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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Does it matter that Black Friday sales were down?
By all indications, Black Friday weekend sales and traffic fell modestly to sharply. The decline either represented an omen for a subpar holiday season or another indication of how early…
Are online shoppers addicted to deals?
Tying its release to Cyber Monday, Coherent Path issued research showing that new online customers whose first transaction involves a discount or special offer are 50 percent less likely to…
The retail worker’s guide to surviving the holidays
The days prior to Thanksgiving are the calm before the storm. Your seasoned retail employees know what is in store; your newbies have no idea. Here are 10 holiday tips…
Merchandising chief leaving Walmart
The management changes keep coming at Walmart. The latest, announced right before the chain heads into the critical holiday selling season, is that Duncan Mac Naughton, chief merchandising officer at…
Whole Foods tells digital stories
At its flagship store in Alpharetta, GA, Whole Foods has introduced a series of digital signage installations to provide shoppers with information and inspiration. Do these installations offer a glimpse…
Should HR do all the hiring?
“If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries.” That famous quote illustrates the view that a coach…
The RetailWire Christmas Commercial Challenge: Gap vs. H&M
Two commercials, each created with the goal of burnishing brand image, building consumer excitement and ultimately driving holiday traffic and sales. This week’s matchup includes “Mistletoe,” one of the quirky…
Nordstrom ends half-yearly sales
Shifting to a promotional calendar similar to other department stores, Nordstrom is replacing its major half-yearly sales in favor of six annual clearance events around the holidays. What do you…
Store brands drive organic growth for grocers
There were two very noticeable trends at the 34th annual Private Label Manufacturers Association’s Annual Conference last week in Chicago — organics and gluten-free. The real growth, however, was in…
Where will mobile break out this holiday?
Again, the holiday wild card is mobile, both in how much it influences offline and online spending as well as how much purchasing gets done via that channel. Do you…
How much does word of mouth drive sales?
According to a study organized by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, online and offline consumer conversations and recommendations account for 13 percent of consumer sales, on average. In higher…
Will a return to its roots keep RadioShack from short-circuiting?
RadioShack, which dropped to a penny stock in June, is banking on an uncharacteristically strong holiday season just to keep its doors open. One of the beleaguered electronics chain’s newest…
Is Best Buy’s ‘Renew Blue’ igniting a turnaround?
It may be too soon for Best Buy stakeholders to break out into a chorus of “Happy Days Are Here Again,” but there’s no doubt that Wall Street was both…
Empty-Nester Boomers surprisingly tech-savvy
As many as 82 percent of women “Empty-Nester Boomers” spend more time browsing for products online than in-store, according to a report from Influence Central and Vibrant Nation. Do you…
Are British chains better storytellers than American retailers?
Two things seem clear from the increasing number of Christmas commercials popping up on YouTube and elsewhere: British retailers have vastly more interesting stories to tell than their American counterparts…
Who gets credit for the omni-channel sale?
One of the murkier aspects of omni-channel retailing continues to be “revenue attribution.” The challenges assessing proper credit for an omni-channel sale appear to be leading to under-investments in worthwhile…
Shoppers want help and aren’t getting it
Consumers who research products online get many of the answers they need before shopping in stores, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have any remaining questions. They can turn to…
Did the GOP victory end hope of the sales tax fairness bill’s passage?
The National Retail Federation is making a push to get the House of Representatives to debate and vote on sales tax fairness legislation before the end of the lame duck…
Walmart and Target go for pinpoint accuracy with in-store search
Both Walmart and Target recently added in-store product search features to their mobile apps that are either completely new to shoppers or represent significant upgrades over prior versions. Will robust…
Walmart stores get burned matching online prices
Last week’s decision by Walmart to formalize a policy of matching online competitors’ prices has come back to bite the retailer. According to the gaming website Kotaku, Walmart stores wound…
Where are the best jobs in retail?
Retailers are still looking to add store staff for the holidays, but where do prospective seasonal hires want to work? That’s the question the job search engine, Simply Hired, is…
