Online merchants have a glass half-empty problem: They drove roughly $400 billion in sales in 2017, but friction-filled checkout processes amounted to $200 billion in lost opportunities for those that didn’t optimize the experience for consumers. The latest Checkout Conversion Index™ contains more than 500 data points from a random sample of 750 merchants — a sample that accounts for 70 percent of online sales (sans Amazon) — to identify what makes a top-performing online merchant and which segments lead and lag compared to the median.  Read More...

Starbucks has sought to drive traffic into its stores and increase brand loyalty through its Frappuccino Happy Hour since 2010, but the promotion hasn’t always worked all that well for the coffee retailer. During a 2017 conference call, CFO Scott Maw noted it hadn't raised sales of non-discounted drinks as much as expected, and the Frappuccino promotions may even be weakening sales in the company’s stores in Japan. Here’s how it all started, and which promotion Starbucks could turn to in the future to boost sales.  Read More...

While many consumers might take them for granted, the concept of a convenience store came to market in earnest less than 100 years ago as a small offering of household staples at a Texas ice dock. Then, in the 1990s, gas stations began using C-stores to increase profitability. The business continues to evolve today, with Amazon getting into the market with its Amazon Go offering. Here’s how that first Texas store started and where convenience stores may be headed in the future.  Read More...