News

The missing piece of omnichannel retail: returns
It’s almost time to stop using the term omnichannel retail.

Modern customers have told retailers that they expect consistency across channels during their shopping journeys. That caused some disruption several years ago, but the market responded.

Retailers that haven’t grasped the concept of omnichannel and implemented it successfully are generally out of business or losing serious market share to slicker competition. The term omnichannel has more or less become superfluous: It is now implied in the simple term retail.
TechBytes: Three ways automation is changing workforce management
The recent KronosWorks 2015 conference was held in Las Vegas, a city built on taking chances. However, increasing automation of workforce management tasks is helping retailers remove the risk from activities such as scheduling, staffing and hiring.

Here are three hot automation trends highlighted at KronosWorks that are helping retailers win the workforce management game.

Walmart, Target in Cyber Monday shift

First it was Black Friday encroaching on Thanksgiving. Now, Cyber Monday is bleeding into Sunday night with Walmart and Target employing new promotional strategies.
Hitting a holiday reset

Holiday is going to have a new look this year, as retailers take a different approach to the shopping season. As a result of consumers’ overwhelming focus on price, online shopping and free shipping incentives, retailers have been forced to rethink their strategies. As part of our ongoing series of retail industry surveys, HRC Advisory recently spoke with over a dozen top U.S. retailers to gauge what’s to come for the 2015 holiday season.
Cash receipts: not going anyway anytime soon

John Bultema, executive VP, treasury management and currency processing solutions for Fifth Third Bank, spoke with Chain Store Age editor Marianne WIlson about the current status of cash receipts in retail store. And how they aren’t going away anytime soon.
Which retailer will dominate online holiday shopping?

A familiar name factors heavily into the online holiday shopping plans of consumers.
Is REI's Black Friday rebellion paying off?

REI's plea asking shoppers to skip Black Friday and go outside has prompted nearly 1 million endorsements for the retailer's #OptOutside social media campaign.

The Seattle-based retailer announced Monday that more than 150 other companies, nonprofit organizations and agencies that support state and national parks are also encouraging people to spend Black Friday outside. As Thanksgiving approaches, REI says it plans to recognize the hundreds of thousands of people and partner organizations that are opting to enjoy the outdoors with friends and family.
All you can eat protection plans a holiday treat

Asurion Retail Solutions has introduced an unlimited device protection plan to help retailers build stronger, more connected relationships with small businesses and consumers.

The new initiative is a first-to-retail product innovation, according to Asurion, that allows retailers to serve as a single-source destination for customers’ protection coverage needs across an unlimited number of devices purchased from any retailer.
Survey: Which retailer will dominate online holiday shopping?

A familiar name factors heavily into the online holiday shopping plans of consumers.

According to a new poll from Reuters and Ipsos, 51% of consumers plan to do most or all of their online holiday shopping at Amazon.com. This dwarfs the next-most-popular specific retailer, Walmart, favored by 16%.

Other traditional and online retailers combined for the second-highest response of 18%. Other popular retailers with low responses include Target (3%) and Macys (2%).
Woman buys out entire toy store, donates it all to shelter kids

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Is Abercrombie & Fitch on the comeback trail?

It appears that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is starting to making progress in its turnaround efforts.

Helped by a less promotional stance and cost cuts, the teen retailer saw its profit more than double in its third quarter as it beat expectations. But similar to many other retailers, Abercrombie struck a cautious note and said it expects fourth-quarter same-store sales to be about flat.
Destination XL adds global strategy exec as sales grow

Destination XL says it is on pace to open its 175th store next year as the big and tall retailer also posted a jump in same-store sales and filled a newly created position with a veteran from Genesco.

For the third quarter ended Oct. 31, same store sales at the company increased 4.3%. Destination XL also narrowed its loss to $5.47 million, or 11 cents a share. In the previous year period, the company reported a loss of $6.28 million, or 13 cents a share.