Data & Analytics

Ikea on the move
St. Louis -- Ikea is expanding in the Midwest.

The chain will open a store in St. Louis on Sept. 30. It will be the Swedish company’s first store in Missouri, and 41st in the United States.

The 380,000-sq.-ft. St. Louis Ikea is being built on 21 acres along Interstate-64 at Vandeventer Avenue. It will house Missouri’s largest rooftop solar array, consistent with the Ikea renewable energy presence at 90% of its U.S. locations.
Capex Spending Grows More Complex
E-commerce infrastructure and cybersecurity initiatives. HVAC equipment upgrades and energy management systems. These days, retail CFOs must allocate capital expenditures to an ever-growing list of components — not all visible to the public but critical to corporate health. And while the role of the retail CFO has broadened considerably in recent years, becoming more strategic and more integral to business decision-making, capex spending remains a top item on their agenda.

“The CFO’s role in prioritizing investments, in what gets done, is still there.

Interpersonal Relations

Retailers use variety of technologies, channels for CRM success

Customer relationship management (CRM) is the strategy a retailer uses to develop an ongoing, individual relationship with a customer to ensure satisfaction and loyalty. But the specifics of CRM can mean different things for different retailers.
Tuesday Morning starts hunt for new CFO

Dallas – Executive shuffling continues at off-price retailer Tuesday Morning Corp, which is now searching for a new CFO.

The company announced that Jeffrey N. Boyer, executive VP, chief administrative officer and CFO, has resigned his position effective July 22. Boyer, 57, will assume the role of executive VP and CFO at Pier 1 Imports Inc. on July 27.
Amazon heads east with cloud computing

Seattle – Amazon.com is heading east with its Amazon Web Services (AWS) hosted cloud computing platform – all the way to India.

AWS will launch an “infrastructure region” in India in 2016, meaning customers there will have access to locally based hosted cloud services.
Robocalls? Not for PayPal customers

San Jose, Calif. – PayPal Inc, which came under public scrutiny and criticism after announcing a new privacy policy that would require users to allow prerecorded or automated “robocalls” and texts, has backpedaled on that requirement.

In a statement posted on the PayPal site, general counsel and company secretary Louise Pentland cleared up “confusion” around the new policy, which takes effect July 1.
Survey: Consumers not too trusting when it comes to data security with retailers

Blue Bell, Pa. – The government is not typically an institution that inspires consumer confidence, and when it comes to protecting personal data, neither is the retail industry.

A large percentage of Americans believe that a breach of their personal data held by a retailer or a government agency is likely within the next year, according to the 2015 Unisys Security Insights survey released today by Unisys Corp. in partnership with Lieberman Research Group.
Five Ways Mobile Can Differentiate the Store Experience

It’s no secret that the rise of mobile devices is empowering consumers and altering the way they shop. But mobile isn’t just changing the game for consumers. It’s also empowering chain stores to take advantage of those behavior changes to strengthen customer relationships and distinguish the in-store experience.

Here are five simple ways that chain stores can take advantage of mobile devices like tablets to enhance and differentiate the in-store experience and drive sales:
Boot Barn steps up omnichannel strategy

Boot Barn has taken a significant step forward in its e-commerce strategy now that its acquisition of Sheplers is complete.
Pier 1 names industry veteran as CFO

Pier 1 Imports has named a former finance executve of Michaels, Kmart and Sears as its new chief financial officer.
Meijer exec and growers talk local commitment

In the midst of its strongest growth in year, Meijer and its produce partners are touting the company’s $100 million locally grown commitment.
Walmart aims to collect all supplier content

Walmart is appealing to suppliers – even those who don’t sell it merchandise – to share their complete product catalog with the company in the name of providing shoppers accurate, up-to-date and comprehensive information.

The goal of a new pilot program according to a blog post on Walmartlabs.com written by global head of content acquisition, Ram Rampalli, is to solve a universal problem by delivering exceptional product content.