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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
BrainTrust Query: Are frontline employees expendable?
Unless your Unique Selling Proposition or point of difference is Exceptional Customer Service, there’s no reason to sweat it when you lose frontline employees. New employees are excited about their…
Second Hand Bottles Make First Rate Clothes
Coca-Cola’s plastic bottles are being given a new lease on life by a British company. Mark Southcott, who has a chemistry doctorate and a long family tradition of textile innovation,…
Will Wal-Mart Change How Guns Are Sold?
On Monday, Wal-Mart announced that it has adopted a 10-point voluntary code intended to help prevent guns from falling into the hands of criminals. The initiative, the Responsible Firearms Retail…
Prediction Markets Reach Corporate Board Rooms
Companies like Best Buy, General Electric and Hewlett-Packard are using online prediction markets to try to improve forecasting, reduce risk and accelerate innovation by tapping into the collective wisdom of…
PLBuyer: Not Your Grandma’s Private Label
Safeway got a much-needed shot in its private label arm in late 2005, when it hired James White, who previously worked for Nestle Purina and Procter & Gamble, to serve…
Is There No End to Parental Over-Indulgence?
In Parenting, Inc, Pamela Paul dissects what she sees as the over-commercialization of parenting and babyhood. The subtitle of the book conveys her concerns: How We Are Sold On $800…
Is the Proposed Circuit City Deal a Blockbuster?
To most everyone this side of Edward Lampert, the combination of one poorly performing company with another adds up to a really bad deal. Evidently, Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes counts…
Glass Half-Full, Half-Empty Scenarios on Tax Refunds and Rebate Checks
One of Wal-Mart’s board of directors is looking for the upcoming economic stimulus rebate checks to provide a “real boost” to sales for the retailer and presumably a few other…
Measuring Inflation By What’s in Our Baskets
Quite apart from functional foods, ready meals, convenience foods, fresh and healthy, free-from or whatever, the contents of the typical British shopping basket have recently changed. The Office of National…
Dove Launches Women’s Website
On the heels of its popular “Campaign for Real Beauty” campaign, Dove has launched a new online community for women that offers entertainment, blogs, advice and advertising. Dove.msn.com’s biggest draw…
Friends and Family Seal the Deal
If you can convince family and friends to recommend a product or service, then you’re a long way down the road to making the sale. But how, just exactly, do…
GHQ: Bright future
Encompassing an array of products including natural and organic foods, fortified foods, and supplements, the health and wellness industry has performed like a child prodigy over the past few years,…
Into the Data Breach One More Time
And yet again, an American retailer and its customers go down the road of data theft. In this case, the retailer is Advance Auto Parts and the most recent hack…
Drugstore.com Seeks Contentitive Edge
Drugstore.com is looking to provide consumers with the information they need to make informed decisions about their own healthcare. Last month, Drugstore.com signed a deal with HealthCare.com to give consumers…
Supervalu Launches Private Label Organics/Natural Line
Supervalu has joined Safeway, Kroger, Publix, et al. to become the latest mainline grocer to announce it was coming out with its own line of natural/organic food products under the…
Budweiser Offers Loyalty Credit Card
Anheuser-Busch has partnered with U.S. Bank to offer a Budweiser Rewards Visa Platinum credit card in the U.S. While card members won’t be redeeming six packs, they will be earnings…
Asda Cheers on its Staff (and Their Namesakes)
Anyone reading the small print of Asda’s press ads would apparently see announcements of staff birthdays and special occasions. One store manager pointed out that his fruit and vegetable department…
Rx COOL
Problems with drug imports in recent years, most notably contaminated heparin from China that resulted in the deaths of 19 individuals, has led to growing calls for the government to…
Retail TouchPoints: Kroger Partners with AOL to Tap Paperless Coupons into Loyalty Program
Kroger is targeting internet-savvy consumers with a new paperless coupon program from AOL. Shoppers can visit www.shortcuts.com to set up an account using the store loyalty card they use at…
Peapod Helping Consumers Make Healthy Choices
The Peapod home delivery grocery service has upgraded its service in recent weeks to help consumers make wise nutritional choices based on a variety of dietary considerations. Using its proprietary…
GHQ: A tighter belt
A weakened economy and continuing pressure to achieve a speedy ROI has created a cautious spending environment, leading to a slowdown in new store development and remodels for supermarkets. According…
