Corporate Governance

Top 10 Women in Tech
Female executives make their mark on the world of retail IT

It’s no secret that neither the retail industry nor the technology industry has exactly achieved parity when it comes to granting women access to top-level decision-making positions. According to a report from IIC Partners, 64% of retailers said their senior executive team was less than 25% female — despite the fact that women drive a whopping 85% of all consumer purchases.

Women are famously underrepresented in technology.
Seamless Retail: Looking Toward a Profitable 2015
The 2014 holiday season has shown how shoppers’ growing preference for e-commerce can be challenging for retailers. By offering customers free shipping and ever-faster delivery, and by handling the higher rates of return that often come with e-commerce, retailers potentially face either reduced profit margins or loss in market share if they don’t keep up with customer preferences.

As they plan for 2015, many retailers will consider how they can provide a seamless customer experience that fundamentally helps them to maintain or improve profit margins.

Kids Rule at Ruum

Ezra Dabah is no stranger to children’s wear. As the former chairman and CEO of The Children’s Place, he helped create a billion-dollar retail powerhouse. Dabah left the company in 2007, but he returned to the kids fashion business with Ruum American Kid’s Wear, a fashion-forward upmarket concept that bowed in 2012 and operates 24 stores, primarily in malls.
Four Retailers to Watch in 2015

A number of retailers saw changes at the top this past year. Here are the ones I found the most interesting:

Abercrombie & Fitch: The abrupt departure of longtime chief Michael Jeffries presents the former teen powerhouse with an opportunity to bring in a badly needed breath of fresh air.

In his day, no one could touch Jeffries, whose transformation of Abercrombie into a cool, exclusive club is a textbook example of brilliant, holistic retail branding. But Jeffries failed to keep up with the changing times. He seemed blind to the recession.
Corner Bakery Café expanding in Virginia as it looks to double footprint

Dallas - Corner Bakery Cafe has signed a five-restaurant deal in Virginia with franchise partner Shahid Ali and operating partner Ibo Pinar. The stores will open throughout Richmond and Fredericksburg. Corner Bakery Cafe plans on doubling its national footprint of more than 180 stores in the next two years. To accomplish this goal, the retailer is adding new multi-unit franchise partners and currently has franchise agreements representing commitments for an additional 340 units.
Report: Minimum wage hikes to affect 1,400 Wal-Mart stores

Bentonville, Ark. – Minimum wage increases scheduled to take effect in 24 states and Washington, D.C. will affect employees at more than 1,400 Wal-Mart stores and 200 Sam’s Club in the U.S. According to CNN, Wal-Mart said it has less than 6,000 employees currently earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and has already been planning to pay all employees more than the federal minimum wage.
Walgreens shareholders approve Alliance Boots transaction

Deerfield, Ill. - At a special meeting of shareholders held Monday, Walgreens shareholders voted to approve all proposals related to the company’s acquisition of the remaining 55% of Alliance Boots GmbH that it does not currently own and the reorganization of the company into a holding company structure.
Verizon: Dec. 26 has highest online traffic of holiday season

New York - The day after Christmas (Dec. 26) posted the highest traffic for online shopping, with 125 points, since the 2014 holiday shopping season began. According to Verizon Retail Index data, year-over-year, traffic attributed to online shopping was on par (125) with the same day in 2013.
Report – Labor Dept. investigates RadioShack retirement plans

Fort Worth, Texas – The U.S. Department of Labor is reportedly investigating how RadioShack has been managing its 401(k) retirement plans for employees. According to the Associated Press, the Department of Labor notified RadioShack of the investigation with a letter saying it is looking at the retailer’s management of retirement plans going back to 2011.
Wal-Mart launches online gift card exchange

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart is offering an online gift card exchange called CardCash.com that will offer consumers up to 97% of the face value of another retailer’s gift card in the form of a Wal-Mart e-gift card. The retailer has set up a site where customers can enter the card number, PIN and some basic personal information so it can verify card balance before making an offer.
Amazon has a very mobile holiday

Seattle – It was a very mobile holiday season for Amazon.com. Nearly 60% of Amazon.com customers shopped using a mobile device this holiday. Mobile shopping accelerated as customers got later into the shopping season. Cyber Monday continues to be Amazon.com’s peak mobile shopping day. On Cyber Monday, Amazon customers worldwide ordered more than 18 toys per second from a mobile device.
Sears ecommerce chief resigns

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Imran Joona, executive VP of online, marketing, pricing and financial services at Sears Holding Corp., is leaving the company. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Sears said Joona resigned Dec, 17 and will leave in February 2015 to pursue a new opportunity.