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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Target catches the Pepsi spirit with new CEO hire
Target has found its new chairman and CEO and, as expected, the retailer went outside the company for the first time to fill the position. Brian Cornell joins the struggling…
Amazon has a Prime number problem
Amazon.com has a problem with its hugely successful Prime membership program – namely that the program is hugely successful. Prime is an expensive program to run and now Amazon is…
McD’s disputes NLRB’s ‘joint employer’ tag
McDonald’s has been known for working closely with franchisees to make their operations successful. That has led the general counsel of the National Labor Relation Board to conclude McDonald’s is…
Walmart Labs feels the Luv(ocracy)
Yesterday, Walmart Labs announced it had acquired Luvocracy, an online community that helps members find products based on the recommendations of family, friends and other influencers. What do you think…
U.K. supermarket runs on food waste
A Sainsbury’s in the United Kingdom has become the first supermarket to be powered directly from its own food waste. The project was done in partnership with Biffa, the largest…
Fashion sites should offer ‘Made In’ info just like stores
Pure play e-tailers typically have an overhead and tax advantage over their physical store competitors. Now, comes an op-ed piece calling on online fashion sites to disclose where clothing is…
‘Ask Zappos’ raises customer service bar, again
Zappos, a company known for exceptional customer service, has just upped its game again with a personal assistant who can help you track down shoes or other clothing – even…
Who should decide mobile marketing’s budget?
According to a recent survey from Forrester Research, part of the holdup around investing in mobile marketing is the fact that the e-commerce department in many cases directs the area’s…
Technology’s diversity conundrum
Workplace diversity challenges again hit the front pages as a host of tech giants recently released diversity figures showing blacks and Hispanics were largely absent and women also underrepresented in…
Will Dollar Tree + Family Dollar spell trouble for Dollar General?
Dollar Tree has reached an agreement to acquire rival Family Dollar Stores in a deal that will create the largest operator of dollar stores in North America. What do you…
Physical stores dominate path to purchase
A recent survey from A.T. Kearney found 55 percent of consumers prefer to use both stores and online throughout the stages of the entire shopping journey. But discovery proved to…
‘Our advertisement is the cheap price’
That sounds like a slogan from Sam Walton, but it’s from the recently deceased Karl Albrecht, co-founder of Aldi. Unfortunately, the remark, made in 1953, was reportedly one of the…
Does Starbucks need flagship locations?
For its first store in Colombia, Starbucks opened a 2,700-square-foot flagship location replete with a heated patio, concrete columns, mirrors on the ceiling and walls of colorful plants. It’s apparently…
Usual suspects top regional grocers list
Wegmans, Publix, Hy-Vee and Costco were named by consumers as the top grocery brands in the Northeast, South, Midwest and West respectively in the 2014 Harris Poll EquiTrend study. Do…
Beacon technology drives brand awareness and sales
A mobile test campaign by Hillshire Brands using beacon and geofencing technologies increased brand awareness and sales of its American Craft Link Sausages. The program ran from April-June across the…
Simon out, Foran in as new Walmart U.S. CEO
After six straight quarters of traffic declines and five in which same-store sales declined, Bill Simon is out as the president and CEO of Walmart. In an announcement made earlier…
Will a small store help Target get its mojo back?
Target has been much less bold than larger rival Walmart in going after the small box opportunity. But with the opening of the first TargetExpress beta store, the world will…
Defining the digital shopper
Ernst & Young and Havas Worldwide are just two of numerous firms attempting to classify the still-emerging digital consumer in recently published reports. What questions are most important to ask…
Chain’s workers refuse to work after board ousts president
There’s a revolt going on in Boston and it has nothing to do with tea. Workers at the Market Basket grocery chain’s headquarters, stores and warehouse have walked off the…
Alarm sounded over lost impulse sales at checkout
The front end of supermarkets has traditionally been a showcase for immediate consumption snacks and cold beverages that tempt shoppers, but fewer products – if any – are merchandised in…
Nordstrom and Penney get really real
Beauty, as the saying goes, is in the eyes of the beholder. Today, many are finding something beautiful in Nordstrom and J.C. Penney’s use of “real people” in their marketing…
