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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Target Bulks Up with New Promotion
Target says its new “The Great Save” promotion gives consumers all the benefits of bulk deals found at warehouse clubs without the need for any membership fees. Do you see…
BrainTrust Query: Key Item Marketing – Innovation Needed ASAP!
Key items are the core of powerful assortments. Unfortunately, economic realities and changes in consumer behavior are combining to create measurable erosion in the lift and ROI. How do you…
Lower-End Concepts Gain Landlord’s Fancy
With a number of big box chains closing unproductive locations and other chains liquidating amid the downturn, landlords took a new shine to lower-priced formats in 2009. How are the…
Manhattan Still Home to Independent Retailers
The tradition of small, independent retailers on Manhattan’s lower east side is apparently thriving in spite of the recession. What is the opportunity for hip independent stores in the current…
Battling Negative Criticism
According to a survey from Econsultancy and bigmouthmedia, nearly one half of companies personally engage with consumers when dealing with online negative criticism. The second most common response was to…
Book Store Battles Giants with Charity
Main Street Books in Orleans, Mass. offers a 10 percent discount on any purchase made from its website. The twist is that the 10 percent discount is then donated a…
The Year E-Commerce Saved Christmas
Whether due to snowstorms, mall-madness phobia, e-deals, or an improved shopping experience, e-commerce delivered what many saw as surprisingly strong results this past holiday season. What lessons should online and…
Retail Customer Experience: The 5 Biggest Retail Customer Experience Stories of 2009
If there was anybody more nervous than shoppers this year, it was retailers. The industry had just gone through a devastating holiday season and found itself staring down the new…
The Latest Traffic Driver: Swine Flu Shots
In a bid to boost traffic and promote their in-store clinics, many retailers are aggressively marketing themselves as the place to go for H1N1 vaccine shots. Is marketing H1N1 vaccine…
CSD: Fighting Credit Card Costs
Is there relief ahead for exorbitant credit card fees? The answer is yes. But first, there’s a fight to be fought. Do retailers have any alternatives when it comes to…
BrainTrust Query: How Consumers Killed Customer Service
We went to the buy-one-get-one sales. We made Walmart what it is today. We camped out for Black Friday. We built the dollar store channel. The bottom line is that…
Consumer Advocate Vigilantes
Fed up with the government’s apparent struggles to protect public health after two years of well-publicized recalls, citizens are funding or themselves administrating checks on toys and other household products…
JTPP: Green Packaging Leads to Greener Bottom Line
Trading partners are recognizing that green initiatives offer a chance to build their brands and drive cost savings. As a result, new strategies aimed at reducing waste and conforming to…
Returns Season Starts
According to a survey of retailers by the National Retail Federation, 6.4 percent of holiday returns are expected to be fraudulent this year. At the same time, numerous articles in…
Whole Foods Shifting Back to Healthy Roots
Over the years, Whole Foods has dabbled with chocolate fountains, and imported sea salts and truffle oil but it is now looking to shift back to its granola roots. What…
BrainTrust Query: Fake Products Provide More Than Headaches for Consumers and Independent Retailers
In true exposé style, a report on the CBS Early Show on December 18th about the danger of fake goods–especially in the seasonal and electronics categories. Are independent retailers at…
SC Digest: Twas the Night Before a Supply Chain Christmas 2009
“Twas the night before Christmas, and I was alone in the DC…This was the strangest year in Supply Chain I ever hope to see…Our performance reports were hung by the…
BrainTrust Query: I Found One
In a recent post, BrainTrust panelist Bill Emerson asked the question, “Where are the Merchants?” He’s happy to report that he found one…. How do the merchandising skills of the…
CPGmatters: Generalizations Don’t Work Because Shopper Behavior Varies – dunnhumby
Can the spectrum of purchase behaviors within a category mean that average measurements mask what’s really going on? What are the opportunities as well as challenges of drilling down to…
Snowy Weather Clouds Holiday Outlook
The snowstorm that blanketed much of the eastern U.S. washed out “Super Saturday” for many stores in those regions and apparently caused some retailers to rethink final-days marketing strategies. How…
Sugar Vs. Vitamins Debate Over Chocolate Milk
School administrators in Barrington, Illinois decided a year ago that elementary and middle-school students should drink unflavored milk with their lunches and banned sweetened chocolate milk from the menu. Many…
