This year’s Internet Retailer Conference Exhibition (IRCE) in Chicago welcomed leading eCommerce professionals, with over 600 exhibitors and more than 10,000 attendees to take part in workshops and sessions, where they discussed ideas and advanced eCommerce technologies. The event was focused on the retail customer and online community, with companies of all sizes.
A few of the 200 plus eCommerce pioneers included, the President of Target.com and Mobile for Target Corp., Jason Goldberger as the keynote speaker, Co-founder, Executive Chairman of reddit, Alexis Ohanian, along with the President of 1-800-Flowers.com, Christopher McCann, and VP of Forrester Research, James McQuivey.
The exhibition was highlighted as the leading display of technology and services under one roof, with some companies including, Avalara, Magento, PayPal, eBay, Freestyle Solutions, Marketing Sherpa, reddit, G2 Crowd and many more. Check out the list below for some key takeaways and upcoming trends from this year’s event.
2015 IRCE Takeaways
Check out the articles below highlighting news from IRCE 2015.
The Internet of Things Is About Experience… and Data by Tim Parry, Multichannel Merchant
The Internet of Things is making devices like internet refrigerators more mainstream today because consumers are hyper-adopting new technology and marketers are engaging in digital disruption. Here’s why experiential devices, such as the Apple Watch and certain household appliances, are going to change the way you collect data and how you need to react.
Demanding Consumers Still in Driver’s Seat, UPS/comScore Study Finds by Mike O’Brien, Multichannel Merchant
U.S. consumers are continuing to demand convenience, advanced mobile features, flexible shipping options and ease of product returns, according to the fourth annual UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper study. Done in conjunction with comScore, the study surveyed 5,000 U.S. consumers.
IRCE 2015 Roundup: Channeling Change to Stay Relevant in Retail: “Pink Sunday” turned bloody for Target by Ian P. Murphy, Industry Dive
Two months ago, what was set to be a thrilling and profitable “Pink Sunday” turned bloody for Target. Traffic overwhelmed the retailer’s mobile app, and its website crashed for more than 90 minutes during the pre-dawn launch of the hotly anticipated new Lilly Pulitzer collection.
Views from the Exhibit Hall
IRCE attendees were able to discuss what they learned in conference sessions by meeting exhibitors in the Exhibit Hall. Freestyle Solutions was among the many companies who demonstrated the latest technology advancements in the eCommerce industry. We focused on best practices for order and inventory management.
We met with hundreds of attendees who shared their perspectives and business pain points, which were largely related to the management and visibility of their orders and inventory across multiple sales channels. We realize time and again, regardless of size, retailers share common business challenges. Thanks to the power of the Internet, small to medium-sized online retailers can find themselves competing on a larger playing field with big box retailers.
Here are a few examples of common business challenges we addressed:
1. Syncing of inventory & orders across all sales channels, such as your website, Amazon, & eBay
2. Inventory tracking in a multi-warehouse environment
3. Avoiding stock-outs & knowing when to re-order
4. Purchase order management for inventory purchases & drop ship orders
5. Integration with shipping providers to automate the shipping process
There are challenges unique to specific industries, such as food and beverage or nutraceuticals, which need to keep track of a vast quantity of perishable items. Regardless of the challenges, there is a simple technical solution available to solve them. By incorporating an inventory and order management system, you will never lose track of your items, as it will give you the capability to see all products from multiple sales channels in the same place.
Learn more about our Inventory Management for Online Retailers eBook.
Inventory Management for Online Retailers eBook
