If it seems that we’re returning to the topic quickly, we’d argue that just the reverse is true, so different is the retail landscape from even a year ago. As to why it’s different, that’s down to customers themselves, who have, for example, answered skeptics who suggested that smartphones would never catch on by not only buying iPhones and Android-enabled devices, but by using their phones to browse, research and, increasingly, buy. While analysts have anxiously tried to map what’s going on, customers have developed their own cross-channel strategies by shopping as they see fit.