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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Breaking Into New Markets Not As Easy As It May Sound
We may live in a global village, importing and exporting products willy-nilly, but setting up shop in far-flung countries has mixed results. Retailers spreading their wings to offer “choice” find…
Lickable Ads Arrive
Welch’s has introduced what’s believed to be the first-ever consumer ad in a magazine enabling readers to sample a product by licking the ad. While scent technology — scratch-and-sniff ads…
Consumers Stocking Up in Warehouse Clubs
There’s no doubt that many American consumers and businesses are going through a rough patch at the moment. For warehouse clubs, however, the weak economy has proven to be something…
Bankrupting Gift Cards
That gift card you’re holding might not be worth the plastic it’s printed on. As it turns out, one of the casualties of retailers filing for bankruptcy protection are gift…
Scaring Us for Our Own Good
Apparently impressed by the results of scaring us all with pictures showing the possibility of an unpleasant death due to smoking, the British Food Standards Agency (FSA) now wants to…
Supply Chain Digest: What Happens if the U.S. Election Results in Big Changes to NAFTA?
With the Democrats having a strong chance of winning the White House in the 2008 presidential election, how should U.S. companies think about the potential for major changes in NAFTA,…
Aberdeen Research: Outdated POS Systems Barrier to Good Customer Service
An Aberdeen global survey of 175 retail companies in January 2008 has found that at least 60 percent of retailers have POS systems that are older than 5 years. Of…
CMOs Getting Personal with Consumers
Chief marketing officers (CMOs) are increasingly looking to create more personalized communications with consumers and are directing a greater portion of their budgets to this type of approach. According to…
Amazon Gets Ready to Shake Up Wine Business
It completely changed the way millions think about buying books and now Amazon.com is looking to do the same thing with wine. According to a report by the Financial Times,…
CPGMatters: How Do Brands Benefit from Frequent Shopper Programs?
What key benefit do CPG brands derive from retail frequent shopper programs? There was no consensus among manufacturers who took an Instant Poll on the home page of the January…
Whole Foods Establishes Higher Standard for Body Care
Whole Foods has sought to promote itself as the preeminent authority on all things related to the so-called LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) consumer. To that end, the chain…
Wal-Mart Blogs, Blogs, Blogs
Vendors who deal with retail buyers on a regular basis get to hear their products critiqued, sometimes quite harshly. While it isn’t a pleasant experience, vendors could take some solace…
GHQ: Natural Evolution
With organic/natural categories continuing to grow at over 20 percent a year, more and more conventional manufacturers are getting into the arena. Their arrival is expected to dramatically increase the…
Catwalk of the Damned
Ghostly complexions, sunken cheeks, hollow eyes, skeletal limbs and torsos were on public display in Paris last week as the city’s top fashion houses proved that anything said previously in…
Indiaretailing.com: The politics of organized retail will be short-lived
The time for retailing in India, as an organized industry, has arrived. It is the opinion of Rajendra K. Aneja, of Indiaretailing.com, that the government should immediately permit FDI (foreign…
Meat Recall Vexes Many
Frustrated by the government’s handling of the largest meat recall in U.S. history, a few food companies are holding off on destroying the meat in hopes that it could be…
CPG Cos. and Retailers Fail to Cut Inventories
A recent study claims that the best laid plans of leading retailers and consumer packaged goods manufacturers to reduce inventory levels went awry in 2007 despite increased spending on supply…
YouTube Reaches Teeny Audience
According to a new study, people who watch at least some online video each month – from short clips on YouTube to full-length programs on NBC.com – are an extremely…
Kiosks and Online Killed the Video Store
Things are not looking good for retailers in the video store business. For one thing, sales of DVDs are down. For another, consumers are increasingly likely to rent titles and…
Mapco Express to Emphasize Private Label
The Mapco Express convenience store chain is looking to differentiate itself from the competition and increase margins by expanding private label offerings in a number of product categories including sports…
Retail TouchPoints: New Study Reveals Sales Staff Driving Shopper Defections
A recent study by The Verde Group and the Baker Retail Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School shows that sales staffs are the single biggest detriment to the…
