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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Gap Tells Shoppers to Name Their Price
No William Shatner in sight, but Gap clearly seems to have taken a page from Priceline’s book with its most recent promotion that asked consumers to name the price they…
BrainTrust Query: Is Breakage the Next Loyalty Dinosaur?
Breakage–the value of unredeemed points in loyalty programs–is a key influencing element of loyalty marketing financial models, but attitudes towards breakage are changing. Do you see retailers and other brands…
Rite Aid Offers Rx Disposal Program
Concern in recent years has built up around the amount of prescription and over-the-counter drugs found in drinking water. A new program by Rite Aid seeks to make it easier…
Employee Owner Group: Publix Should Go Public
Much of the credit for the success of employee-owned Publix Super Markets, management has long maintained, goes to workers who feel as though they have a real stake in the…
BrainTrust Query: The Big Shrink
A major dilemma faces many retailers, namely the glut of selling space relative to a weak and uncertain demand. It appears that many retailers have begun to address the situation…
PL Buyer: Infrastructure-Store Design
Supermarket remodeling can start at $50,000 and climb to $500,000 per location, but the upside — sales in a remodeled store can increase as much as 40 percent over the…
Facebook Adding Local Offers to Deals Program
Facebook is getting ready to test what Bloomberg News described as a “Groupon-inspired service,” with a new program that will involve adding local offers. Do you think Facebook should go…
Survey Says Amazon Offers Best Value
Consumers came out of the Great Recession looking to get the most value for their buck. When it comes to ranking brands that deliver on that requirement, Amazon.com comes out…
The Case for Fat Taxes
The argument continues over how to make people take responsibility for what they eat and whether or not hitting their wallets would make them change their habits…the dispute over whether…
Walmart’s View from 15,000 Square Feet
Walmart has long talked about plans to open smaller stores, but few saw them looking this small. Its new Walmart Express format is expected to be only 15,000-square-feet. What do…
SCDigest: RFID in CPG to Retail – What Really Happened?
The tale of RFID has gone from visions of supply chain transformation to now, literally, the concept being at a near dead standstill. What do you think happened in RFID…
Consumers, Retailers Gravitate to Self-Service
Retailers have done the math and it adds up. Today, retailers and suppliers are operating self-service checkouts as well as kiosks and vending units to sell more products. What product…
Facial-Recognition Technologies Reach Madison Avenue
Gesture- and facial-recognition technologies, so far developed for security purposes and more recently for video gaming, are finding traction in the advertising world. What do you think of the potential…
PayPal Plans Move Into Stores
PayPal, the online payment service, is serious about giving Visa, Mastercard and Amex a run for consumers’ money and that includes moving into brick and mortar stores. How will alternate…
Fair Trade Products Going Mainstream
While many American consumers are looking to save wherever they can, there are also quite a few who are willing to pay a little more for fair trade products. In…
Walgreens Sells PBM. Should CVS Follow?
Walgreens has agreed to sell its Walgreens Health Initiatives PBM to Catalyst Health Solutions and the question now is whether CVS needs to sell Caremark to focus on its retail…
Shopkick Checks In
Launched in August 2010, Shopkick, the location-based shopping app that rewards shoppers simply for visiting stores, has been downloaded 750,000 times, quietly claiming to have become the leader in product…
Bad Service News Travels Fast
Unhappy customers are not quiet ones. That’s the finding of new research by Colloquy that shows negative word of mouth travels quickly to friends, family and coworkers. What are your…
Sweetbay Launches Store Brand Price War
Sweetbay wants consumers in Florida to know that when it comes to saving on store brands, its prices are lower than Aldi, Publix, Walmart and any other grocery chain that…
CPGmatters: Diageo Commits to Shopper Marketing
About three years ago, Diageo began making a commitment to proactively working with its retailer-customers on a number of shopper marketing programs, especially to better understand how consumers actually shopped…
High Fashion for Rent
Much was made how the Great Recession took large numbers of “aspirational” shoppers out of the market for luxury goods. A variety of rental services have sprung up to offer…
