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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Is a Super Bowl Ad worth $4 million?
The average cost of a 30-second Super Bowl spot is expected to hit $4 million this year. Recent surveys suggests that the ads are as big a draw as the…
Virtual CEO gives Super Bowl tourists a reason to go to Mo’s
As part of its Super Bowl marketing hoopla, Mitchell Modell, the CEO of Modell’s Sporting Goods, appears as an avatar in the retailer’s Time Square flagship store. The digital image…
Grrrwaaaaaarggggh! ‘ChewBacca’ breaches merchants’ defenses
It’s not just the big guys who have to look out for threats from digital criminals. According to reports, over a two-month period cyber thieves stole details from some 24…
Retail tech’s most uninspiring achievement: the coupon
We live in a time where even kids have more computing horsepower and interaction capability in their hip pocket than the lunar astronauts had on the moon, yet most of…
Merchants adopt a ‘mobile first’ mindset
Mobile first. That’s the rallying cry for retailers looking to keep pace with the growing number of shoppers using mobile devices, according to the 2014 Shop.org/Forrester Research State of Retailing…
Mannequins get too real for retail
A growing number of retailers are looking to get real these days, some with models in ads sans retouching, others with mannequins more reflective of what their customers look like…
NRF Big Show: Show me the execution? Check.
At the NRF Big Show, Nikki Baird had some luck finding examples and some recurring themes in general, of retail execution. What major themes did you see at the NRF…
Is simpler better when it comes to shopping analytics?
Wandering the floors of this past NRF BIG Show, it seemed that the retail industry has made a lot of progress analyzing the behavior of shoppers, yet we’ve sometimes remarked…
A&F splits CEO and chairman roles
Consolidating the power of the chief executive’s office with that of board chairman has been debated, and yesterday, the board of Abercrombie & Fitch voted with those who advocate for…
Which same-day service will deliver the goods for retailers?
Last year saw a number of same-day and even same-hour shipping experiments kicking off with online giants as well as traditional retailers. While most of these services are very much…
Will EMV protect merchants from data theft?
Will the EMV (Europay/Mastercard/Visa) standard protect retailers? About as well as PCI certification does today, says BrainTrust panelist David Dorf, who worked with the EMV developing software for smartcards. Do…
Sam’s Club tries to find its balance with job cuts
Last week, Sam’s Club announced it was laying off about two percent of its workforce, roughly 2,300 people, in an effort to bring its club staffing in line with performance…
Starbucks CEO sees ‘seismic shift’ to online shopping
On last week’s conference call for Starbucks’ first-quarter earnings, Howard Schultz, president and CEO, made some waves by claiming brick & mortar retail was at an “inflection point” in losing…
Mobile ads hit the car dashboard
BMW has announced a project done in coordination with SAP to bring personalized ads to car dashboards based on location-based services. Will autos ultimately be a more successful platform for…
Harnessing the power to delegate
One of the first determinations a business owner or executive has to make is what their biggest or best contribution can be to the sustaining and scaling of the business…
Making a great first impression at retail
For associates in stores, presentation and appearance to customers is key. Acting like a professional is not just for those looking for their next step up the ladder, but also…
Walmart continues ‘Made in the USA’ push
Walmart doesn’t want Americans to forget that it is pushing to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. Yesterday, at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Meeting in the nation’s capital,…
Will Americans subscribe to online snack services?
After five years in the U.K., private equity-backed Graze.com has invested $5 million to launch in the U.S. Founded by ex-Lovefilm executives (the U.K. equivalent of Netflix), Graze is a…
Three ways the “other m-commerce” will change the retail game in 2014
“M-commerce” has referred to transactions from mobile electronic devices, yet another “m” model promises to become the next retail game-changer: marketplaces. Do you think marketplace platforms will become a major…
Is online grocery finally ready for launch?
With Amazon and Walmart among those joining the fray, some are predicting 2014 will be the breakout year for online grocery. Do you expect online grocery shopping will gain significant…
Retailers and banks engage in blame game over data breaches
In a press release issued yesterday, the ICBA expressed “shock and outrage” over a letter sent Tuesday by the NRF which it felt placed blame on bankers for the recent…
