News

Amazon wears Prada
Seattle – Amazon.com is not the devil by any means, but the e-commerce giant is reportedly interested in “wearing” Prada and other high-end brand names on its site. According to Bloomberg, Amazon is in the midst of a major push to become a player in the word of designer fashion retailing.
NRF, RILA applaud tentative port deal
The National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association are celebrating a tentative agreement on a labor dispute that caused problems at 29 West Coast ports.

Retailers have warned for months that the impasse in negotiations was creating an economic challenge, and that a full-scale strike would negatively impact the entire American economy. Farmers and manufacturers were also reporting a heavy toll as agriculture exports suffered and part shortages were leading to factory slowdowns for some automakers.

Seven Retail Megatrends for 2020

By Shah Karim, Saferock

If it hasn't done so already, the consumer experience will undoubtedly include omnichannel shopping, mobile, and social media as part of what consumers do naturally. Based on this inevitable evolution of how customers engage with retailers, here are seven retail “megatrends” which will become reality by 2020.
Tech Bytes: Three Takeaways From the Cybersecurity Summit

The White House recently hosted a daylong Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection at Stanford University. Speakers ranged from President Barack Obama to Apple CEO Tim Cook to Walgreens president Alex Gourlay). Here are a few takeaways.

Retailers Recognize Chip and PIN
Sears/Kmart: We’re still in business, growing?

Sears Holdings continues to lose money –- lots of it –- and same store sales declined again during the holidays, but the severity of the company’s losses have diminished, which has Chairman and CEO Edward Lampert believing further improvement is coming as the company transforms to what he calls “a leading integrated membership-focused company.”
Finish Line adds two-store Striders to its Running Specialty Group unit

Denver - The Finish Line’s Running Specialty Group (RSG) division, which operates 70 stores, is adding the two-store, Utah-based Striders running company to its national network.

RSG operates in 16 states and the District of Columbia under a variety of banners.

Striders was founded in 2004 by John and Kristin Wojciechowski, who will now join RSG in senior advisory roles and will focus on developing community initiatives to enhance the customer experience.
Nordstrom wins with customers, not Street, in Q4

Nordstrom is doing all the right things when it comes to store traffic, e-commerce and customer service, but it wasn’t enough for Wall Street in the fourth quarter.

Nordstrom’s same store sales grew 4.7% in the fourth quarter; online sales grew to now represent 40% of the store’s business. And just this month the company was ranked No. 1 in the United States in terms of customer service, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
Belk omnichannel Santa promotion a big success

Charlotte, N.C. – Nothing succeeds like success, and 300-plus-store department store chain Belk Inc. took a previously successful TV holiday campaign and modernized it for the omnichannel era, with impressive results.
Report: RadioShack cleared to sell 1,100 store leases

RadioShack has received court approval for its plan to sell the leases to more than 1,100 stores that it will close by the end of February, according to Reuters.
Survey: Retailers using mobile POS to grow 300%

Nearly 300% more retailers plan to use mobile POS in the next two years, according to a special report by Boston Retail Partners (BRP).

The study, “Mobile Technology – Transforming the Customer Experience,” forecasts that the use of mobile technology for other customer-facing activities in retail will also dramatically grow in the next two years. For example, approximately 200% more retailers plan to use geolocation within three years. And 350% more retailers plan to support NFC payments by October 2015.