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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Consumer Survey Overkill
According to Jupiter Research, the value of customers’ feedback from surveys will diminish over time due to excess surveying and a “self-selecting surveying audience.” The research firm also found that…
Harry Potter and the Deathly Discounts
The final installation of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will debut for sale at one minute past midnight on July 21 and retailers are…
P&G Seeks to Expand Pampers’ Reach
Pampers is a power brand in the baby care category and now it is looking to take equity built up over 46 years of positive consumer experiences and project that…
Liz Claiborne Shuns Department Stores
With a massive restructuring announcement, Liz Claiborne becomes the latest brand to say “No” to department stores. The plan involves the possible sale or closing of up to 16 apparel…
Whole Foods’ John Mackey: ‘For the sheer fun of arguing’
What was he thinking? That’s the question that many were left asking after a Wall Street Journal report revealed that over an eight-year period, Whole Foods’ CEO John Mackey went…
The Science of Retail Site Selection
A new crop of modeling tools and data analysis applications are making retail site selection much more of a science for retailers. Wegmans is supplementing its traditional gravity modeling approach…
PL Buyer: A Brave New World of Convenient Dinners
The food industry has finally taken seriously what their marketing departments have been saying for years. No one has time anymore to cook, and families want their children to eat…
Sprint Fires Customers
On June 29, Sprint sent letters to more than 1,000 subscribers, saying their service had been terminated because of their excessive calls to customer service. What do you think of…
Supplement Co. Touts Products ‘Not Made in China’
It’s virtually impossible, especially in some categories, to pick up an item in retail stores that was not manufactured in China or at the least contains ingredients from that country…
Publix Brings Deli Orders Out to Customers
Pretty much everything Publix does is news in the grocery industry. The reason for that is straightforward: Publix is willing to test concepts others are not. The latest concept…
Supply Chain IT Confusion
While creating a seamless view of enterprise information for suppliers and trading partners is often cited as the ultimate vision for supply chain technologies, a survey shows that most companies…
Bullies Poison the Workplace
For those who thought they left bullies behind on the playgrounds of their youth, think again. According to studies, bullying is fairly common and, in fact, is so much a…
CPGmatters: Coke Focuses on Segmentation For New Go-to-Market Strategy
The right product in the right place with the right message for the right shopper. That’s the goal of Coca-Cola’s new go-to-market strategy that focuses on a segmentation platform to…
Imagine Macy’s with Lampert in Charge
Rumor-meisters rejoice. The current gossip behind the most recent run up in the price of Macy’s shares is that Edward Lampert, chairman of Sears Holdings, is interested in putting his…
Counterfeits Causing Real Damage in Human Terms
Fake pharmaceuticals, toothpaste, infant formula, extension cords and batteries are just a few of the products that have made their way into unsuspecting consumers’ homes with deadly consequences. The increase…
New Ways to Fuel Choice
Sometimes there is such a thing as too much choice. How many people really want, or need, to choose between more than three types of fuel for their car? In…
R&FF Retailer – Meijer: Back on Track
What a difference a few years can make. In September 2003, Meijer, Inc. laid off 350 headquarters workers – 15 percent of its corporate work force of about 2,300 -…
Retailers Should Go Slow on Social Sites
As it turns out, consumers may really want retailers and brands to give them their space on MySpace and other social networking sites. The results of a new study of…
GHQ: Shopper Markup
Dollar stores are attracting a larger number of single-person households, empty nesters, and middle- to upper-income households in general – and consequently becoming a bigger headache for grocers. A big…
Negative Online Reviews Really Positive
Online customer reviews – including negative ones – are proving to be an essential ingredient to any dynamic e-commerce site. Several recent surveys, according to Adweek, show that consumers overwhelmingly…
Kroger Allows GLBT Paper Back in Some Stores
When Kroger initially banned the Out & About newspaper from its free racks in 34 stores in the Nashville, Tenn. market, the grocery chain said it had a policy against…
