Which Retailers Are Dominating in the Digital Race

The retail industry is driven by revenue and growth figures on the one hand, by intangibles like individual style and consumer confidence on the other. While the fear of the e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) seems to be singularly common among all traditional retailers, few companies are reportedly using so-called “omnichannel” strategic moves to push back against Amazon (AMZN), and are carrying out a good job while others, maybe not so much.

According to Paul Lejuez, analyst at Wells Fargo Securities, most retailers, in order to make the customer’s shopping experience a convenient one, have gone after omnichannel initiatives, but this inventiveness needs to keep up with etailers in many cases. In a note issued to clients on Friday, Paul also stated that mortar and brick retailers are making use of the prime benefit over pure play online sellers – ability to visit a store in person to view the product , purchase a product or even return it if need be.

Lejuez also wrote, that the leading retailers in digital market can include The Container Store (TCS _), Nordstrom (JWN _), Urban Outfitters(URBN _) and Gap (GPS _). Others in need of more work are Target (TGT _), Kohl’s (KSS _) and Aeropostale (ARO _).

Lejuez along with his team also asked the retail companies to list down the digital initiatives that have been implemented as part of their coverage list. The initiatives out of nine capabilities included: reserve online, find inside store, pick-up inside store; buy online, purchase online, shipping from store; store pickup; inventory’s single view, in store mobile inventory order/check; ordering online from store, mobile checkout and storing credit for (e-commerce)online sales.

There has been a lot of talk in retail market about how Macy (M _) aggressively adopted these aforementioned omnichannel strategies. However according to Lejuez’s note the departmental stores need to be and in most cases are ahead of their game; this reflects the pressure from online retailers who are selling similar kind of products and brands.

URBN can be considered near the top of specialty works, perhaps because of the size of their large direct business. GPS is also advanced considering its initiatives. It is believed that Glenn Murphy, CEO had made it a priority.

With that said, Kohl’s also seems to be moving speedily in an attempt to upgrade the company’s omnichannel potential. Target and Walmart (WMT _) in the meanwhile have pushed their digital strategies to the top of their priority list with the aim to leverage store assets.

The note however pointed out that teen retailer most specifically Aeropostale (ARO _) is lagging behind in this race. Probably those operating the teen retail market did not feel pressed with the pressure of the same merchandise being sold somewhere else and hence did not invest in the omnichannel initiatives. However, Lejuez also wrote that the above mentioned scenario could be precisely in light of the company’s teenage customers inclination to stay current with everything related to the business of e-commerce and also expect the most latest mobile capabilities while shopping.