More than 70% of Vizio’s TVs are already sold at Walmart, Reuters reported. The deal would give Walmart control over more than 20% of the U.S. TV market.

Following the report, Vizio shares jumped 36% before closing the day up 24.6%. Meanwhile, competitor Roku’s shares fell 9% on Tuesday.

Walmart is No. 2 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of North America’s leading retailers by online sales. Vizio ranks No. 397. Walmart is also No. 9 in the Global Online Marketplaces Database, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the top 100 online marketplaces by gross merchandise value (GMV).

Walmart and Vizio did not respond to requests for comment.

Walmart and Vizio see an advertising opportunity

A deal with Vizio could be good for Walmart Connect, Walmart’s U.S. advertising business launched in 2021. Walmart could gain access to Vizio’s nearly 18 million active users, ad viewership data, and potentially the ability to track purchases to those ad views.

Walmart Connect generated about $3 billion in sales last year and is growing quickly. In a third-quarter earnings call, chief financial officer John David Rainey said sales increased 26% year over year. Rainey said advertising will likely continue to play a large role and drive Walmart’s profitability thanks to its higher margins as compared to groceries.

In March 2023, Walmart announced it would offer personalized ads on connected TVs through a partnership with advertising company Innovid. The ads used artificial intelligence (AI) to tailor messages to audiences.

The retailer previously partnered with Vizio’s rival Roku on shoppable ads in 2022. More recently, Walmart inked a deal with NBCUniversal in November to place shoppable ads on the streaming platform Peacock. The ads gave consumers the chance to buy Walmart items featured in select Bravo shows.

Vizio also ventured into shoppable ads with a branded content series with Home Depot last year.

Home Depot ranks No. 4 in the Top 1000.

In-store advertising

Vizio coming under the Walmart umbrella also presents an opportunity for displaying ads on TVs in Walmart stores. 

Walmart has a wider reach than the largest TV network, Ryan Mayward, senior vice president of retail media sales at Walmart Connect, said at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show in January. He explained that retailers are increasingly allocating their marketing budgets to in-store uses. Walmart is experimenting with new ways to advertise in stores, including on TV screens in the electronics section, on screens in the deli and bakery sections, and on self-checkout screens.

“Physical retail is the new TV” for advertisers in terms of scale, brand safety and reaching the right audience, said Andrew Lipsman, principal analyst of retail and ecommerce at Insider Intelligence.

Competition with Amazon

Acquiring a Smart TV manufacturer would put Walmart further in competition with Amazon. Amazon ranks No. 1 in the Top 1000, and No. 3 in the marketplaces database.

Amazon owns its own line of smart TVs, branded as Fire TV.  In 2023, Amazon crossed the threshold of 200 million Fire TV devices sold. The Fire TV stick was also the only Amazon product among the top five bestsellers on Prime Day this year, the online retailer said.

17% of connected TV operating systems are owned by Amazon, while 8% use Vizio’s OS. Roku has a larger market share than both at 25%, the WSJ reported.

Amazon also has its own advertising business, which generated $24.65 billion in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2023. Amazon’s ad sales were about 10 times the size of Walmart’s in 2023.

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Survey data showed that the number of households that bought groceries online grew. However, there was a downward year-over-year trend in order frequency and average order value (AOV), Brick Meets Clicks and Mercatus reported.

They conducted the survey at the end of January 2024 with 1,745 respondents who shop for groceries online. Results compare with those from a January 2023 survey of 1,735 online grocery shoppers.

January online grocery sales in the US

Brick Meets Click and Mercatus define the three receiving methods for online grocery sales as:

• Delivery: Includes orders received from a first- or third-party provider like Instacart, Shipt or the retailer’s own employees.
• Pickup: Includes orders received by customers either inside or outside a store or at a designated location/locker.
• Ship-to-home: Includes orders that are received via common or contract carriers like FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc.

Ship-to-home online grocery sales grew 7.8% year over year to reach $1.5 billion in January. That makes it the only segment of the three to grow year over year, as delivery remained flat at $3 billion and pickup declined 1.9% to $4.0 billion. Ship-to-home also saw a larger order volume in January 2024 as well as a 7% AOV increase.

Still, pickup had the most sales of the three categories, finishing the month with nearly half (47.4%) of online grocery sales. Meanwhile, the 3% growth in AOV for online grocery sales opting for delivery did not offset the larger decline in order volume, Brick Meets Click said.

“When more than 10% of U.S. households have less money to spend on groceries this year than they did last year, changes in buying behavior are certainly expected,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click. “The reduction in SNAP payments that took effect at the end of February 2023 is one of the factors driving the flight-to-value trend which we’ve observed and tracked since mid-2023.”

Amazon, Walmart and the online grocery sales arena

Walmart and other mass merchants continued to outperform the broader online grocery sales market, Brick Meets Click said. Mass merchants expanded their bass of monthly active users by almost 10%, according to Brick Meets Click data. They also grew AOV in January, helping to compensate for flat year-over-year order frequency.

At the same time, the number of monthly active users at supermarkets declined more than 5%, and the average number of orders fell at a larger rate, Brick Meets Click said without specifying that rate.

Amazon accounts for the largest share of ship-to-home online grocery sales, Brick Meets Click said. The retailer’s sales improved compared to 2023, “but those improvements need to be put into context,” Brick Meets Click added.

Amazon had lost a “large” number of monthly active users in January 2023, making the growth in January 2024 “driven partially by easier comparable results,” Brick Meets Click said.

“Overall, Amazon’s year-over-year MAU gains more than offset the drop in order frequency, and moderate AOV gains also helped drive its positive sales results,” Brick Meets Click said.

Amazon is No. 1 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. Walmart ranks No. 2.

“Competing online is only getting more challenging for regional grocers as customer expectations continue to increase,” said Mark Fairhurst, global chief growth officer at Mercatus. “So, beyond improving key elements of the experience, like fill rates, wait times, and product quality, regional grocers also need to work even harder to identify additional ways to help their customers save money.”

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“First, slow labor force growth and continued high demand require companies to offer higher wages to lower-skilled workers and to be more imaginative about hiring,” Deloitte economists Danny Bachman and Akrur Barua said. “Second, long-term interest rates are unlikely to return to the lows of the late 2010s.”

Interest rates and inflation overall had a noticeable impact on consumer spending at a critical time, according to the report.

“The pandemic-induced ecommerce surge and supply chain disruption caused a loyalty calamity,” the Deloitte report’s authors wrote. “Three in four consumers tested new brands and stores as they faced empty shelves. When life began normalizing, retailers focused on enticing customers back to their stores and keeping them in the so-called family. Then inflation hit.”

Deloitte weighs loyalty vs. better pricing

Half of the retail executives Deloitte surveyed expect consumers to prioritize price over loyalty this year. The fact that the online marketplace Temu’s app was the most downloaded on Apple’s store in the U.S. last year suggests that expectation makes sense, Deloitte said.

Just over two-thirds (64%) of retail executives Deloitte surveyed expect inflation-weary consumers to purchase fewer goods — something that also concerns consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies as they pivot to profitable volume.

Consumer spending at discount retailers increased significantly year over year

Deloitte lists in the report three key tips for retailers to gain — or regain — consumers’ loyalty in 2024.

1. Lean into loyalty programs

Even among loyalty program members, not all customers spend the same way. By creating tiers within loyalty programs, retailers can give extra perks to the biggest spenders in a more financially viable way, according to Deloitte.

“While tiering programs are not new, we see more investments occurring behind the scenes that take a more scientific approach to segmenting,” the report’s authors wrote. “This includes providing different offers, benefits, and communication to higher tiers and working toward migrating people up.”

Loyalty programs can also be cobranded, as is the case with Target and Ulta, Kohl’s and Sephora, and other cases. Target also offers its members free trials on Apple services. This reduces the retailer’s responsibility to provide all the benefits, Deloitte said. For example, consumers can earn rewards toward their Target and Ulta rewards programs when they buy Ulta products from Target. The same applies for Kohl’s shoppers buying Sephora products in Kohl’s stores and on its website. Retailers should also consider joint promotions with travel programs that involve airlines, hotels and restaurants, Deloitte said.

“By co-branding the benefits, retailers can get greater exposure and plug into a broader set of consumers while providing exciting benefits with shared costs, potentially improving the program’s profitability,” Deloitte’s researchers said in the report.

With all this first-person purchasing data, loyalty programs give retailers the opportunity to personalize suggestions to consumers, giving room for additional revenue, Deloitte said. This can be valuable to retailers that have extensive data from digital and in-store shopper visits.

Nearly two-thirds of retailers share or plan to share loyalty data with retail media network advertisers, Deloitte said, citing data from a Deloitte Digital report. Deloitte Digital released the report, called “Harness the power of Retail Media Networks to elevate the brand to consumer connection,” in December 2023.

2. Enhance omni-experience through in-store investments

Omnichannel inconsistencies and poor execution can be detrimental to loyalty, Deloitte said.

It cited its December 2023 omnichannel holiday analysis report, which reviewed 145 companies’ omnichannel capabilities from Nov. 21 to 23, 2023. It found that buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) and buy online, return in store (BORIS) “were widely available,” but only one in 10 retailers offered alternative delivery pickup.

Meanwhile, “a third failed to indicate how long it would take to receive a refund. Shipping was also a sore spot; by December 5, only a third listed shipping cutoff times for Christmas arrival. And when we tested the claims of 17 companies offering on-time delivery of holiday gifts purchased on Dec. 19, nearly  one-quarter of the holiday delivery orders arrived after Dec. 24.”

Whereas the pandemic’s digital acceleration benefited omnichannel shopping, Deloitte said, retailers need to maintain “a cohesive, consistent omni-experience.” It said the experience “is often lacking, potentially eroding trust” despite pandemic-induced tech upgrades and new last-mile and return options.

According to Deloitte data, the top four growth opportunities that retail executives anticipate in 2024 are:

• Strengthening loyalty programs (54% of executives selected this)
• Strengthening ecommerce offerings (44%)
• Enhancing in-store customer experience (36%)
• Enhancing omnichannel experience (32%)

3. Drive individual engagement at scale with trustworthy AI

Building on first-party data that retailers acquire through loyalty programs and visits to their ecommerce sites and physical stores, retailers have an opportunity to further personalize product recommendations and tailored interactions, Deloitte said.

Half of retail executives are prioritizing AI-driven personalized product recommendations in 2024, Deloitte said. However, only five in 10 retail executives are confident in their company’s ability to use AI effectively across their businesses, it added.

Meanwhile, eight in 10 consumers from Deloitte’s holiday study said they had little to no trust in retailers’ ability to use artificial intelligence responsibly.

“Retailers also see this as a challenge, as more than three-quarters said using next-generation AI technologies in the next five years will strain consumer trust and heighten their concerns around privacy violations, surveillance, lack of transparency/accountability, and job displacement,” Deloitte said.

Trust in a brand drops 144% for customers who know a brand is using AI, Deloitte data found. To build trust, Deloitte said, brands should focus on four factors:

1. Humanity: Retailers should focus on building human interactions, Deloitte said. “AI should be trained with an expansive set of rules to be responsive to the context of the customer.” That can include training AI to give condolences if a consumer mentions a death in the family, Deloitte said as an example.
2. Transparency: Retailers should explain how and why chatbots are being used, providing specific details about their purpose and function, Deloitte said.
3. Capability: Retailers should give employees the chance to use AI tools in a zero-risk environment. From there, retailers should highlight the tools’ benefits “while underscoring that the tools do not undermine their work and value.”
4. Reliability: Retailers should make clear what consumers can expect from AI tools so as to “drive perceptions of reliability.”

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And while their online domestic sales grew in the two-month holiday sales period, international sales struggled amid a tougher European economy, said James Risley, research data manager and senior analyst at Digital Commerce 360. Moreover, the growth comes despite shoppers spending less time browsing ecommerce sites, with traffic down slightly to Top 1000 retailers.

Manufacturers saw a higher share of spending, Risley said, as online shoppers focused on higher-priced items like jewelry and consumer electronics. Mass merchants’ share of online sales remained flat, as shoppers spent more with specialized retailers and hard-to-find brands.

The Top 1000 is Digital Commerce 360’s database ranking North America’s largest online retailers based on their annual web sales.

Domestic holiday online sales grow in 2023

Overall U.S. online holiday spending grew 4.9% in the same November-through-December time frame, according to data from Adobe Analytics. That pushed holiday online sales to $221.1 billion in 2023, according to Adobe.

Mobile shopping overtook desktop online sales for the first time in 2023. 51.1% of online sales across the holiday season were made via smartphones in 2023, up from 47% in 2022, Adobe data showed. Mobile sales peaked on Christmas Day at 65%, from 61% in 2022. Consumers made purchases on final holiday deals while spending time with friends and family, Adobe said.

Meanwhile, curbside pickup dipped slightly. Consumers used it as a fulfillment method for 18.4% of online orders from retailers offering the option. That’s down from 21% in 2022, according to Adobe. Shoppers used it most ahead of Christmas Eve on Dec. 22 and Dec. 23, accounting for 36.8% of orders during that time frame.

Holiday spending by category

65% of online holiday spending in 2023 was in just five of the 18 categories Adobe tracks.

Top categories by online holiday spending:

• Electronics ($50.8 billion)
• Apparel ($41.5 billion)
• Furniture ($27.3 billion)
• Groceries ($19.1 billion)
• Toys ($7.7 billion)

Adobe’s data is based on 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs and 18 categories. 203 online retailers in the Top 1000 use Adobe Analytics for their web analytics, and 100 use it for site design and development. Top 1000 online retailers also use it for content delivery and management, as an ecommerce platform, a marketing platform, for personalization and more.

Global online holiday sales in 2023

Globally, though, online sales grew 3% to reach $1.17 trillion, according to Salesforce Inc. data. The global average discount rate across the entire holiday season was 21%. That’s the highest it has been since 2020, Salesforce said. Salesforce uses data from more than 1.5 billion global shoppers.

The online holiday shopping season started with a strong first week, according to Salesforce data, with 4% year-over-year growth. The Cyber 5 period, or the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, tied for the highest year-over-year growth with the week preceding Christmas. While they both grew at a rate of 6% year over year, the Cyber 5 week also featured the highest average discount rate of the entire November-through-December holiday sales period (27%), according to Salesforce.

Globally, online retailers held an average of 16% off their product prices at minimum. On average, the steepest discounts were in November, Salesforce data shows.

69 online retailers in the Top 1000 use Salesforce’s ecommerce platform, and 55 use its content delivery network. Top 1000 online retailers also use Salesforce for site search, marketing automation, mobile commerce, personalization and more.

November sales lead the way

Domestically, the majority of online holiday shopping happened in November, boosted by a strong Cyber 5. U.S. consumers spent $123.5 billion online in November, a 6% year-over-year increase, according to Adobe data. $38.0 billion of that spending took place between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, growing 7.8% over 2022.

And during the Cyber 5, Cyber Monday pulled in the most online sales, making it the largest online sales day of the year. It brought in $12.48 billion, whereas Black Friday online sales reached $9.88 billion.

In November as a whole, nonstore sales, which encompass but aren’t limited to online sales, grew 10.6% over 2022, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s significantly higher than total retail sales, which grew 4.4% over the same period.

Online sales in November recorded the largest growth of any category measured by The National Retail Federation (NRF) and CNBC’s Retail Monitor, growing 26.27% year over year. Retail Monitor’s data comes from credit and debit card purchases from consumer data vendor Affinity Solutions.

“November Retail Monitor data shows that consumers are embracing the holiday season and promotions being offered by retailers,” NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. “Value-conscious shoppers are out looking for deals as they purchase gifts for family and friends, and this data indicates that they’re finding them.”

Online retailers follow through in December

U.S. consumers kept spending to close out 2023, leading to healthy sales in December. U.S. consumers spent $98.6 billion in U.S. online sales in December. Retailer sales that continued on past Cyber Monday drove some of that December spending, Adobe said.

Nonstore sales increased 7.0% year over year in December, according to the December monthly retail sales report from the U.S. Commerce Department. Nonstore sales also grew 8.4% in Q4 2023 and 8.0% for the whole year, down from 12.8% growth in 2022.

The ecommerce addressable portion of total retail sales, excluding restaurants, fuel, and automobiles, grew 3.9% in 2023, according to Digital Commerce 360’s analysis of Commerce Department data.

“Retail sales were stronger than expected in December,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate, in a research note. “Bars and restaurants, health and personal care stores, electronics and appliance stores and motor vehicle and parts dealers all notched double-digit year-over-year gains,” he said. Gas stations, furniture stores, department stores, and building material stores were the only notable weak spots, he added.

Online and nonstore sales increased 31.17% year over year in December, according to an NRF statement.

Comparing the months of the 2023 holiday season

Online and non-store sales increased 2.59% month over month in December, according to data from the NRF and CNBC. Total retail sales grew 3.07% year over year in December, according to the NRF’s statement citing Retail Monitor data. They also grew 0.44% over November.

That follows 4.24% year-over-year growth in November, which also grew 0.73% over October, according to Retail Monitor data that the NRF cited.

“December’s numbers combined with November’s results show retailers had a very successful two-month holiday season,” NRF’s Shay said. “Clearly, retailers got it right this holiday season, providing consumers with what they wanted, options on when and where to make their purchases and with prices customers were comfortable paying.”

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Who has the best curbside pickup experience?

The study from the market research firm Ipsos looked at customer satisfaction among shoppers at 17 major grocers in the U.S., including Albertsons, Aldi, Walmart and Whole Foods Market.

Albertsons ranked No. 1 for its curbside pickup service with a 97% rate of “very satisfied” responses, according to Ipsos. Amazon Fresh, meanwhile, received high marks as well, with the most respondents (76%) saying it was the brand they were most likely to use again.

Rise of curbside pickup in recent years

“From online ordering to meal delivery services, what started during COVID-19 as a necessity has morphed into a method of shopping that people didn’t realize they needed in their everyday lives,” said Silvana Daehn, vice president at Ipsos’ Channel Performance.

“Big-box retailers who sell groceries are making significant ecommerce and infrastructure investments to streamline the ordering and fulfillment processes, from signage and parking to staffing,” Daehn said. “Their goal is to make the buying of groceries and other household items a single, seamless transaction. Pure-play grocers need to invest to keep up.”

Other areas where grocers were evaluated

For customers choosing delivery, Amazon’s Whole Foods Market earned the No. 1 ranking with an 83% “very satisfied” response rate. Albertsons also showed up in that category with the highest rate of delivery customers (61%) saying they were “extremely likely” to use it again.

Overall, Target, Walmart and Albertsons received the best results, with each improving over 2022.

Albertsons is No. 26 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of North America’s leading retailers by online sales. Amazon ranks No. 1, while Walmart is No. 2, and Target is No. 5. In addition, Albertsons ranks No. 2 in the Food & Beverage category of the Top 1000.

Two of the most determinant facts for customers in their responses were reliability and accuracy, according to Ipsos. The report drew from a survey in fall 2023 that included 1,200 Americans.

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Below, we recap some of Digital Commerce 360’s most insightful articles about online retailers from 2023 regarding 10 key coverage areas:

1. Industry news and trends (including the Bed Bath & Beyond saga)
2. Artificial intelligence
3. Digital marketing
4. Exploring new technology
5. Fulfillment and delivery
6. Livestreaming
7. Mergers and acquisitions
8. Online marketplaces
9. Payments and fraud
10. Sustainability

These stories highlight meaningful changes to online retailers’ ecommerce operations in 2023. Most notably, they include new and improved technologies and strategies that online retailers have implemented. We published roundups specifically for some of these coverage areas over the first couple weeks of 2024, and we link to them below. Those topic roundups — about artificial intelligence, fulfillment and delivery, and payments and fraud — include subtopics.

1) Industry news and trends

Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse hit the ecommerce world. See a list of impacted companies.

The bank had a history of investing in ecommerce startups, and Etsy, Shopify, and others had accounts with Silicon Valley Bank. 

Gathering data in the age of privacy 

Learning how to collect and use first-party data is key if retailers are to navigate a world without third-party cookies. 

Data shows online retailers with the highest carbon footprints

Websites emit carbon dioxide emissions (CO2). Recent data shows which retailers top the list of offenders versus those who don’t. 

Retail profitability rebounds but remains pressured by online costs

Retailers’ profits declined from 2012-2019, in part due to the costs associated with online and omnichannel sales, but bounced back during the pandemic, Deloitte says. Cutting costs, including by limiting free shipping and handling returns more efficiently, will be essential to maintaining profit margins.

What ecommerce retailers can learn from HomeGoods exit

Despite giving ecommerce a go, HomeGoods found out that off-price retailing is not well suited for its online sales.

1.5) The Bed Bath & Beyond saga

Amid all this ecommerce news and the largest online retail trends of 2023, one story remained at the forefront for months. Bed Bath & Beyond’s downfall had — and continues to have — a meaningful impact on the retail industry.

Bed Bath & Beyond says it’s not beyond help, but reports further losses

Coming just days after the retailer said it might seek bankruptcy protection, the poor earnings report paints a dismal picture for the beleaguered retailer. 

Which retailers will benefit from Bed Bath & Beyond’s demise?

Bed Bath & Beyond’s bankruptcy presents an opportunity for retailers to cash in on the shopping experience both in store and online. 

Overstock CEO says brand name is a “boat anchor” ahead of Bed Bath & Beyond relaunch

Revenue and other key metrics were down for Overstock, but CEO Jonathan Johnson says the Bed Bath & Beyond relaunch will be a “new phase.” 

Goodbye, hello: Buy Buy Baby preps to be born again

Under new ownership, Bed Bath & Beyond’s former baby-products retailing unit plans an ecommerce and brick-and-mortar revival.

2) Artificial intelligence

Perhaps the most-talked-about subject for months, if not the entire year, artificial intelligence had a resurgence in 2023. Many retailers were already using it — and machine-learning technology — to guide operating processes. But then, generative AI entered the arena at the end of 2022, and it drew global attention to its capabilities. Here’s how some online retailers are leading AI integration into ecommerce.

3) Digital marketing

How are digital marketers using AI to boost conversion?

Artificial intelligence allows digital marketers to quickly test how consumers respond to ads, images and emails. Over time, the algorithm learns, and its predictions become more accurate. Learn how three retailers increased their online sales after investing in AI.

Online flower retailer UrbanStems increases conversion 12% during Valentine’s Day season

Conversion through paid social channels drove that overall increase, growing 83% year over year.

Why wacky ads work on TikTok, while sober is better for Facebook

Four online marketers share ways they curate their brands’ social media content to cater to their target audience on each platform, and explain when it’s OK to repurpose content.

80% of Chico’s customers sign up for its loyalty program in the first nine months

Chico’s updated its loyalty program for the first time in 30 years, and after one year, more than 80% of customers are members.

Lights, camera, conversion: How some retailers use videos to entice shoppers to buy

Online retailers use video to provide shoppers with a rich customer experience that informs, engages and converts.

4) Exploring new technology

Generative AI wasn’t the only new technology to hit retailers’ tech stacks in 2023. Companies dived into the metaverse and other virtual realities. They also took advantage of atypical payment methods and found ways to change business models entirely.

American Girl invests in its virtual museum

The retailer’s digital museum provides content so girls can play, learn more about the brand’s doll characters and create product wish lists.

Crurated’s wine platform uses NFTs and memberships to find a younger market

70% of Crurated’s members using the blockchain wine service are under 45 years old.

Forever 21 caters to Gen Z shoppers with fast checkout, metaverse products

Despite an initially turbulent relationship, apparel brand Forever 21 and payment provider Bolt Financial are now touting positive results from the integration of the streamlined checkout button.

What online retailers can learn from Evite’s business model pivot

Evite’s customer experience suffered because of the company’s reliance on advertising revenue, CEO David Yeom tells Digital Commerce 360. Evite took the lull in parties during the pandemic to overhaul its revenue streams. 

UK crafts retailer uses data to guide website replatforming process

Hobbycraft had to learn what parts of its website did and didn’t make sense for its shoppers, what bugs to work out, and what changes its website wasn’t capable of. And after about 12 years with its previous website, it replatformed in March 2022.

5) Fulfillment and delivery

Online retailers continued learning how to cut and manage shipping costs in 2023. Some major retailers optimized fulfillment and delivery by using stores to fulfill orders, whether via delivering from them or urging customers to use in-store and curbside pickup options. These stories highlight meaningful fulfillment trends among online retailers in 2023.

6) Livestreaming

Natori invests in livestreaming to appeal to new generation of customers

Luxury apparel brand The Natori Co. believes livestreaming will enable the brand to appeal to new customers. 

Orchard Mile takes control by livestreaming its own shopping events

Luxury online marketplace Orchard Mile hosts livestreaming shopping events through its own website rather than other channels. 

Newegg livestreams more than 24 hours a day

Newegg livestreams 30 hours of content on weekdays, which includes livestreams across its six handles and in China. 

Women’s apparel retailer ‘Evereve TV’ attracts shoppers, increases conversion

Evereve staff model clothing and share their styling tips through video on the retailer’s Evereve TV — and it’s boosting sales.

7) Mergers and acquisitions

Although there were many more mergers and acquisitions in 2023, these are some of the most notable ones impacting the industry.

Walmart sells outdoor retailer Moosejaw to Dick’s Sporting Goods

It’s the latest example of Walmart selling off online-focused brands it acquired as it bulked up its ecommerce business several years ago. Moosejaw will be part of the Public Lands outdoor business unit that Dick’s launched in 2021. 

Unilever is selling Dollar Shave Club after seven years

Private equity firm Nexus Capital Management will acquire a 65% stake in Dollar Shave Club, with Unilever retaining 35%. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. 

UPS to acquire Happy Returns

Happy Returns’ service for online orders will soon be available at more than 12,000 U.S. locations, the CEO of UPS says.

What Sycamore gets for $1 billion to buy Chico’s

Private equity firm Sycamore Partners unsuccessfully tried to buy Chico’s FAS in 2019. Why is Chico’s worth $1 billion? 

Why a serial ecommerce entrepreneur bought Blue Apron

Blue Apron is being sold to Wonder Group, an online food-to-home delivery company, founded by serial ecommerce entrepreneur Marc Lore.

8) Online marketplaces

Michael’s is the latest retailer to add a third-party marketplace

The digital marketplace will quadruple the number of products for sale, with the majority from third-party sellers.

Walmart and Amazon are growing their online marketplaces. Here’s how they compare.

They are both growing the number of third-party sellers on their online marketplaces, but Amazon has a significant lead. 

Selling on Amazon is key for SMBs, but it might not make money

Small and medium-sized retailers say selling on Amazon is a necessary part of customer acquisition, despite added costs. 

Amazon fee change ‘completely out of the blue’ for some Amazon sellers

Amazon announced it will end its Small and Light Program and introduce Low-Price FBA rates for all items priced below $10 (previously $12). 

Prime Day’s mixed message: some merchants boost prices during the event

Last year, retailers raised prices on 13% of top-selling items during the Prime Day promotion, according to new research. And this year, Amazon rolled out invitation-only deals that limit price drops to select shoppers. 

Amazon announces updates to Buy with Prime to stay competitive

Updating Buy with Prime is a way for Amazon to collect data and keep its market share while competing with Shopify.

What were the biggest ecommerce takeaways from Amazon’s Q2 earnings call?

CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon is developing more AI technology, making its fulfillment more efficient and improving its B2B division for business buyers.

EBay rolls out its generative AI listing tool to all marketplace sellers in app

The generative AI tool writes product descriptions for eBay’s app marketplace sellers based on their listing’s metadata. 

Michaels launches MakerPlace online marketplace

Michaels MakerPlace does not charge sellers a listing fee and allows them to sell access to virtual classes and how-to guides. 

9) Payments and fraud

Buy now, pay later was already on the rise going into 2023, when its popularity continued to grow. And as retailers considered implementing BNPL, even if late in the game, they also looked into other ways to make the payments process smoother for their consumers. These stories highlight meaningful payments and fraud trends from last year, showing how online retailers are staying focused on their bottom lines.

10) Sustainability

Grove Collaborative CEO talks sustainable shipping

With a goal to be plastic-free by 2025, personal care and home products brand Grove details ways it makes direct-to-consumer shipping more sustainable.

The secondhand retail industry grew 28% in 2022, according to ThredUp’s latest report

The report shows Gen Z and millennials are growing more open to buying and selling used clothing online. 

How an apparel brand eliminates polybags

Toad and Co. commits to less packaging by sending orders in reusable bags and switching to paper-based polybags that can be regularly recycled.

Bedding brand aims for luxury unboxing without extra tissue paper

Beflax, a small online business, ships its $300 linen bedsheets in reusable packages. The brand wants its customers to have a premium package without extra waste.

Jewelry retailer strives for sustainability on different levels

J’evar uses an in-house generative AI tool to boost its sustainability efforts, which also include using a solar farm to grow its own diamonds.

Archive helps retailers resell their own products

Hanna Andersson customers take advantage of store credit options as they list items on the retailer’s Hanna-Me-Downs resale site. 

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That’s a 1.2% decline from 2022, which Brick Meets Click and Mercatus attributed primarily to a decline in order frequency among online grocery shoppers. The data shows that U.S. online grocery sales decreased from 2021 to 2022, then again from 2022 to 2023. Online grocery sales had dropped to $97.0 billion in 2022 from $97.6 billion in 2021.

According to Brick Meets Click and Mercatus, the data is based on more than 21,000 survey responses collected in each of those years from adults, 18 years and older, who participated in the household’s grocery shopping. They define the term “grocery” as product categories commonly found in a conventional grocery store across fresh and packaged products.

“These annual results show that 2023 was very challenging for grocery retailing as higher prices chipped away at household purchasing power even though inflation has slowed considerably since its peak in 2022,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click. “Despite the challenges, Pickup continues to prove its appeal to shoppers, even without the benefits of expanded availability and/or aggressive promotions that aided Delivery in 2023.”

US online grocery sales by channel in 2023

Online grocery sales that customers opted to pick up — in stores, curbside, at lockers or via drive-up — remained flat in 2023 compared to 2022. Pickup sales were also the largest among three categories, the other two being ship-to-home and delivery.

Brick Meets Click and Mercatus define delivery as including those from first- and third-party providers. Ship-to-home includes common and other parcel carriers.

In 2023, online grocery sales designated for pickup brought in $44.1 billion. That’s flat compared to 2022 and growth over 2021, when it was $43.9 billion.

Meanwhile, online grocery sales for delivery decreased to $35.4 billion in 2023. That’s down from $35.8 billion in 2022 but up compared with $32.5 billion in 2021.

The largest contraction in online grocery sales was among ship-to-home orders, which dipped to $16.3 billion in 2023. That continues a downward trend from $17.1 billion in 2022 sales and $21.2 billion in 2021 sales.

Key findings compared with 2022

Average order value increased 3% year over year in 2023 when aggregating results from all three fulfillment methods. Although that does not account for price-inflation adjustments, each receiving method had year-over-year increases.

Average order value increases

• Delivery: 3.0%
• Pickup: 2.6%
• Ship-to-home: 1.7%

However, order frequency contracted, Brick Meets Click and Mercatus found. So although the price per order increased, the average number of monthly online grocery orders fell 6% year over year. That follows a 4% decline from 2021 to 2022.

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These were the top ecommerce stories from the first day of NRF’s flagship event.

AI is on everyone’s mind

As expected, AI came up in nearly every conversation. In a session on Salesforce’s AI features for retailers, vice president and general manager of retail Rob Garf pointed out that AI itself isn’t new in retail. Brands have been using AI to make personalized recommendations for years. That’s primarily what drove the 17% of all holiday orders attributable to AI in November and December. That’s just the beginning of what AI can do for retail, Garf said. Now, generative AI is emerging, to be followed by autonomous AI and eventually artificial general intelligence, Garf says.

Salesforce also introduced some new AI tools for its clients at the conference through the Einstein 1 Platform. The consumer-facing Einstein Copilot gives consumers products recommendations with generative AI based on their location, preferences, and other data.

For retailers, Einstein 1 uses generative AI to build a customizable ecommerce web page. Merchants can create new pages that mirror existing branding. Salesforce will also use AI to analyze returns and inventory data and find trends that retailers can use to make strategic decisions.

The emerging consensus around AI seems to be that retailers might feel apprehensive about AI and its many potential uses, but they can’t afford to ignore it. Because much of the technology is so new, it can be difficult for retailers to find talent to work with it, Ekta Chopra, chief digital officer at e.l.f. Beauty said. “Everyone is an AI expert and no one is,” she told attendees. 

E.l.f. Beauty ranks No. 950 in the 2023 Digital Commerce 360 Top 1000. The Top 1000 is a ranking of North America’s leading retailers by online sales.

Omnichannel rules retail

The line between online and in-store retail continues to blur, at least for retailers. “Everybody needs to think like an omnichannel retailer,” if they want to be successful, Michelle Gass, incoming Levi’s (No. 192) CEO, said. Gass pointed to her tenure at Kohl’s (No. 23). During her time at the helm, the retail chain began accepting Amazon (No. 1) returns in stores. The partnership was a boon to Kohl’s business, she said, bringing new customers into stores. 

John Furner, Walmart U.S. CEO, (No. 2) echoed the point. Last week, Walmart announced several app updates that would also impact how customers shop in stores. For example, at Sam’s Club members can now skip checkout by scanning items and paying on their phones.  Customers will no longer have to wait in line while an employee checks their receipts to confirm purchases, the retailer announced. Sam’s Club is rolling out AI and computer vision technology that will automatically confirm purchases so consumers can walk right out of the store.

FedEx announced a commerce platform

FedEx president and CEO Raj Subramaniam revealed new plans for an end-to-end commerce platform for retailers using its proprietary data. The new platform is called “fdx.” Subramaniam said it will help retailers track the four most important areas of ecommerce across the customer experience: demand, conversion, fulfillment and returns.

The shipping carrier says it will launch fdx in fall 2024. FedEx is offering previews to interested retailers now, and demonstrating some of the technology at its NRF booth.

See the other NRF stories Digital Commerce 360 is following here. 

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That meant being creative with where merchants shipped orders from, and where consumers could pick up their online orders. And even when everything goes right, consumers are still bound to return some of their orders — especially after the holidays. In fact, shipping carrier Pitney Bowes plans to add almost 1,000 drop-off locations through a partnership with PackageHub as the current holiday returns season peaks.

Below, we recap some of Digital Commerce 360’s most insightful coverage about fulfillment and delivery in online retail from the past year. These stories highlight meaningful fulfillment trends among online retailers in 2023. Most notably, they include in-store and curbside pickup, retailers shipping from stores, outsourcing fulfillment to other companies, and the impact returns have on all these processes.

What we learned about fulfillment and delivery methods in 2023

How merchants cut shipping costs

In an era where online shoppers expect free shipping, retailers need to find more profitable shipping approaches, such as by changing packaging, negotiating with shipping carriers, changing shipping schedules or outsourcing fulfillment to a 3PL.  

Home Depot customers opt for ship to home — if the wait isn’t too long

Home Depot invests in its supply chain to cut costs and speed up delivery. As a result, more customers are opting to ship their orders to their homes. 

Keeping customers updated during the shipping process can make or break the experience 

Retailers say more communication is always better around fulfillment as consumers increasingly expect accurate, regularly updated information on their online orders.  

Pickup takes different forms, yet isn’t worth it for some retailers

Committing to curbside pickup — or breaking up with it

Retailers scrambled to launch curbside pickup during the pandemic. But now that many consumers resumed in-store shopping, retailers must determine if offering curbside is still worth it. 

Will alternate package pickup points take off?

Some retailers allow online shoppers to ship products to locations other than their stores or shoppers’ homes. The alternate fulfillment option can reduce package theft and offer convenience, but leaves the customer experience at pickup outside of the merchant’s control.

Office Depot delivers on 20-minute BOPIS promise

The office supply chain can have an order ready for pickup 20 minutes after shoppers order it online 98.9% of the time. 

Walgreens commits to pickup and delivery customers: ‘they spend more money with us’

Lindsay Mikos, senior director, retail omnichannel at Walgreens, told Digital Commerce 360 more than half its digital orders are same-day pickups. The retail chain’s omnichannel services were critical during COVID-19, but now, Walgreens customers continue to want the convenience of shopping online and either picking up in-store or having orders delivered to their homes. 

Tractor Supply 2022 conversion for BOPIS and curbside is 60% higher than home delivery

In 2022, Tractor Supply Co.’s conversion for buy online, pickup in-store and curbside orders was 60% greater than home delivery. 

Some retailers save on costs by shipping from store

Why some retailers use — and avoid over-using — stores as fulfillment locations

Today’s shopper is a hybrid in-store and online shopper. Retailers face logistical and fulfillment challenges to ensure inventory is there. Three retailers strategize how to divide orders between warehouses and stores to efficiently meet shopper demand. 

Apparel retailer Vince ‘pulls the lever’ on and off to use stores to fulfill orders

Apparel brand Vince LLC invested in software to navigate buy online, pick up in-store services, resulting in a 7% increase in BOPIS sales. 

Destination XL Group uses stores to help promote its website

Big and tall men’s apparel retailer DXL increased online sales 9.9% in fiscal 2022, which ended Jan. 28, compared with 2021. By cutting back on the brands it carries and selling private-label merchandise on marketplaces like Amazon.com, the retailer plans to continue to expand its ecommerce presence. 

Aviator Nation automates returns, uses stores to fulfill online orders

The California 1970s-inspired leisure wear brand Aviator Nation decreased its refund rate 11% by automating returns. The retailer also fulfills online orders through its 17 store locations. 

Outsourcing fulfillment can make it faster and cheaper

What is 4PL, and does your ecommerce business need one?

Family farm Palouse Brand cut fulfillment costs by 20% by working with Ware2Go, a fourth-party logistics UPS company, to streamline shipping. 

As orders mount, online men’s skincare brand outsources fulfillment, sells on Amazon

As demand grows, online retailer Black Wolf Skincare opts to outsource its fulfillment services and expand its reach by selling on Amazon. 

PacSun pilots RFID to improve inventory accuracy, reduce split shipments

With products tagged with RFID, PacSun store employees can quickly count inventory several times a week, a large increase from a few times a year. 

Retailers expect returns after holidays, but how do they handle them?

Online returns outpace in-store in 2023, NRF report finds

Online sales have an even higher rate of returns than in-store sales in 2023, according to a report from the NRF and Appriss Retail. And about 13.7% of returns (of online and offline orders) were fraudulent.

Retailers are in for a ‘tsunami’ of holiday returns this year: Salesforce

Holiday returns typically spike following Cyber 5, and then again right after Christmas, says David Sobie, CEO of Happy Returns.

How returns can be a retail ‘superpower’

A returns management CEO explains the valuable data behind returns. 

Retailers revisit return policies ahead of the holiday season

Retailers give shoppers an average of 30 days to return their products, and a large majority of retailers plan to make their return policies stricter in 2023, according to Salesforce data. 

Loop processes 60,000 returns a day during 2022 holiday season

The return-management software company said Dec. 27 was its busiest day, with 68,000 returns processed that day. 

Amazon will charge for some UPS returns, warn customers about frequently returned items

Some customers will have to pay a $1 fee to return orders at a UPS store if they have other options closer to home. 

Holiday returns decline as retailers raise fees

Return fees are more common, but extended returns windows are, too. 

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Several retailers working with Instacart on the promotions are part of the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of retailers in North America by online sales.

Retailers include:

• Bath & Body Works (No. 56 in the Top 1000)
• Best Buy (No. 7)
• The Body Shop
• The Container Store (No. 346)
• Kiehl’s
• Lowe’s (No. 12)
• Michaels (No. 111)
• Petco (No. 92)

Instacart is just one last-minute holiday fulfillment option

With less than a week left until Christmas, some retailers are promoting omnichannel fulfillment and shipping from local stores via Instacart to assure customers that they’ll receive purchases on time. 

Instacart’s promotion ahead of the holiday says that explicitly. “Perfect for last-minute gift-givers, customers can ‘skip the ship’ and save with Instacart’s same-day delivery in as fast as an hour, ensuring gifts arrive in time for Christmas,” the delivery company’s release says. 

That’s on trend with how other retailers are approaching the week leading up to Christmas, says Neil Saunders, managing director of retail at analysis firm GlobalData.

“BOPIS will be used extensively both in terms of orders placed for collection and the collection of orders placed earlier in the week,” he says. “Consumers are comfortable ordering for collection in store right up to the last minute. For many, BOPIS is a way of getting organized with last-minute shopping as it saves them having to traipse round stores finding things they need.”

Two of the biggest ecommerce retailers, Walmart and Target, are also promoting omnichannel fulfillment.  Walmart’s same-day curbside pickup and delivery will both run through Dec. 24 at 4 p.m., with an order deadline of 12 p.m. that day. Walmart also offers express delivery, which arrives in two hours. That service will also run through 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Target customers can place curbside and BOPIS (buy online, pick up in store) orders as late as 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The deadline to receive an order by delivery is 4 p.m. on Dec. 24, with delivery through Target’s Shipt service in as little as one hour.

Retailer strategy behind pre-holiday Instacart offers

“Retailers will be assessing their inventory positions and will be discounting heavily on seasonal items” on Super Saturday and the final few shopping days before Christmas, Saunders says. “If things like holiday décor and decorations and sundries like wrapping paper and cards have not sold by Saturday, they will be keen to shift them.”

These last-minute purchases will primarily be impulse buys, likely in the beauty and fragrance and apparel categories, alongside gift cards, he says.

Pet items can also fall into this category. 

“We are proud of our longstanding partnership with Instacart to increase access to Petco’s curated selection of products supporting pets’ whole health,” Petco told Digital Commerce 360 in a statement. “With most of our Merry Makings gifts for all pet types under $20 at Petco stores and online, as well as special discounts for Instacart shoppers checking off their gift lists between now and Dec. 23, we are helping pet parents focus on what matters most — making memories together.”

A final sales push can be an opportunity to clear holiday inventory, like Christmas-themed pet toys and apparel.

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