It turns out that all commerce is local commerce after a year of global pandemic.

By now, it shouldn’t surprise anyone who follows retail trends that “omnichannel” was the biggest buzzword of 2020, largely due to the fallout from COVID-19. Why did omnichannel retail suddenly come to the fore? Because last year’s rogue virus made everything about our everyday lives harder, so we appreciated and rewarded any business that made it easier to keep buying things we still needed and wanted.

What once made malls a favorite shopping destination is holding them back in the age of buy-online-pickup-in-store 

For people who love to browse the racks of their favorite retailers, there’s no place more exciting than a mall. Social time with family and friends, and easy access to physical stores with actual merchandise you can see, touch, or smell — these are the experiences that make the heart of a true shopper beat a little faster.

Black-owned businesses lead the movement to meet customers where they are

February is Black History Month, so it's only appropriate to devote this month's blog to issues of diversity and inclusion.

Why retailers who were dabbling with "digital transformation" before 2020 are picking up the pace

Let’s face it, many retail strategies that worked in 2019 stopped working in 2020 when merchants found themselves in the unthinkable position of telling customers not to come into stores. Without showrooms, sales staff, or in-store displays, it became next-to-impossible to demonstrate new products or sell anything at all.  

The year of buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS)

At the beginning of the year, when we made our predictions for retail trends to follow in 2020, we had no idea how accurate some of them would turn out to be.

Consumers won't be "COVID shopping" forever. Make sure your delivery options continue to meet their needs.

Only 21% of consumers in a recent survey said they expect to keep shopping online as much after the pandemic as they do now, but a different study concludes many people will stick with e-commerce because it’s safe and convenient. The truth is, no one knows exactly how buyer behavior will change in a world with COVID because the last time we lived through something like this, computers and cell phones and the Internet didn’t exist.

Embracing New Ways of Working

Coronavirus is a devious enemy. It’s invisible, it’s persistent, and it seems to be everywhere at the same time. At Cura Resource Group, we’re not taking any chances when it comes to the health and safety of our families, our employees, and our customers. We’ve been following all CDC guidelines regarding sanitation and personal protection since the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Holiday Shopping in the Time of COVID

Who would have thought we’d still be having this conversation about COVID-19 in September, let alone planning for the first holiday-shopping-during-a-pandemic season in living memory? And yet, here we are — and smart retailers are already thinking about December. They’re hard at work adapting sales and marketing strategies to deliver a merry gift-giving season at the end of a stressful year unlike any other. 

3 Valuable Lessons About Customer Service During Covid-19

Looking back, no one could have known what awaited the retail industry and our economy in the first half of this year, just as no one can accurately predict what will happen next. We can, however, pause to reflect on some of the more obvious ways COVID-19 has impacted multi-level marketers (MLMs) and other direct-to-consumer businesses over the past six months.

Think about any direct selling business and a digital-first approach is probably not what comes to mind. But young entrepreneurs joining the ranks of direct sales distributors have been changing how today’s direct selling brands operate.

Shaped by the needs of Generation Y, more direct sales companies are leveraging digital tools in all aspects of their businesses — from sales collateral to how their independent business owners (IBOs) or distributors operate.