Weekly Insights Jul 1, 2016

Executive Summary

• In this week’s note “From the Desk of Deborah Weinswig,” we look at how the UK’s historic decision to leave the EU will affect the UK, the US and the rest of Europe, from our vantage point on the US side of the Pond.
• Retailers are shifting to hold less inventory in stores, aiming to increase sales by 15% while keeping inventory levels flat or even decreasing them slightly. As consumers increasingly shop online, retailers are working to figure out how to profitably allocate inventory to meet consumers’ needs. Since inventory is one of retailers’ highest costs, holding less of it can free up capital for building online operations or covering wage increases.
• According to experience-marketing platform Monetate, more than half of online shoppers spend time shopping on different devices before making their purchase. Cross-device reconciliation allows customers to pick up where they left off, even if they switch devices.
• The total number of smartphones in China is expected to reach 1.4 billion by 2020, with an increase of 34 million mobile phone users, according to research firm Canalys. Chinese consumers are embracing digital devices—including smartphones, smarter vehicles, virtual reality devices and Internet-of-Things connected devices—and adoption rates have been boosted by the government’s “Internet Plus” initiative.