News

Three Trends Impacting Retail Tech Outsourcing in 2016
Information technology outsourcing (ITO), or the strategic hosting and management of technology solutions, services and personnel by a third-party provider, is a popular way for retailers to quickly increase their technological capabilities, and also lower their IT-related capital expenditure.

Jeff Seabloom, managing director at Dallas-based global advisory firm Alsbridge Inc., spoke with Chain Store Age about three trends he sees having a major impact on retail ITO in 2016.
TechBytes: Three Ways to Extend Holiday Shopping Joy—and Profits
When retailers execute their IT and CRM strategies properly, the holiday shopping season is a joyous time of profits and customer engagement. But why let all the festivities end on Dec. 25?

By properly leveraging solutions and strategies, retailers can extend the season of consumer goodwill (and spending) right into the New Year. As “Cyber Week” fades into memory, let’s focus on the week (or weeks) after the end of the traditional holiday season. Here are three suggestions to keep that holiday spirit alive a little longer this year.

Report: Judge OKs sales of 47 Haggen stores

Haggen has received approval from a federal bankruptcy court to sell 47 stores. Included in the sale are 33 supermarkets to Albertsons LLC, which formerly owned the stores. Albertsons sold the stores to Haggen just less than 12 months ago.

Click here to read more.
Spotlight on Lowe’s Innovation Labs: Q&A with executive director Kyle Nel

Chain Store Age recently spoke with Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs, who discussed the mission and activities of the retailer’s proprietary technology development center.
Pier I “popping” up—but not with a store

Pier 1 Imports is celebrating the holidays with two unusual pop-up experiences.

The home décor retailer is creating a life-sized, pop-up book installation, open to the public from December 2 – 6, in downtown Manhattan.

It also is sending a limited edition, holiday pop-up catalog, created in collaboration with award-winning paper engineer Bruce Foster, to select customers. To see a video of the pop-up catalog, click here.
Retailers with the best return policies—and the worst

When it comes to return policies, Nordstrom and Forever 21 couldn’t be further apart.

At least that’s according to an annual survey of return policies by GOBankingRates.com. The study rated Nordstrom as offering the best return policies of 2015, with Forever 21 offering the worst.

“Return policies should be a big consideration for holiday shoppers — two-thirds of people return at least one holiday gift,” said Elyssa Kirkham, lead reporter on the GOBankingRates study.
Retail forecast 2016

How will retailers fare in 2016? Very well, according to experienced market watchers.

“We expect core retail sales to grow 5.3% in 2016,” says Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics for Moody’s Analytics, a research firm based in West Chester, Pa. (Core retail sales exclude volatile revenues from auto sales and gas stations.)

That is notably faster than the 4.2% rate anticipated when 2015 sales are finally tallied. The 2015 experience was, again, slightly better than that the 3.9% growth of 2014.
NRF: Holiday weekend brings big in-store and online shoppers; online has edge

Huge numbers of shoppers feasted on deals over Thanksgiving weekend, but how and when Americans did so has forever changed, as online activity exceeded store visits.
Lessons retailers learned this Black Friday

Huge numbers of shoppers feasted on deals over Thanksgiving weekend, but how and when Americans did so has forever changed, as online activity exceeded store visits.

Retailers such as Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Macy’s spoke of well executed promotional strategies that leveraged their physical and digital presence and those insights were validated by data from the National Retail Federation’s Thanksgiving Weekend Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.
Black Friday still a big thing in Britain

Black Friday may not be what it used to be in the United States, but the tradition has caught on big time across the pond, according to a report by the New York Times.
Retailers with the best--and worst--return policies

When it comes to return policies, Nordstrom and Forever 21 couldn’t be further apart.
Smart & Final expands California footprint

It’s official: Smart & Final Stores is acquiring 32 Haggen stores in Central and Southern California.