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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
High-tech Struggles to Reach Dressing Rooms
High-tech dressing rooms have generated lots of buzz in the past 18 months but no full-scale deployments. Moreover, some wonder how useful they’ll be. A recent report, New Future In…
New York Raids Alleged Sweatshop
It wasn’t a factory in China or Bangladesh or somewhere in Central America, the latest factory to be tagged with the “sweatshop” label was found in the borough of Queens,…
U.K. Retailers Demand Change in Rent Terms
One aspect of the credit crunch retailers in the U.K. have joined together to tackle is cash flow. Shop leases in England, which usually command quarterly payment in advance, are…
Target Needs to Put ‘Pay Less’ Before ‘Expect More’
The current state of the economy has consumers looking to save money. They know they can save at Walmart and the retailer has seen its same-store sales climb even as…
Retailers Look to Develop on College Campuses
Universities are increasingly looking at building mixed-used projects that provide housing and a host of retail outlets for students, faculty and administration personnel. Will retailers be increasingly drawn to college…
Home Depot Co-Founder Sees a Company Renewed
Home Depot CEO Frank Blake sees a housing market rebound ahead. Company co-founder Bernie Marcus already sees a rebound taking place within the home improvement chain under Mr. Blake’s leadership…
CSD: Prepaid Reaping Financial Rewards
Payment alternatives for the nation’s “unbanked” and “underbanked” customers are proving to be effective sales drivers. While gift card malls have been getting a lot of attention, prepaid debit, credit,…
Grocers Didn’t Get Fair Share of Stimulus Checks
It was widely speculated that once the government’s tax rebate checks started coming in that consumers would spend the vast majority of those dollars on staples such as grocery items…
Same-Site Sales Head North as Same-Store Numbers Go South
Consumers were already turning in increasing numbers to shop online before gas prices went wild. Now that consumers across the country are looking at paying $4+ a gallon at the…
CPGmatters: Personalized Marketing Poised to Improve ROI for Manufacturers
In a “significant paradigm shift,” CPG manufacturers are starting to work more closely with retailers on personalized loyalty programs for two reasons: one, higher returns on their customer marketing investments…
McD’s Looks to Perk Up Coffee Biz
“People who want gourmet coffee are not going to Mickey D’s. You go there, you want good coffee that’s cheap. You don’t go there looking for Starbucks or Rockin’ Joe…coffee.”…
Staples’ Ads Promote Easy Savings
The Staples’ “Easy Button” campaign has long been about the office supply retailer’s ability to offer products and services that make work, school and home life easier to handle. Now,…
Credit Crunch Stymies Funding for Start-Ups
On its op-ed page, the Wall Street Journal last week questioned how the next Intel, Google or Apple will be funded given the ongoing liquidity crisis. But the retail industry…
Return Optimization
With fraudulent returns totaling $15.5 billion annually, many retailers are implementing stricter policies, often at the expense of alienating good customers. But retailers are increasingly pursuing “return optimization” solutions, which…
‘Just do it’ Turns 20
Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan is 20 years old. As part of the anniversary, the sneaker giant is planning a monumental global campaign around the Olympics featuring athletes in past…
GHQ: Crunching the numbers
According to FMI’s Food Retailing Technology Benchmarks 2008 report, 56.8 percent of food retailers allocated the same amount of money for technology investments this year as in 2007, and 34.1…
Measuring Online Shopper Satisfaction
Online retailers sometimes struggle to know how happy customers are. They don’t always get direct feedback, positive or negative, and don’t often have time to chase it themselves. Feefo, a…
Sam’s Looks Beyond Small Biz Customers
Sam’s Club has built its very substantial business by catering to the needs of many much smaller businesses. Costco has built its reputation by satisfying the desires, both mundane and…
Finding Sources of Innovation
The most innovative companies look for inspiration from a multitude of sources, including employees, customers, and other innovators, according to the consulting firm, Prophet. That was one of the core…
Consumers Want More/Different Info on Labels
A survey of 1,110 consumers from across the U.S. by Deloitte found that respondents see plenty of room for improvement when it comes to product labeling. Can labeling information on…
Walmart and Dell to Take On Best Buy’s Geeks
Dell has launched a pilot program with Walmart to test an in-home installation and repair service for a wide array of consumer electronics. The service will bring with it immediate…
