News

There has been a bit of controversy lately regarding Urban Outfitters' recent request that some of their salaried employees “volunteer” to fill normally hourly roles in fulfillment centers and retail outlets. The labor community and their activist friends have been crying foul over what they perceive is the manipulation of salaried junior managers by forcing them to work “hourly” jobs and getting no additional pay or benefits.

It's changing of the guard time at Chico's FAS.

After what it called an extensive search, the retailer named industry veteran Shelley Broader as president and CEO, effective Dec. 1. She succeeds David F. Dyer, who will become vice chair of the Chico's board.

Broader brings over 25 years of experience to her new position. Most recently, she served as president and CEO of Walmart's EMEA region, responsible for retail operations and business development across Europe, the Middle East, Sub-Sahara Africa and Canada.

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube have some new competition as social commerce tools.

Visual commerce provider Curalate is releasing Curalate Reveal, a new solution enabling consumers to discover and shop products by clicking on images in blogs. Thus retailers can create shopping experiences on their own blogs or blogs of key influencers.

When it comes to respecting their privacy, consumers are less than satisfied with the retailers they shop.

According to analysis of social sentiment of more than 220,000 consumers by Capgemini Group, “Privacy Please: Why Retailers Need to Rethink Personalization,” 93% of all consumer sentiment on retail privacy was negative

When it comes to mobile engagement, retailers are wise to think of how mobile fits into the broader end-to-end shopping experience.

“That could mean location-based marketing with smartphone apps as well as reaching mobile customers with your email marketing program,” said Dan Leberman, VP/general manager, North America small and medium business, PayPal, during a recent interview with Chain Store Age. “You can see all the way through the shopping experience with a mobile-first e-commerce platform.”

It appears fraudsters are shifting their tactics online even in advance of the migration of in-store POS to EMV compliance.

The U.S. Retail Fraud Survey 2015 has reported a substantial increase in online credit card fraud. Published by Retail Knowledge and sponsored by cash handling technology provider Volumatic, the survey shows the biggest area of online loss remains, overwhelmingly, from the fraudulent use of credit cards (66%).

Retail is a lot like real estate – it’s all about location, location, location.

At least this is the conclusion of the fourth annual Mobile Path to Purchase study from location-based marketing provider xAd. The 2015 report reveals that 35% of U.S. shoppers who researched their impending purchases on their mobile device expect to buy within the hour.

In addition, those who research goods and services on the go are nearly twice as likely to purchase within the hour than those at home, and have a greater likelihood to convert in store.

Regional department store retailer Belk Inc. is using social media to make the holidays a little more fun and rewarding for its shoppers.

North Carolina-based Belk, which operates about 300 stores, has teamed up with digital marketing solutions provider HelloWorld for the return of the Santa Baby sweepstakes, now in its second year. In an effort to increase mobile opt-ins and ultimately boost brand awareness and consumer engagement, Belk and HelloWorld are allowing customers to create personalized e-cards, gifs, and TV spots.

Fresh on the heels of its announced $17.2 billion acquisition of Rite Aid, Walgreens Boots Alliance reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $26 million Wednesday — compared to a $221 million loss during the same period last year — and finished significantly ahead of analyst expectations. Net sales climbed almost 50% to $28.5 billion during the quarter, which ended August 31.

Babies “R” Us is looking to get parents thinking about holiday gifts early with in-store and innovative digital promotions appealing to “Baby’s First Christmas.”