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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
IRCE recap: Retailers claim ship-from-store successes
At the Internet Retailer Conference and Expo in Chicago, two retailers described their different experiments with using stores in addition to, or in place of, distribution centers in two sessions…
Under Armour links purchase recommendations to fitness data
Under Armour has launched “UA Shop,” its first mobile shopping app that taps the health and fitness information from its more than 170 million Connected Fitness members worldwide to make…
Unilever uses grocery delivery service to ‘test and learn’
Unilever is one of dozens of CPG partners finding Instacart to be more effective in certain ways when promoting their brands than traditional shopper and in-store marketing in the brick…
Will an online dollar store work?
Some business ideas come along that seem as though they are either just plain crazy or crazy brilliant. Today, we submit for your evaluation hollar.com, a new site that approximates…
RFID goes to the dogs
In perhaps another example of animal testing before human trial, Bark & Co, the company behind the BarkBox subscription service, tapped RFID technology to help dogs shop for themselves. Do…
IRCE Recap: Should companies take control of their reviews?
Letting customers do the reviewing and hoping for the best isn’t enough. Companies need to take an active role in both collecting and managing reviews, was the main thrust of…
IRCE recap: Retailers have to be careful with dynamic pricing
Technology has given retailers new ways to adjust pricing, but dynamic pricing can be a double-edged sword – retailers need to proceed with caution. That was one of the takeaways…
Microsoft/LinkedIn deal shows content is king
Hopes are high in the c-suites of Microsoft and LinkedIn following the announcement the tech giant has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the social media network for $26.2 billion…
Is store manager retention being neglected?
While there has been a great deal of recent discussion about raising starting wages at retail, Majestic Wine, the U.K.’s largest wine retailer, is focusing on store managers. What steps…
How can online returns be minimized?
Retailers are grappling with ways to reduce the burden of providing their customers with the free and easy returns that many have grown to expect. What are some of obvious…
IRCE recap: Is there a right way for retailers to use beacons?
There is hope for in-store beacons yet, but the primary ways retailers have been implementing them have been the wrong ones. That was the main takeaway in a session at…
Walmart Canada to stop taking Visa at the checkout
Walmart Canada has decided the fees it pays to accept Visa are too high and will cease accepting the cards at its 370 stores across the country beginning with a…
How do you best engage online shoppers, post-purchase?
Seen as the driver of online customer retention and loyalty, the post-purchase is often referred to as a critical and often neglected part of the e-commerce experience. But many see…
Many shoppers are buying more online than in stores
Here’s a first: New research shows that people who bought products and services from websites at least twice over a three-month period, made more than half of their overall purchases…
Ralph Lauren making a turn to fewer and faster fashions
Some were shocked when Ralph Lauren hired Stefan Larsson, a former H&M executive and president of Old Navy, to replace its founder as CEO. Now, the company announced it would…
Should Walmart open its own dollar stores?
It’s been more than a decade since former Walmart CEO David Glass identified dollar stores as the biggest threat facing Walmart. Since then, Walmart has been rumored as a potential…
Home Depot and Lowe’s can’t touch Ace for satisfied customers
J.D. Power announced this week that consumers have ranked Ace Hardware as being highest for customer satisfaction among home improvement stores for the tenth straight year. What would Ace need…
What makes a food startup work?
Two years ago, two California moms, with no history of entrepreneurship, confronted the fast food world with a startup featuring organic, sugar-free lemonade for kids. Do you see lessons among…
Will social and shopping ever go together?
The recent decision by Twitter to pull “buy” buttons from its site has, once again, raised the question of whether social media sites and e-commerce mix. Why do you…
Amazon pushes back against fake reviews by suing sellers
Amazon took another step to purge fake reviews from its site last week by suing three sellers for using false accounts to post positive reviews about their products. Do you…
What is BK up to with its new burger/burrito mashup?
Burger King, according to reports, is testing a new menu item that includes the ingredients of its Whooper sandwich wrapped in a flour tortilla instead of on a soft sesame…
