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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Will its Public Lands concept store help Dick’s conquer the great outdoors?
It’s only one store, but Dick’s Sporting Goods sees big things ahead for its new Public Lands concept, which will celebrate its grand opening on Sept. 24 in Pennsylvania. Do…
Nordstrom ain’t what it used to be before the pandemic
Nordstrom experienced a number of stock downgrades and an 18-percent one-day sell-off after reporting that second quarter sales declined versus pre-pandemic 2019 levels and lagged behind many of its department…
Why does Amazon want a branded TV?
Amazon reportedly plans to market its own branded TVs in the U.S., possibly as soon as October. How important is the introduction of Amazon-branded TVs to the company’s efforts to…
Why can’t CMOs And CIOs just get along?
A new study found corporations with “very effective” CMO-CIO working relationships have sizable advantages in driving data-driven innovation, but that only 23 percent of corporations believe they have attained such…
California aims to mandate gender-neutral toy sections
Separate merchandising sections marked by traditional pink and blue color schemes for girls and boys have long been staples in merchandising. The California legislature, however, wants to see such products…
Can Amazon create the Prime Video of audio services?
Amazon is investing in the development of a new service that will let customers experience live concerts and other audio events through its popular voice-activated devices. Do you see a…
Is ‘groundedness’ the antidote trend to digital whiplash?
Digitization and globalization has made lives increasingly virtual, fast-paced, and mobile, driving countless trends in the marketplace. According to a new study, these influences also led to a wide range…
Can 14 and 15-year-olds solve the labor shortage?
At a McDonald’s in Medford, OR, a ginormous banner, “Now Hiring 14 and 15-year-olds,” has drawn nationwide media attention and a healthy amount of applicants amid the country’s labor crisis…
Can marketers successfully shift focus from acquisition to retention?
A new survey says that changes to protect privacy are compelling marketers to focus more heavily on customer retention instead of customer acquisition. Do you see investing in retention or…
Allbirds simplifies growth drivers to three trends
In the prospectus for its IPO, Allbirds said its growth will be driven by three trends influencing how consumers make their purchase decisions in apparel and footwear: purpose-driven positioning, casualization…
Ending prices that end in 99 cents
Retailers might want to rethink doing away with prices that end with “.99” if they believe the results of new research from researchers at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College…
What’s the formula for e-commerce profitability?
Dick’s Sporting Goods says it achieved significantly higher profitability in the second quarter in its e-commerce channel through fewer and more targeted promotions, better leverage of fixed costs and strong…
Should retail robots go humanoid?
If some big names in the robotics world have their way, the robots we see working at retail may some day more closely resemble a human shelf-stocker, or even a…
Best Buy builds a virtual store to assist customers remotely
Distribution centers have taken on a more important role in retail as e-commerce ordering has dramatically expanded. Best Buy is now using one of its distribution centers not just to…
Does peer-to-peer resale make sense for Urban Outfitters?
Taking on popular marketplaces such as Poshmark, Thredup and Depop, Urban Outfitters plans to launch a peer-to-peer secondhand marketplace, Nuuly Thrift, this fall. Do you see a big sales opportunity…
How should big box chain retailers deal with disaster response?
With a seemingly never-ending series of hurricanes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes and other natural disasters, federal authorities can quickly become overwhelmed. Reactions to Hurricane Ida again show how large retailers often…
Can IKEA’s store layout still amaze without a maze?
Customers have long associated IKEA with the experience with traversing a labyrinth of furniture and home décor. Now IKEA may be ditching the maze in favor of a layout it…
Amazon finally catches the ‘buy now, pay later’ wave
Following a rush of other retailers adding the payment option, Amazon is bringing a buy now, pay later (BNPL) checkout option to its U.S. platform for the first time. Does…
How can retailers help frontline employees recharge?
Last week, Nike closed offices worldwide to let employees “enjoy additional time off to rest and recover” following a year and a half of challenges. Are higher pay and bonuses…
Do retailers need a chief data officer?
Organizations have instituted the position of chief data officer over the last decade to help make some sense out of the flood of big data. Yet less than half of…
FMI research finds normalcy is not in the cards, not yet
Normalcy has become a relative term since COVID-19 hit the U.S. last year. There was certainly nothing approaching what we once considered normal following Labor Day 2020, and there is…
