Dive Summary:

• Saks Inc. plans to invest $100 million over the next four to five years to bolster its IT platforms, in hopes of establishing a more refined omnichannel experience for in-store consumers.
• According to statistics released by Retail Info Systems News, approximately 41% of Saks customers utilize their smartphone device while shopping in-store and 60% are actively engaged in social media.
• "This is a business transformation enabled by technology. … Don't view it as just an IT project, stated current Saks COO Mike Rodgers.

From the article:

Though much of the buzz in retail is about the rise of e-commerce and the death of the physical store, Rodgers believes brick-and-mortar is still "the Big Kahuna," and is not so much going away as merging together with the online and mobile channels. Shoppers want the advantages of the digital channels as well as the advantages offered by physical stores.