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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Big G’s Groupon Test Called a Success
As Groupon deals go, it wasn’t very large. Nonetheless, a limited test by General Mills of the daily deal site is seen as a significant first step by a CPG…
Survey: Cause Marketing’s Unintended Consequences
A study of 300 college students by a professor at the University of Michigan shows that cause related marketing programs had the effect of reducing the amount of money these…
BrainTrust Query: Failure Happens – Now What?
According to an article written in Harvard Business Review, start-up business failure occurs between 30-to-40 percent of the time if it is defined as losing all assets and 90-to-95 percent…
The Riddle of Measuring Social Media’s ROI
The marketing community appears flummoxed over the challenge of measuring ROI around social media efforts, especially since most exchanges aren’t directly linked to an actual purchase. How should ROI around…
Earth Day Not Yet on Retail Calendar
An article that ran last Friday, Earth Day, in The New York Times noted that sales of many eco-friendly household products launched around 2008 to great fanfare have fizzled over…
FD Buyer: Whole Foods – Retailer of the Year
Whole Foods Market is Frozen and Dairy Buyer Retailer of the Year for so many good reasons it’s hard to know where to begin. One competing retailer said Whole Foods…
Walmart Buys Kosmix. What Does That Mean?
We’ve read numerous stories about Walmart’s acquisition of Kosmix, a company that “filters and organizes content in social networks to connect people with real-time information that matters to them,” and…
A Very Cloudy Day for Amazon
If Amazon.com wanted to pull a Mick and Keith and get everyone off of its cloud, it probably could have found a better way to do it. Yesterday, Amazon Web…
BrainTrust Query: In Pursuit of Shopper Relevance, A-List Merchants Shine as ‘Curators’
The theme at this year’s Global Retailing Conference was “Inspiring Innovation,” and while the speakers addressed this from various perspectives, one striking parallel emerged in their remarks: the modern merchant’s…
Catalog Deliveries Made Via iPad
For retailers looking to cut down on postage while still putting catalogs (literally) in the hands of consumers, there’s the Apple iPad. And where there are iPads, there are apps…
Bullies Make Working Tough
Those who thought they left bullies behind in grade school or high school often get a rude surprise when they find work as adults. A new study from CareerBuilder shows…
PL Buyer: The ABCs of Reaching Gen X and Gen Y with Private Label
Generation Y, or “Millenials” as they also are called, today represent the largest U.S. population segment — more than 76 million strong. Add the 51 million members of Generation X…
Canadian Chain Counts on Canadians’ Loyalty
Here in the U.S., consumers have shown a willingness to throw off “Made in America” products and local retailers for a better deal. Now, as retail chains from the U.S…
Have Loyalty Card, Will Not Redeem Points
Does your keychain hold more loyalty card fobs than keys? If you are part of the typical American household, then the answer could very well be yes. Is it a…
RSR Research: The ‘Kings of Customer Service’ – Not Who You’d Think
“Service” generally implies personal attention. Yet the number one company on Temkin Group’s Kings of Customer Service list was Amazon.com, a retailer one almost never has any kind of human…
Meat Safety Questioned/Defended
A new study of meat and poultry sold in grocery stores found that 47 percent of samples tested were contaminated. Researchers suggested that food animals given high doses of antibiotics…
Subway Cutting Sodium in Sandwiches
Subway has built its business by positioning itself as a healthier alternative to the typical fast food outlet. Now the chain has announced that it will reduce sodium in its…
BrainTrust Query: Unchain My Cart! Why Shackle Shopper Marketing?
Shopper marketing should be confined to the store (after all, isn’t it just another name for in-store marketing?), while consumer marketing should encompass everywhere else. One of the reasons…
Customer Satisfaction Surveys Generally Positive
A recent survey found that over one quarter of U.S. consumers have completed a customer satisfaction survey in the last twelve months with about half of the responses positive in…
Morrisons Tests New High-End C-Store Concept
Before Morrisons bought Safeway in 2003, it had 119 stores in the north of England. After the purchase, Morrisons added 480 stores and became the U.K.’s fourth largest supermarket, increasing…
BrainTrust Query: Do Messy Stores Sell More?
The New York Times recently published an interesting report entitled, “Stuff Piled in the Aisle? It’s There to Get You to Spend More,” citing several chain retailers that are making…
