13 März 2015
At SparkOptimus, we try to highlight the most important news and background stories in digital, e-commerce and retail. Here is our selection of last week’s news:
An interesting battle is currently heating up between Target and Walmart in the U.S. It is no secret that both retail brands were a bit late to the e-commerce space. They want to set that right, considering U.S. e-retail sales grew to $305bn (15% up) in 2014 and is expected to grow to $435bn in 2018. Target is therefore planning to invest $1 billion this year to improve its digital capabilities – which is the same amount as they are investing in their 1,800 stores. The investment should result in 40% growth. But then there is Walmart – who plans to invest $2 billion. While Target is expected to adapt with more ease to the new retail environment as they are smaller, Walmart won another battle: Target announced in January to close all its retail shops in Canada, two years after opening. A great moment for Walmart to announce that 29 new stores will be opened in Canada. That’s not it: Target U.S. announced this Tuesday that it is laying off 1,700 employees, while Walmart announced earlier to raise the salary of all 500,000 employees.
With the new digital investments, both retailers ramp up the search for the silver bullet to succeed in e-retail. Could it be same-day delivery? Or is mobile the way forward?