News

Are Retailers Giving Away Too Much?
The holiday promotion season is fast approaching with the arrival of Thanksgiving and Black Friday. From that moment the race is on for customer dollars through to the New Year. We’ve all been through this many times, and it seems like no sooner has one season finished than we are shortly into planning for the next. But what impact are the prices we set having on customer behavior and the profits of retailers?
Target, nationwide
Target Corp. is giving the bargain-priced, impulse section located in the front of its stores a makeover.

The retailer is transforming the popular department into “Bullseye’s Playground,” and the chain’s iconic mascot, Bullseye, will be located on the top of each display.

Start-up looks to steer customers to purchases

Plug and Play brings together retailers and start-ups that offer specific technology and expertise that can relieve merchants’ pain points. Chain Store Age offers a Q&A with the head of one of those start-ups, Wibe Wagemans, president of Palo Alto, California-based IndoorAtlas.

What does your company do?
Kroger-Roundy's deal makes Chicagoans nervous

For much of the past decade Kroger's growth stragey has depended on acquiring regional grocery chains. But Kroger's move to acquire a beloved MIdwestern chain has many shoppers there in an uproar.

Read more by clicking here.
H-E-B takes the lead on grocery e-commerce

Shoppers all across the country who long for a taste of salsa from San Antonio or tortilla chips from Dallas will love the latest news from Texas-based grocery chain H-E-B.
The Shops at Merchants Walk development connects mall district with downtown

Huntsville, Ala. -- RCP Companies announced the opening of the first phase of The Shops at Merchants Walk located in Huntsville, Alabama. The property features 90,000-sq. ft. of shopping and dining experience, including the only Whole Foods Market in North Alabama along with high-end shopping options. The development extends Parkway Place retail node and connects it to the Central Business District.
Bloomingdale's ad sparks outrage on social media

Bloomingdale's is apologizing after critics said one of its holiday advertisements appeared to promote date rape. The luxury department store owned by Macy's Inc apologized for the 'inappropriate' eggnog advertisement on Tuesday. [Reuters]
Amazon primes U.K. for grocery delivery

Amazon.com has been busy expanding its same-day Prime delivery options across the U.S., and now it is hopping the pond.

Amazon U.K. has launched Amazon Pantry, a nationwide service for Prime members. Amazon Pantry offers more than 4,000 everyday grocery items, including food and drink, household supplies, baby and child care, pet, and health and beauty products.
Tech Bytes: Three Ways SAP Makes Commerce a Community Event

Seamless commerce is constantly evolving, and SAP is attempting to stay at the front of the curve with its new SAP Jam Communities with Commerce solution. The cloud-based customer engagement tool is natively built on the SAP Jam enterprise social collaboration platform, and also integrates with the SAP hybris commerce management platform.

At a recent event in Boston, SAP explained how the new solution enables retailers to build community pages that support and drive seamless commerce. Here are three of the most innovative community page features.
Telling the real stories of retail

At NRF, we like to think of ourselves as the industry’s chief storyteller. As the nation’s largest private-sector employer, with 3.7 million retail establishments across the country employing close to 30 million people serving every community in the nation, retail has a lot of stories to tell.