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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Amazon: Get it (almost) right now
What’s better than two day, one day, or even same day delivery? How about one hour delivery? If you live in Manhattan, that’s the promise of Amazon’s new program called…
Couche-Tard to give 7-Eleven more competition
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. has agreed to acquire The Pantry. The merger will give the Canadian c-store operator a stronger presence in the Southeastern and Gulf Coast regions of the U.S…
Girls Scout Cookies go digital
After nearly 100 years, Girl Scouts for the first time will be able to sell their famous cookies online. Starting in January, a new platform, “Digital Cookie,” will allow Girl…
The last-minute holiday battle
Despite last year’s challenges filling last-minute orders, most of the major retailers this season are offering aggressive online cutoff dates for meeting Dec. 24-delivery guarantees. Retailers with brick & mortar…
What’s your favorite app?
To say apps are proliferating exponentially may be an understatement. The growth extends from the multitude of startups kluging together the cheesiest games to cloud-based SaaS developers vying to serve…
Will cross-gender stores mean more for Lululemon or Nike?
Lululemon and Nike are two brands at drastically different points in their evolution. Now both are taking similar steps forward — and away from their perceived core customer bases —…
Google Shopping exploring one-click buy button
Taking aim at Amazon’s dominance of web shopping, Google has approached retailers about adding a “Buy Now” button to their Google Shopping listings as well as a two-day shipping program…
The RetailWire Christmas Commercial Challenge: Nordstrom vs. Walgreens
This week’s matchup includes “There’s No Present Like The Time” from Nordstrom, featuring a selection of the chain’s watches tied to Christmastime activities, and “Cookies For Santa” from Walgreens, a…
Holiday pop-up shops – Are chains missing a big opportunity?
Pop-up shops have been around for years in one form or another, but they seem to be growing in importance, especially around the holiday season. According to a recent story…
What video analytics can do
While privacy remains a big concern around in-store video analytics, stores are too much of an investment and cost too much to operate to run in the black hole of…
Facebook is out to prove it can drive store purchases
Facebook has become increasingly driven to correlate ad impressions on its platform with purchases in physical stores, seeing these cross-channel analytics as vital to its further growth as a marketing…
What about incentives for part-timers?
Sports Direct, the U.K.’s largest sporting goods chain that operates the Sportsdirect.com banner, has been lauded over the years for its generous stock incentive program for full-time employees. But now…
Can (or should) Google Glass be saved?
Google Glass, expected to be released in 2014 in its earlier-hyped days, is now expected to be released in 2015 at the earliest. Some are now questioning whether Google will…
Is Bing Crosby on the way out?
According to a recent survey, Boomers prefer traditional carols in their holiday music while shopping, but Gen Y and Millennial shoppers are more likely to want variety in their holiday…
When it comes to CEOs, is the ‘digital guy’ the best guy?
No industry has gone untouched by the rapid technological growth of the past decade, but journalism and retailing certainly number among those that have changed the most. Do you see…
The best place to work in retail is…
Who knows whether a company is a good place to work better than its employees? That’s what makes Glassdoor’s “Employees Choice Awards” top 50 list of the best places to…
Victoria’s Secret’s show draws eyeballs
While Macy’s legendary Thanksgiving Parade has long reigned atop retail’s list of spectacles since starting in 1924, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show may have surpassed it in less than 20…
Americans expect to be in debt forever
Things may be looking up from a macro-economic standpoint, but on a more personal level, 18 percent of Americans who are currently in debt think they’ll go to their graves…
Are women’s roles in the c-suite progressing effectively?
Are women’s roles in the c-suite progressing effectively? Recently, some very compelling female executives spoke about their roles and the business challenges related to being a female in a leadership…
It’s tough being a retail CEO
As an occasional commenter to RetailWire likes to point out, “Retailing isn’t for sissies.” That sentiment is certainly appropriate for those leading retail organizations where CEO exits are on the…
Will an activist investor force Staples/Office Depot merger?
When an analyst with Credit Suisse suggested several months ago that a merger between Office Depot and Staples makes sense, many people balked at the idea. Now comes a Wall…
