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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Pay, But Don’t Touch
Toll roads used them first. Buy a card, stick it in your car window and whizz right past the tollbooths. Other uses for contactless cards have been suggested but have…
BrainTrust Query: Tell ’em Where to Go!
The “typical” shopper comes through the door looking to buy a few items and faces the problem of 30,000+ items scattered across a large sales floor. Are single-path store configurations…
Big Investors Could Mean Big Changes for Penney
William Ackman isn’t the type of investor to put a lot of money into a company and let management continue to do its thing. The latest headline-grabbing investment made by…
RSR Research: Romancing the Store
At a special meeting of the Cross-Channel Retail Consortium held before the Shop.org event, one question that was raised drew a surprising answer from the retail participants. Is the online…
Wal-Mart Changes Compensation Plan
Wal-Mart Stores recently announced that it would end profit-sharing contributions to employees and move to a company match on 401(k) plans as well as putting aside money for workers’ healthcare…
Much Ado About Gap’s New Logo
Okay, it may not be the same uproar that accompanied new Coke or even the rebranding of Tropicana, but there are people clearly unhappy with The Gap’s new logo. What…
Wal-Mart Explores New Way to Cut Costs
Wal-Mart Stores is always looking for ways to cut costs and the company’s head of purchasing thinks he has a solution that will work for the retailer and its suppliers…
Does Price Still Rule in the ‘New Normal’?
The 2010 IIR Category Leadership Conference raised this interesting question: Are retailers and manufacturers right to stay laser focused on price in the post-recession environment? Are manufacturers and retailers placing…
Fresh & Easy Sees Profits in Near Future
Fresh & Easy is keeping its talking points succinct and positive. And many analysts agree that while Fresh & Easy may still face challenges, it has deep enough pockets to…
Mobile Bar Codes Coming to Television
Retailers are taking barcodes out of the store and placing them in television commercials to give viewers the option of scanning them with a mobile device to receive product information…
Retailers Form Alliance on the Amazon Shipping Front
Amazon.com has used shipping to gain a competitive advantage but now, a number of chains are looking to negate that strength with a new shipping service that directly competes with…
In-Store TV Tries to Build an Audience
Digital signage, including sophisticated in-store television networks, have an image problem today because the past hype has failed to deliver the types of results promised by those pushing the technology…
BrainTrust Query: Taco Bell – What Does Value Mean?
In a recent interview with Adweek, Taco Bell CMO David Ovens made the distinction between “price value”, “abundant value” and “quality value.” At the time, it just sounded confusing but…
Sears is Growing Socially
Sears Holdings’ ability to engage its customers is seen as one of the primary reasons behind the growth of its online business, which consistently ranks among the top e-tail sites…
Retailers Vary on iPad Experience
Now that Apple is expanding distribution of the iPad beyond its stores and website to other retailers, consumers that want one are confronted with the question of where to buy…
IKEA Opens Up
By its own admission, “2009 was a tough year” for IKEA. The interesting aspect of that admission is that it comes in the furniture retailer’s first ever financial report. What…
Family Dollar Brings Internal Alignment to Its Private Brand Vision
At last week’s Private Brand Movement conference, Mary Rachide, Family Dollar’s DVP of Private Brands, discussed the challenges of developing private brands. What is the optimal organizational structure for retailer…
Amoeba Music Survives the Turmoil
With a focus on supporting independent music and its broad selections, California’s Amoeba Music has managed to steer through the upheaval in the music industry that has led to the…
BrainTrust Query: The Value of the Cross Channel Segment
Reaching the cross channel customer in a timely, relevant and often location-centric fashion has become the marketer’s goal, and a smartphone is becoming the platform for making it happen. Do…
Social Shopping Ready for Liftoff
While retailers have been tapping Facebook to show “fans” what’s new in stores, to hold contests and to post weekly ads, for many, the next step is building Facebook “stores”…
Who Cares About a $600 Billion Problem That Can Kill People?
The counterfeit product problem goes much deeper than product “knockoffs” and can have deadly consequences. Approximately two percent of all airplane parts are said to be counterfeit, for example…
