News

Decline of the in-store shopper hits Pier 1 Imports
Pier 1 Imports says it is still confident in its omnichannel strategy despite a mostly flat third quarter in which the company struggled with the same soft store traffic impacting many other retailers.

For the third quarter ended Nov. 28, the specialty retailer said same store sales decreased 0.7%. Total sales decreased 2.5% (a 1.4% decrease on a constant currency basis) to $472.5 million, compared to $484.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2015. Net income $10.92 million, or 13 cents a share, vs. a profit of $17.86 million, or 20 cents a share, a year ago.
Burberry makes marketing dreams a reality
Burberry is teaming up with top-flight partners including movie studio Dreamworks and Google to deliver next-generation marketing campaigns that include interactive 3-D displays and real-time video promotions. [Media Post]

7 ways CVS is driving growth in its stores

At CVS Health’s annual Analyst Day held Wednesday here, Helena Foulkes, CVS/pharmacy president, shared significant details on the progress CVS Health has made to drive growth in its stores.
Study: Online sales, browsing come from different sources

This holiday season, both laptop/desktop computers and mobile phones will play a critical role in the online path to purchase.

According to a new study of more than 1,000 U.S, consumers from online discount platform Ebates, more than half of Americans (53%) are choosing to use their laptops to shop this holiday season, followed by their home computer (39%) and their mobile phone (24%).
Michael Reif
CVS Health enterprise on solid footing; raises midpoint of earnings outlook

At its annual Analyst Day in New York Wednesday morning, CVS Health raised the midpoint of its earnings outlook for 2016.
Kohl's to stay open more than 170 straight hours

Kohl's is pulling out all the stops in the hopes of increasing holiday sales this season by staying open through Christmas Eve.

Kohl's plans to keep its doors open for more than 170 hours straight from 7 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 17 through 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Thursday, Dec. 24 as an added convenience to holiday shoppers. In addition to extended store hours for last-minute shopping, customers will find special savings opportunities on Super Saturday, Dec. 19, and time-saving conveniences such as buy online, pick up in store for last minute gifts.
Queen of mail-order catalogs dies at 88

Lillian Vernon, who grew a home business selling monogrammed pocketbooks and belts, into one of America's best-known mail-order businesses, died on Monday. She was 88.

Vernon and her family came to the United States in 1937 as Jewish immigrants from Germany fleeing Hitler. She was newly married and pregnant with her first child when she started her business in 1951.

The Lillian Vernon Corp. was the first company owned by a woman to be listed on the American Stock Exchange, in 1987, according to the New York Times.
Study: Delivery providers stumble in key metric

In the first part of December, delivery providers experienced difficulties that probably left some holiday shoppers less than merry.

According to analysis of what more than 130,000 shoppers said in surveys about on-time deliveries of their full orders between Dec. 1 - Dec. 10 by Bizrate Insights, a division of Connexity, the timeliness trend is clearly downward.
Fujitsu: Major changes in store for retail by 2020

The next five years will see continued consumer adoption of advanced technology drastically alter how retail is conducted.

According to a new study from Fujitsu Americas, 50% of retail will be automated by 2020. Advancements in enterprise technology, supported by Big Data playing a larger behind-the-scenes role, will allow retailers to offer enhanced front-end experiences using mobile platforms, smart sensors and social media.