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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Consumers Going Online for Groceries
Consumers are going online more often to buy all sorts of products and services and grocery is no exception. While still a small percentage of overall sales, home delivery and/or…
Retailers Come Together to Fight Climate Change
In late April, eight major U.K. companies including Tesco and Marks & Spencer joined Prime Minister Tony Blair in unveiling ‘We’re in this Together,’ a campaign to encourage consumers to…
GHQ: The Category That Keeps on Growing
The fresh produce category just keeps getting bigger, and more retailers are expanding their sections to take advantage of that growth and of consumer demand for new varieties of fruits…
The Battle of the Neighborhood Markets
Tesco is coming and Wal-Mart, according to a New York Post report, is thinking small as it gets ready to do battle with its rival from the U.K. Wal-Mart has…
Moberg Steps Down at Ahold
When Anders Moberg joined Royal Ahold four years back, he was brought in to stabilize a company that was going through the fallout from a nearly billion dollar accounting scandal…
A Flipping Bargain
In addition to being a euphemism for several expletives and a rapid-fire way of turning pancakes and burgers from one side to the other on a grill, flipping now has…
Irrational Tariffs Bring Law Suits
It makes absolute sense that men and women’s hiking boots imported from China would be taxed at the same rate. Of course, that’s not how the U.S. tariff system works…
BrainTrust Query: Is service-oriented architecture (SOA) technology the wave of the future?
Enterprise service-oriented architecture (SOA), which enables companies to rapidly respond to changing business requirements and competitive market dynamics, while maximizing existing IT resources, was one of the key tech trends…
Marketers Reaching Out to Muslims
A report by Louise Story in The New York Times says grocers and other marketers are seeking to find ways to reach American Muslims through culturally based advertising. While hard…
Kiosks Take Over Perfume Sampling Duties
Five-foot kiosks, created by Scentest Communications, are now being positioned next to perfume counters in roughly 80 malls on the East and West coasts of the U.S. In addition to…
Target Ready to Make Statement in Food
A new report from J.P. Morgan suggests Tesco and Target may be ready to shake up the U.S. grocery business, according to Reuters. Is Target finally putting itself in a…
BrainTrust Query: What can we learn from Japan’s mobile wallet challenges?
As mobile phone technologies ramp up in sophistication, an application enjoying increased interest from retailers and marketers alike is the “mobile wallet.” Put simply, mobile wallets, also known as “wallet…
Making Customers Want to Stay and Shop
Retailers understand that customers who stay in a store longer will spend more. But, as a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report points out, the key for retailers is how to get customers…
Talk About a Loyalty Program
Like other retailers, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nieman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys New York and Bloomingdale’s have shopper loyalty programs. But, that is where the similarities apparently stop as these…
Retail Promotion or Illegal Gambling?
A new crop of retail promotions offering refunds based on the outcome of sporting events or weather conditions may be illegal gambling, according to law experts. In Massachusetts, for example,…
Hot Designers Put The Gap Back in Vogue
The designers brought on by Gap Inc. to create the retailer’s Design Editions line have gotten some welcomed attention from no other than the fashion icon Vogue. The magazine has…
PLBuyer: Pause and Effect
Partly because television and radio ads are losing their effectiveness in reaching consumers, CPG companies are reallocating their ad budgets toward point-of-sale marketing efforts. For retailers already creating an in-store…
BrainTrust Query: Are we finally seeing Amazon’s ‘free cash flow’ period?
As BrainTrust Panelist Bill Bittner thought about the “earnings surprise” reported by online retailer Amazon on Tuesday, a different angle to the story occurred to him. Could it be…
Best Buy Names New Leader for Asian Expansion
Best Buy has named Redmond Yeung to head up its Asian business. Mr. Yeung will take over the newly created position of president and chief operating officer of Best Buy…
Pharmacist Shortage Hurts Retailers and Consumers
There are real consequences to the pharmacist shortage and that is apparent in Nogales, Ariz., where a Walgreens is closing its pharmacy earlier during the week and completely on the…
New Help Wanted
For those not wanting to live in a world where all food comes processed and packed in boxes, and who are interested in getting up close and personal with what…
