon
Last year, the industry was captivated by news that Amazon would build a second North American headquarters, and this year, the captivation continued. The year's top-clicked story in Shop.org SmartBrief was news about Amazon's announcement in January of the 20 finalist cities for HQ2, and readers followed along until November, when the company announced it would split the project between two cities in the New York City and D.C. areas. Amazon's Super Bowlad campaign was among the industry's top news this year, along with the company's moves in its Amazon Go concept and private-labelefforts. Amazon's tech investments and experiments were also a big deal this year, from its patent for a smart fashion mirror and its acquisition of video doorbell maker Ring to its test of sending customers pictures of their delivered packages.
Engaging tech-obsessed consumers
Engaging shoppers who are glued to their tech gadgets was certainly nothing new in 2018, but retailers kicked their efforts to reach digital consumers into high gear this year -- and saw results. Nike sold out of its Kyrie 4 sneakers in less than an hour after launching an augmented reality-based experiment on Facebook Messenger to sell them. Adidas also tapped AR tech this year to create a virtual unboxing and give shoppers a sneak peek at its Deerupt shoe, while Home Depot launched a campaign on Pinterest that featured interactive virtual room pins.
Industry Outlook: Shop.org SmartBrief Reader Polls
Why is it important for your business to keep up with news about Amazon and other big e-commerce players heading into 2019?
43%
All of the above
30%
To help you plan your own e-commerce strategies
21%
To keep an eye on what your competitors are doing
6%
To learn what not to do when it comes to e-commerce
Will collaborating with another retailer or tech firm be part of your digital commerce strategy in 2019?
42%
Not sure yet
25%
Yes, we will collaborate with a tech firm
21%
Yes, we will collaborate with both retailers and tech firms
12%
Yes, we will collaborate with another retailer
What kind of technology was most successful in engaging your customers this year?
69%
Mobile technology
14%
Other
10%
Social media
7%
AR/VR technology
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Image of the Year
In early 2018, Amazon narrowed down the list of cities for its second North American headquarters to 20 finalists, and last month, the retail giant said it would split its HQ2 project between Long Island City in New York and the Crystal City section of Arlington County, Va., just outside of Washington, D.C. Amazon will invest about $5 billion in the two locations and hire 50,000 workers.
(Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)
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Smartest Quote
Each year, thousands of Shop.org SmartBrief readers share the SmartQuote with colleagues, family and friends. This year's most-shared quote is below.
It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well.
Rene Descartes, mathematician and philosopher
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