Data & Analytics

As the retail experience becomes increasingly digitally-influenced, retailers need a flexible point-of-sale (POS) system that can deliver a consistent brand experience at store level.    Nordstrom is taking steps to make this happen through a partnership with Infor to run POS in the cloud. Having a POS system in the cloud will give Nordstrom the tools to be more accurate and consistent across multiple locations, attend to customers more quickly, and better manage and track information, according to Infor.   

Bolstered by positive consumer indicators, retail CFOs are largely optimistic for 2017. But competition and consolidation could cloud their outlook.    That’s according to BDO USA’s 11th annual Retail Compass Survey of CFOs, in which respondents predict a 4.9% bump in total sales this year, up from 3.4% in 2016. The bullish predictions are echoed by online sales projections, with a 10.7% increase expected for the year ahead — the highest in survey history.   

Destination XL Group is slowing store growth to invest in e-commerce and enhanced marketing that includes a return to television advertising.   The retailer of big and tall men’s clothing on Monday reported better-than-expected net income of $1.8 million for the quarter, after reporting a loss of $1.4 million in the year-ago period.   Total sales for the quarter were reported as $122.6 million, down slightly from $124.0 million in the prior-year quarter. Same-store sales fell 2.4%.  

Saks Fifth Avenue is the latest retailer to compromise the personal data of some of its shoppers.   Saks inadvertently exposed personal information, including email ad-dresses and phone numbers of some of its shoppers on its online shop-ping site this weekend, according to BuzzFeed News.   

Delhaize America is always striving to reduce inventory levels, yet still maintain fresh perishables as they move between its distribution centers and stores.   Besides being a challenge, managing fresh and short-shelf-life products is called one of the toughest tasks related to retail planning. Delhaize hopes to ease this struggle with a new supply chain solution from Relex that will forecast and replenish perishable categories within its distribution centers.  

Time-starved shoppers expect their favorite grocers to have the staples they need when they enter the store — and supermarkets are hard-pressed to deliver.  

That was fast.   The Kroger Co. wasted no time in naming a replacement for Jeff Burt, president of Fred Meyer Stores, who resigned on Monday, March 20, to head up Target’s grocery business.    Kroger tapped company veteran Joe Grieshaber as president of Fred Meyer Stores, immediately.  

Despite the growth of online shopping, brick and mortar stores are still critical to retail success.   “Retail stores are not dead,” said Shelley E. Kohan, VP of retail consulting at RetailNext Inc. “The retailers who continue to embrace change in their business models will be well positioned for today and in the future."