Omnichannel

Cost cuts helped Abercrombie & Fitch Co. put a sizable dent in its net loss during first quarter 2016, but the teen apparel retailer reported lower than expected sales and earnings as store traffic declined, particularly overseas.  
 
Abercrombie reported a net loss of $39.6 million, down from $63.2 million in the year-ago period, Expense reduction efforts and the realization of savings on lower sales drove the loss reduction.
 
Net sales dropped 3% to $685.5 million from about $707 million, missing Wall Street projections.

Two events converged by 2010 that fundamentally changed how consumers shop and how retailers sell.
 
The first was that the world was enmeshed in a deep recession triggered by the collapse of financial markets in 2008. The second was that the world was going through a refresh cycle for consumer mobile phones. What happened next rocked the retail industry.
 

Retail has been the foundation of shopping centers throughout their existence, but new entertainment concepts are making inroads in traditional retail venues.
 

After months of anticipation, the 365 by Whole Foods Market discount store format has made its debut in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.
 

A 60,000-sq.-ft. Crayola Experience has opened at Mall of America, giving the massive shopping center yet another experiential component to generate traffic.
 
The Crayola Experience is a family attraction that features 25 hands-on activities inspired by Crayola products and technologies and there is also The Crayola Store offering the world's largest selection of Crayola products and unique souvenirs.
 

An innovative advocacy campaign to encourage shopping at physical stores JLL launched for Mother’s Day will debut at other key seasonal periods during the next three months.
 

Despite improved net sales, DSW Inc. saw net earnings decline substantially during the first quarter of fiscal 2017.
 
The footwear retailer reported net income of $30.01 million, down 37% from $47.37 million in the prior year quarter. Growing cost of sales and operating expenses, as well as a pretax expense from the February purchase of online footwear retailer Ebuys Inc., cut into profit even as net sales rose 4% to $681.27 million, from $655.47 million. Ebuys contributed $15.1 million in net sales.
 

Retailers will be excited by the prospect of employees that are never late and don’t need to take breaks or even be paid, but will customers accept them?