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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
The Year of the Gift Card
For many consumers, this holiday season’s most popular present was the gift card. According to a survey by NPD Group, 61 percent of consumers planned to give the cards this…
Medical Coverage Key Issue for Candidates, Consumers and Retailers
As the presidential election inches closer, each nominee has introduced their own health insurance plan with promises that it will change the way our healthcare system provides for those Americans…
Secret Online Discount Codes Target “Select” Customers
Retailers know how much customers appreciate a bargain and use a wide variety of means to offer discounts. In another twist out of cyberspace, discounts as high as 20 percent…
CPGmatters: P&G Improves Forecasting to Lower Safety Stock
Procter & Gamble is deploying demand sensing software as part of a global initiative to further improve short-term forecasting accuracy; to lower safety stock and increase the competitive advantage generated…
BrainTrust Query: Is the Semantic Web Merely a Pipe Dream?
The Semantic Web was first envisioned by the founders of the internet in 2001. By then they realized that there was a necessary piece missing for the internet to reach…
Man Fired for ‘Dilbert’ Cartoon Wins in Court
Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, has heard about workers getting into trouble, even being fired, for posting his comic strip but now he has verifiable evidence. A casino security…
RSR Research: A Model for Delivering Sophisticated Technology to SMB
Small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) – particularly the mid-sized retailers, those between $250 million and $1 billion in revenue – have long recognized the value of sophisticated tools, but the…
EU Takes on Interchange Fees
Retailers in Europe and beyond are applauding the European Commission’s (EU) ruling against Mastercard, which gives the credit card company six months to come up with a new system to…
Staples to Expand Reusable RFID Tag Test
Staples Canada may be on the way to overcoming one of the major obstacles to the widespread adoption of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology – the high cost of tags…
The Latest Trendy Accessory: The Shopping Bag
For many retailers, the shopping bag has undergone a makeover. Flashier and more durable that the traditional flimsy paper bag yet still free, the bags are not only making a…
2007: Shades of Retailing Green
Retailing came in a distinctive shade of green this year as companies climbed aboard the eco bandwagon in an effort to create points of difference from the competition while seeking…
Discounts Underscore Value
According to a new survey by The Nielsen Company, frequent promotions and discounts was the most important factor to U.S. consumers when deciding which grocers offer the most value for…
2007: The Year of Consuming Dangerously
It wouldn’t be difficult to come to the conclusion that 2007 has not been a very safe year for consumers (and their pets) based on a simple search of RetailWire…
A Week Before Christmas and All Through the Store…
It’s a week before Christmas and the greatest chance to sell the next wave of items for the Christmas holiday. Although most of the groundwork has been laid, a variable…
Asda to Relieve Women’s Burden with Stronger Bags
It isn’t all about plastic bags. Those trendsetting, trendspotting folks at Asda, Wal-Mart’s outpost in the U.K., have announced that life is officially a burden for women. Apparently “new research…
Are Taglines Necessary?
Whole Foods Market, Urban Outfitters, Google, and In-N-Out Burger don’t have them. What if more brands conducted advertising without taglines? That’s a proposition presented by John Moore, a former marketing…
Retail TouchPoints: Q&A with George Jones CEO, Borders Group, Inc.
After losing market share to both online and offline competitors for a number of years, Borders seems to be turning the page to a more positive chapter. George Jones,…
Ads on Riveting Shows Drive Brand Recognition
Products placed by advertisers in “emotionally engaging” TV programs enjoy a recognition rate by 43 percent more viewers than similar placement on low-engagement shows, according to a survey from The…
Price Variations: Retail Realism or Rip-Off?
Over the past several years, complaints have reverberated around the UK about so-called clone towns where all the shops are the same as in every other town. According to a…
The Legacy of Zabar’s Murray Klein
Murray Klein, the public face of Zabar’s who transformed the Jewish delicatessen into an international food emporium, died in early December of lung cancer at the age of 84. He’s…
In Search of CEO Talent
According to a newly released study, The Best Companies for Leaders, from the Hay Group and Chief Executive Magazine, companies in the U.S. and Europe are seeing a dearth of…
