Shaping the shopping experience: Our top retail columns for 2016

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for retailers and brands — a time when many go from being in the red to being in the black. It’s also a time to look back at the trends that shaped the industry so that you can get your strategies in place for 2017. Our Marketing Land columnists were on hand during the holidays and throughout the year to deliver expert advice on retail tech, marketing tactics and more.

It goes without saying that to stay competitive in the retail world, you need to be innovative — and that means staying on top of the latest technologies and trends. Some of the most popular stories of the year looked at the tools and technologies that are shaping the digital retail landscape, as marketers looked toward tech to gain an edge on the competition. From virtual reality and games to the Internet of Things (IoT) and wearables, savvy retailers are stepping up their efforts to amp up and personalize the user experience.

News about Amazon continued to capture a lot of readers’ attention this year. After all, in the battle for e-commerce dollars, it’s hard to overlook the retail behemoth. Marketers looked at how to tap into Amazon by crafting winning keyphrase strategies on the site. Another hot topic was Amazon’s push into the brick-and-mortar space.

And, of course, what’s a transaction worth if you’re not able to keep those customers coming back for more? Articles covering customer retention and consumer reviews also garnered a lot of attention in 2016. For these insights and more, check out our top 10 Retail columns of 2016:

1. Top 10 payment processing companies in the world by Steve Olenski, published on 5/26/2016

   Social activity: Facebook 1,075, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 425

2. The loyalty funnel: 3 KPIs for measuring customer retention by Jordan Elkind, published on 5/9/2016

   Social activity: Facebook 101, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 460

3. 7 advanced tips for Google Shopping ads by David Rekuc, published on 9/13/2016

   Social activity: Facebook 261, Google+ 76, LinkedIn 143

4. What Amazon understands about offline retail by Florent Peyre, published on 3/30/2016

   Social activity: Facebook 107, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 375

5. The struggle is real: Marketing to Millennials by Nicole Shariat-Farb, published on 6/10/2016

   Social activity: Facebook 158, Google+ 31, LinkedIn 157

6. 3 ways to harness the ROI of customer reviews by Jordan Garner, published on 3/25/2016

   Social activity: Facebook 214, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 549

7. How to win on Amazon: Tips for successful keyword strategies by Benjamin Spiegel, published on 4/27/2016

   Social activity: Facebook 76, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 132

8. Which trend-setters will shape back-to-school marketing in 2016? by Adam Weiss, published on 5/13/2016

   Social activity: Facebook 39, Google+ 15, LinkedIn 101

9. 4 marketing innovations headed to brick-and-mortar retail in 2017 by Tamar Weinberg, published on 11/14/2016

   Social activity: Facebook 157, Google+ 39, LinkedIn 419

10. How to harness the IoT of retail technology by Allan Haims, published on 6/3/2016

    Social activity: Facebook 90, Google+ 28, LinkedIn 196

Methodology: Columns published in 2016 are ranked in order of page views measured by Google Analytics. Data includes all columns published through November 30, 2016. Social data provided by SharedCount.

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