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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Forrester: Tablets a Bigger Opportunity Than Smartphones
A new study by Forrester Research suggests that while smartphones are current beeping bright on retailers’ radar screens, tablet devices may ultimately offer a bigger opportunity for driving business. Do…
HalfPrice Books Finds Own Path to Success
RetailWire spoke with Kathy Doyle Thomas, executive vice president, marketing/development, HalfPrice Books, earlier this year to discuss what the 115-store chain with locations in 16 states was doing to achieve…
BrainTrust Query: Why the Medium is Increasingly the Message
Marshall McLuhan, who was born 100 years ago last week (July 21, 1911), authored “the medium is the message” in 1964. He explained that the nature of media influences how…
Bonuses Pay Off for Sports Direct
Sports Direct, the U.K.’s leading sporting goods retailer, plans to pay its 2,200 full-time workers a share bonus averaging £44,000 ($71,000) as it exceeded its profit targets for the second…
Take a Deep Breath and Prepare to Open your Wallet
Back in the day, as the expression goes, food stores did not have to pipe in artificial aromas–coffee, bread, cheese, candy and, yes, fish and meat. Some more tantalizing than…
BrainTrust Query: Data Protection Standards Changing for Retailers & Database Marketers
What do Citi, Sony, Michael’s, Epsilon and four leading Australian banks have in common? The answer is globalization — of consumer data intrusion, that is. Do retailers need to go…
Walmart to Share Scan Data
Walmart says it wants to better understand its customers. That’s why the company has reversed its position and agreed to share its scan data with outside research firms. Why do…
Consumers to Retailers: Charge It
Much has been made of the progress Americans have been making in digging out from underneath piles of debt since the Great Recession began. Now, however, it may be that…
Youth and Age in Corporate America’s Cultural Dichotomy
Generational and cultural skews represent significant challenges for a lot of today’s senior executives, if they want their companies to remain relevant and in demand. Do you agree that “innovation…
Back-to-School: Boom or Bust?
Depending on who you believe, back-to-school spending will be somewhere between flat to up six percent or so over last year. Considering the rise in commodity costs over the past…
Apple Thinks Without the Box
Apple unveiled its new OS X Lion yesterday to largely positive, if not spectacular, reviews. Among the new developments of the new operating system was the box it comes in…
BrainTrust Query: A Holistic View of Consumers
One theme emerging from the Shopper Insights in Action 2011 event in Chicago last week was the necessity for viewing shoppers and consumers from a holistic perspective. What are the…
Fresh & Easy to Import Tesco’s Loyalty Card Approach
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market chain has announced it is launching a loyalty card program similar to Tesco’s popular Clubcard beginning this fall. Will Fresh & Easy’s “Friends” loyalty program…
Survey Says: Food Trucks Here for the Long Haul
A new study by Technomic finds that 91 percent of consumers familiar with food trucks think they are here to stay and not just a temporary fad. Do you see…
PLBuyer: Where’s the In-Store PL Marketing?
Secret shoppers sent out by Private Label Buyer have found very little in-store marketing for private label. To most of the magazine’s editorial board, this isn’t so surprising. Are stores…
Borders No More
This is not a story with a happy ending. Borders’ struggle for survival is over. The bookstore chain is going to liquidate. What will Borders’ demise mean for the book…
General Mills CEO: Ethanol Subsidies Must Go
According to U.S. Department of Agriculture, 38 percent of domestic corn production is used for ethanol and that’s too much, according to Ken Powell, chief executive of General Mills. Do…
Is Retail an Ideal Career?
In an open letter to retail company executives, Kip Tindell, CEO of The Container Store, asserted that retail “is the best profession out there.” But the value of a college…
BrainTrust Query: In-Store vs. Out-of-Store Behavior
Manufacturers study their consumers, focusing primarily on behavior outside retail outlets. Retailers focus on the behaviors of shoppers in stores. Often this research is a disconnect. What areas of behavior…
Daily Deals for the Holidays
According to a Local Deals Survey from PriceGrabber, 59 percent of respondents were planning to use daily deal websites for holiday or special occasion gift purchases. How do you think…
BrainTrust Query: Adding Psychographics to Your Demographics
Demographics can help with targeting at a gross level, but with the sharing of personal information via social networks, there is an opportunity for marketers to collect psychographic data about…
