Data & Analytics

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in June 2012 vs. June 2013 and noticed some common overall trends across top retail chains. Although Staples and Walmart each saw large year-over-year increases in circular page count, page count was fairly stable overall, with none of these key retailers seeing a decrease of more than 13%.

Every week, retailers unleash significant advertising and promotion efforts in the perpetual competition to engage shoppers, drive trips and grow sales. Annual retail sales and market share are the result of the competition that played out in the preceding 52 individual weeks, and many companies highly value “winning the week.” But some weeks can be much more competitive than others, creating challenges for retailers also facing strong pressures to be efficient and limit costs.

New York -- Walmart has launched the latest installment of its social media-inspired merchandising initiative known as, “Get on the Shelf.”

The program, developed by the company’s digital think tank @WalmartLabs, affords entrepreneurs the ability to have their product featured on Walmart.com and possibly in select Walmart stores. The company issued an open call to anyone with an interesting product to enter between now and July 31 by submitting a video to https://getontheshelf.walmart.com.

Long Beach, N.Y. – For five-store women’s specialty retailer Ooh La La Boutiques, maintaining strong customer awareness is critical for successfully competing with larger, more established brands in its crowded vertical. Add in the impact of Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath on this chain which is located in and around Long Island, and you have a business in need of personal connection with its customers.

Los Gatos, Calif. – Crocs will implement Centric Software’s product lifecycle management software. Crocs will implement the full Centric 8 PLM suite to manage its product development process, including concept, design and sourcing.

The company will implement the Centric system on a worldwide basis to hundreds of users, including Crocs suppliers and partners. Crocs will integrate Centric 8 with its SAP enterprise software, according to Dale Bathum, Crocs’ chief product officer.

New York -- RadioShack Corp. unveiled its new concept store, opening a location on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The store showcases a number of the features that will be part of a new generation of RadioShack stores that will be rolled out in locations throughout the United States and internationally over the next several months. The new concept is part of a wider initiative by new CEO Joseph C. Magnacca, who took the reins in February, to turn around the ailing chain.
   

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. — Leading home furnishings retailer Ikea has extended its partnership with ECOtality, a clean electric transportation and storage technologies company, and plans to add 24 Blink electric vehicle charging stations across eight more locations in the United States.

Walmart has begun the latest installment of its social media-inspired merchandising initiative known as, "Get on the Shelf."

The program, developed by the company’s digital think tank @WalmartLabs, affords entrepreneurs the ability to have their product featured on Walmart.com and possibly in select Walmart stores. The company issued an open call to anyone with an interesting product to enter between now and July 31 by submitting a video to https://getontheshelf.walmart.com.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Shop.org, the digital arm of the National Retail Federation, has re-elected Scot Wingo, co-founder and CEO of ChannelAdvisor, a leading provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions for retailers and manufacturers, to its board of directors.

Wingo was re-elected to the 20-member board for another two-year term by existing Shop.org members along with executives from Belk, HSN, Razorfish, Tory Burch and Urban Outfitters. 

East Cleveland, Ohio -- A switch from fluorescent lights to LED in its frozen-food cases will result in total annual energy and maintenance savings of approximately $570,000 for Stater Bros. The supermarket retailer has retrofitted the cases in nearly all of its 166 stores with GE’s LED refrigerated display lighting,

After evaluating lighting options, Stater Bros.’ retail marketing team chose GE’s 17-watt Immersion RV40 LED systems to replace the 60-watt fluorescent fixtures in freezer cases.