As the retail industry embraces technology, the consumer now has the power to buy pretty much anything on their mobile devices with just a few taps. Luxury stores are also leaning into this shift by creating unique, upscale experiences online for each customer.
"Luxury for us is all in the experience we deliver," Geoffroy Van Raemdonck, CEO of Neiman Marcus, told Cheddar.
As the 2019 holiday shopping season gets underway, Raemdonck reported that the retailer did well online during Black Friday, finding a greater demand than last year, although Cyber Monday "started a little softer."
The "softer" start might have been a reflection of how the retailer promoted its Cyber Monday sale. "We're not too concerned about that. We actually plan on Cyber Monday to be less promotional. At Neiman Marcus Group we focus on profitable and sustainable growth and we're willing not to chase market share," the CEO said.
To carry its well-known brand into the e-commerce space, Neiman Marcus has invested in creating personal experiences not only for in-store shoppers but also for its online users. "We have 55 personal digital stylists that are personal shoppers who will curate assortments to you and potentially come to your home to deliver them," Raemdonck said. The company plans to continue using technology and data to build a better relationship with customers.
"The power of data multiplied by artificial intelligence and machine learning allows us to personalize the experience much better, and I see substantial growth for a company like us," he added.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
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