OrderDynamics is Set to Attend the NRF BIG Show 2014!

The NRF’s 103^rd Annual Convention & Expo, better known as Retail’s BIG Show 2014, is less than two weeks away! OrderDynamics is excited to once again attend the EXPO at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City January 13-15, among more than 400 attending companies.

This year’s BIG Show features nearly 600 exhibitors, 520 of which are solutions providers looking to share the latest and most innovative retail tools, technologies and trends. The BIG Show will also be home to over 100 sessions, including keynote presentations by retail experts from eBay, American Eagle Outfitters, Barney’s New York, Macy’s, Gartner, Oracle, IBM and countless others, addressing How Brick & Mortar Retail will Thrive in the 21^st Century; Navigating Retail’s Relentless Reality; How Selling the Right Mindset Can Grow Your Brand; and Retail Lessons in Global Expansion. Former US President, George W. Bush, will accompany NRF Chairman of the Board, Stephen I. Sadove in a special keynote address titled A Presidential Perspective, sharing his economic insights gained from his two terms each as US President and Governor of Texas.

During the four-day Convention and EXPO, attendees and exhibitors alike will have the opportunity to mingle and strike up conversation at various networking events each day, including the Microsoft Opening Night Reception, and the NRF Retail Industry Awards featuring Mitch Joel of Twist Image. OrderDynamics is eager to meet with new and familiar faces, and invites everyone to look for us at these exciting events.

Click here for more information on the NRF BIG Show 2014. We look forward to seeing you there!

Happy Holidays from OrderDynamics!

OrderDynamics® is thrilled to recap on another eventful and progressive year, and extend our thanks to all of our valued clients, partners and vendors who made it possible. 2013 has been a year of new opportunities and exciting projects, in addition to our participation in conferences, panel discussions and speaking engagements, and new technology releases that we have become known for.  We are immensely grateful for the continued support we receive from our friends and colleagues.

Our Commitment to Helping Retailers Enter Omni-Channel Commerce

This year, we helped several Canadian retailers launch brand new Omni-Channel operations featuring cross-channel fulfillment, inventory and merchandising functionality including The Shoe Company and Eclipse.  JYSK.ca, a Danish brand of furniture and home décor, also integrated its existing eCommerce Platform with OrderDynamics Retail Order Management System. The integration allows JYSK to ship orders using store stock, and offer their customers the ability to pick up online orders in-store – a program that greatly extends their product offering given the nature of their product and large-sized packages that make traditional delivery costly and time-consuming. JYSK also leveraged the OrderDynamics Retail Order Management System to offer deeper product assortment and inventory redundancy via Endless Aisle functionality.

Henry’s Camera added a new convenience-focused service offering to its existing Omni-Channel operations called Reserve Online, Pickup In-Store. After launching in summer 2013, Henry’s quickly saw increased customer engagement online, along with increased store foot traffic.

Cutting-Edge Order Management Study with Forrester Research

In September, we commissioned a global study with Forrester Research, surveying retailers from Europe, Asia and North America to weigh the importance they place in retail order management systems, and their impact on driving Omni-Channel retail initiatives and cross-channel revenue growth.  The study, entitled the "The Retail Order Management Imperative", revealed compelling stats indicating that 82% of retailers surveyed believe that a retail Order Management System is essential in executing a successful Omni-Channel retail strategy. Additionally, cross-channel fulfillment programs, such as ship-from-store are the highest priority over other aspects of an Omni-Channel strategy, stating that these programs help extend the online assortment to include products typically not sellable online, reduce online cart abandonment associated with shipping time and costs, reduce store markdowns resulting from individual store stock availability with cross-channel inventory visibility, while in-store pickup helps increase store foot traffic, and provides the opportunity to upsell and cross-sell thereby boosting average order value. Omni-Channel retail has become such a priority, that almost a third of retailers surveyed have already implemented Omni-Channel fulfillment capabilities, and 39% have designated a C-level executive role for creating, implementing and managing Omni-Channel strategies. 

Click here to watch the replay of our live webinar on the findings of this study, “How a Retail Order Management System Accelerates Omni-Channel Growth,” featuring Principal Analyst of Forrester Research, Peter Sheldon.

Significant Growth for OrderDynamics

In June OrderDynamics was acquired by UK-based eCommera, a leader in Decision-Intelligent Commerce solution. The acquisition further strengthens OrderDynamics, providing a global infrastructure and experienced team with offices located in the UK, France, India, Bulgaria and the US. As one of the fastest growing providers of cloud-based commerce software and solutions globally, the addition of the OrderDynamics retail Order Management System to eCommera's portfolio enhances already compelling omni-channel and end-to-end commerce solutions. OrderDynamics and eCommera combined serve more than 70 brands and retailers across the world.

Click here to read more about the acquisition.

Thought Leadership and Participation at Leading Retail Events

 OrderDynamics had a busy year, exhibiting at many industry events and conferences including IRCE 2013, eTail Canada, The NRF BIG Show and Shop.org.  We also had opportunities throughout the year to host and moderate panel discussions with retail experts from Mountain Equipment Co-op, London Drugs, Aldo, FutureShop and Laura Canada. OrderDynamics also attended the NRF BIG Show in January, and Shop.org in September. 

In September, we also had the honour of presenting the Most Innovative Retailer Award as a sponsor of the 2013 Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards, recognizing the cutting-edge strategies of successful Canadian Retailers.   In addition, we received this year several honourable mentions in various eCommerce and retail-related publications, and were recognized as an eTail Rising Star, indicating our growing reputation as industry experts.

Many Thanks!

It has truly been an exciting and eventful year, with impressive site launches, and existing OrderDynamics retailers continuing to outpace average industry stats at alarming rates on key shopping days including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. We would like to once again thank our clients, partners and friends for their overwhelming support in 2013, and look forward to continued growth and learning in 2014. 

From the OrderDynamics Family to yours, Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year!

OrderDynamics Order Management Study with Forrester Research Featured in Global Publications

In November 2013, OrderDynamics® released the results of a global study with Forrester Research entitled “The Retail Order Management Imperative”. OrderDynamics commissioned the study in September, which surveyed 337 retailers in North America, Europe and Asia to assess the importance they place in a retail order management system, and its effects on implementing a successful omni-channel retail strategy.

The results of the Forrester Report were astonishing, sharing key statistics indicating that retailers believe order management technology underpins omni-channel retail initiatives, with cross-channel fulfillment programs being the most important aspect of an omni-channel strategy, and that many retailers are already allocating (or plan to) a C-level executive to manage these initiatives.

Since the report’s release, along with a Webinar on November 26 featuring Principle Analyst at Forrester Research, Peter Sheldon called “How A Retail Order Management System is the Key to Unlocking Your Omni-Channel Strategy”, the report has gained the attention of many publications around the world. France’s eCommerce Mag published a French recap of the report last week, pushing the study results toward a larger international demographic. The UK’s Banner Managed Communications and Retail Times both also published recaps of report, as did the US-based Retail TouchPoints. Major tenets of the report were included in Econsultancy’s (another UK publication) “10 Interesting Internet Marketing Stats We’ve Seen This Week”.

The most interesting of the media attention received was that found in the UK’s Marketing Week which went beyond summarizing the report findings, and included thought leadership on the real-world application of the retail order management imperative. Marketing Week’s Michael Barnett suggested that while retail order management systems create more cohesive and successful cross-channel fulfillment programs that drive increased levels of growth for the retailer, this is only one piece of the puzzle, and retailers must ensure that store fulfillment tactics provide the same convenience for consumers as it does for retailers. Mr. Barnett spoke with Michael Ross of OrderDynamics’ parent company, eCommera, who stated that store fulfillment tactics such as In-Store Pickup, Reserve Online and Ship from Store only work well if sufficient data systems are in place to ensure consumers always receive the most current and accurate information when ordering online, otherwise there could be disconnects in inventory information that can leave retailers unable to fulfill orders and customers unsatisfied.

It is interesting to see how the information from “The Retail Order Management Imperative” is being interpreted by retailers and retail experts. Omni-Channel commerce retail and cross-channel fulfillment  via a retail order management system help close the gap between tech-savvy consumers who are comfortable shopping online, and those who still need assurance as to the safety and ease of it by meeting the growing demands for convenience and rapid fulfillment through unifying cross-channel shopping experiences.  Retailers need to act quickly to implement cross-channel initiatives to keep up with evolving competitors and consumer expectations or risk falling behind those who can provide consumers with ideal shopping experiences that satisfy and excite them, ensuring repeat business and improved brand loyalty.

To download a copy of "The Retail Order Management Imperative", click here.

OrderDynamics Continues Commitment to Canada Supporting Dinner Honouring Prime Minister Stephen Harper

OrderDynamics®, Canada’s leading On-Demand eCommerce Platform and Order Management System, proudly sponsored and attended the Jewish National Fund of Toronto’s 65th Annual Negev Dinner on December 1, 2013, paying tribute to Canadian Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Stephen Harper.  The Jewish National Fund (JNF) was founded over 115 years ago to lead the creation of a Jewish state and thereby predating Israel by almost 50 years. JNF is the largest and longest-standing organization dedicated to the development of 100% of the country of Israel. 

OrderDynamics CEO, Michael Benadiba with Canada's First Lady, Laureen Harper, and Dr. Regan Tessis

As Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister, Mr. Harper has lead Canada in the global community to defend the rights and freedoms of all cultures and ethnicities and, in particular, educating against anti-semitism and related crimes such as the Holocaust. As such, the Jewish National Fund of Toronto has spearheaded the construction of The Stephen J. Harper Hula Valley Bird Sanctuary Visitor & Education Centre in Israel, as part of the Hula Lake Nature and Bird Park, thanking Mr. Harper for his continued commitment to the Jewish community. OrderDynamics was honoured to be a part of this event supporting our country’s leader and the human rights of fellow Canadians and people all over the world.

JNF CEO, Josh Cooper

The Negev Dinner took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, welcoming respected members of the Jewish community, and major sponsers such as Bank of Montreal, Deloitte, Rogers, the Canadian Police Association, and many others. The evening’s events were emceed by the Hon. Jason Kenney and the Hon. John Baird, and included an elegant cocktail reception and dinner ceremony, along with addresses from Israeli Ambassador, Rafael Barak; CEO of JNF, Josh Cooper; Negev Dinner Chairs, the Hon. Linda Frum and Howard Sokolowski; and a special message from Israeli President, Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr. Harper also spoke on his gratitude and dedication to the Jewish community, announcing his tour of Israel this coming January, and provided the evening’s entertainment performing a live concert with his band for the dinner attendees.

Prime Minister, Stephen Harper and his band.

The JNF will put proceeds from the 2013 Negev Dinner toward the Stephen J. Harper Hula Valley Bird Sanctuary Visitor and Education Centre Project. To learn more about the Project, the Jewish National Fund , and the Negev Dinner, visit www.Toronto.JNF.ca/negev2013

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OrderDynamics Black Friday Through Cyber Monday 2013 Report

As the dust settles after arguably the busiest shopping weekend of the year, it is interesting to look at how retailers fared in the midst of tighter budgets due to impending health taxes in the US, yet even lower promotions than seen in the past. Top that all off with the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah coinciding with Thanksgiving for the first and last time in several lifetimes, there was a lot of curiosity leading up to Thanksgiving as to how the early gift giving would affect retail sales. Overall retail spend over the 5 days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday fell 2.9% from last year to $57.4 billion; however, only a third of consumers shopped in-store, and online spend increased considerably.

OrderDynamics Retailers Continue to Outpace Industry Standards

While online spend over the 5-day shopping weekend increased almost 20%, OrderDynamics retailers saw a substantial 46.2% increase in sales from the same time last year.  More specifically, long-standing OrderDynamics retailers generated 38.2% more revenue over last year, with newer retailers padding the extra 8%. Processing nearly 30% more orders year-over-year, OrderDynamics servers saw traffic and sales peak around 9pm each evening. It is interesting to note that many OrderDynamics retailers leverage omni-channel fulfillment processes that are built into the OrderDynamics retail Order Management System; based on consumers’ obvious desire for omni-channel and store-fulfillment options, this may be what gives OrderDynamics retailers a significant edge over their competition.

Omni-Channel is the Future

A Black Friday forecast report by ComScore and UPS found that consumers place significant value in omni-channel shopping and fulfillment options, which was evident in the substantial increase in mobile sales during the holiday weekend. Notably, 56% of shoppers prefer to shop the online stores of omni-channel enabled retailers; however 60% of consumers surveyed indicated that being able to return online orders in-store is the most important element of shopping online, followed by 44% stating the desire to pick up online purchases in-store. A recent study by Forrester Research indicated that retailers are aware of consumers’ increasing demands for omni-channel options, as 83% ofretailers already support or plan to implement omni-channel offerings including store-fulfillment tactics like in-store pickup and return anywhere. With Christmas fast-approaching, it would appear these omni-channel initiatives instill confidence in shoppers looking to ensure they can have their purchase in-hand on-time for Christmas gifting, while also minimizing the hassle of returns by being able to take care of them in a single trip to the mall.

The Creep into Thanksgiving Day Shopping Continues

With surprising and somewhat unexpectedly high revenue last year on Thanksgiving, it’s no shock that even more retailers pushed for consumers’ cash this Thanksgiving. Kohl’s, JC Penny and Macy’s opened on Thanksgiving evening for the first time ever, while Turkey Day retail veterans Target, Best Buy and Toys R US opened even earlier than last year, before most tables were even cleared at 6pm.  Online Thanksgiving Day shopping increased 27% over 2012 according to the NRF, yielding a record-breaking $1.06 billion in revenue, proving that Thanksgiving Day shopping is sure to become a new holiday tradition.

Black Friday Breaks Records – Again

In 2012, Black Friday spending surpassed the $1 billion mark for the first time. This year, online sales alone reached nearly $2 billion, up 15% from last year’s record. According to the NRF, 92 million people shopped on Black Friday (almost 7% more than last year), nearly half of which shopped online and spent 2.2% more on each order than seen in 2012. Despite there being more shoppers this year, ShopperTrak reported that in-store traffic fell more than 11% year-over-year, indicating a significant shift toward couch-shopping over braving store crowds.  This may suggest that consumers are increasingly comfortable with the deals available to them online - including an increase in free shipping offers -  making shopping from home more worthwhile as they realize they can efficiently take advantage of great deals in a matter of minutes from their computers rather than spending hours in-line at a store.

Cyber Monday is the Largest Spending Day of the Year

Cyber Monday 2013 blew Black Friday out of the water, surpassing Friday’s impressive online cashout by 15% at $2.29 billion. Online sales peaked at 11am with 23% more traffic over 2012, and while this traditionally has tapered off throughout the day, PSFWeb stated that the morning traffic maintained a steady pace well into Monday evening. The continued yearly growth of Cyber Monday may be attributed to extensive marketing, as mobile marketing alone increased 77% on Monday compared to any other shopping day, keeping promotions in close proximity and top of mind which would undoubtedly test consumers’ ability to refrain from shopping.

Consumers Are Giving Mobile a Larger Slice of Pie This Year

Mobile shopping activity saw a significant boost over the 5 day holiday weekend, again likely due to extra mobile marketing efforts. Of the $1.93 billion spent online on Black Friday, 22% came from mobile devices, yielding $259 million across smartphones and tablets. PayPal noted a 121% increase in mobile payments globally on Black Friday, likely due to the redesign of their mobile wallet app and introduction of Beacon payment technology, both released earlier this year.  Still, Black Friday mobile stats were dwarfed by Cyber Monday, boasting 55% growth at $419 million, accounting for 18.3% of total online sales. Tablets appeared to be the device of choice, accounting for twice as much revenue as smartphones at nearly 13%, and an overall higher average order value.

Key Thoughts & Notable Trends

Based on consumers’ shopping habits during this year’s Thanksgiving shopping weekend, what can we expect next year?

• Consumers’ will become even more interested in Thanksgiving Day shopping in the coming years, as noted by the 27% increase in Thanksgiving shopping this year. However, they will continue to do so online as opposed to in-store, likely out of respect for the holiday itself, while faster shipping and store fulfillment initiatives act as extra encouragement to shop from home instead of braving crowds.

• With the overall 5-day spend yielding 2.9% less revenue than last year despite greater overall shopping traffic, retailers may soon have to consider that competing for the sale is leading them to discount too much. That said, it is interesting to note that OrderDynamics saw increases in shopping traffic as early as Wednesday night. With Thanksgiving happening later in the month this year, and holiday sales and promotions still kicking off around mid-November, it is likely that holiday spending is being diffused across a longer period of time, leaving less money to be spent on key shopping days such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This holiday shopping weekend will again be in the last week of November next year in 2014, so this trend can be expected to continue; it will be interesting to see whether retailers can sustain the same level of revenue as seen this year, or if sales will continue to decline.

• Omni-channel fulfillment will be a key selling point next year, as indicated by recent studies. With retailers such as Walmart already heavily promoting in-store pickup this year, being able to retrieve purchases in-store better accommodates consumers’ need to have what they want when they want it. Last year, free shipping was the competitive advantage, but has since become table stakes. With delivery times, the potential to miss a scheduled delivery when not at home, and weather conditions that may delay delivery, in-store pickup is just more reliable. It begs the question, though, whether retailers and their store staff will be ready to accommodate the increase in store traffic should customers opt for same-day in-store pickup of their Black Friday/Cyber Monday online purchases. With store traffic already amplified on these shopping days, retailers will need to be able to allocate additional resources - including scheduling more sales associates and allotting space to pack and store customer orders - to maintain a level of service that meets customer expectations, and keeps them coming back.

• With retailers continuing to invest in omni-channel retail as part of their rapid fulfillment strategies, and concept ideas such as Amazon Drones already fuelling considerable conversation, we can infer that same-day delivery and fulfillment from distribution centers and store stock may be a prominent strategy for next year’s holiday season.  For web-only retailers, same-day delivery would allow them to compete with omni-channel store fulfillment tactics that enable customers to receive their purchases more quickly than standard delivery options.