News

Heating and air-conditioning systems are major targets for reducing energy use in retail stores. It’s easy to see why: Together, heating and cooling systems consume approximately 38% of the energy used in such facilities (according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program).

By Kumar Venkataraman

Over the last decade, America’s Atlantic shores have faced the wrath of more than a dozen hurricanes, causing damage worth several billion dollars. Year after year, retailers have been learning and fine-tuning their strategies to respond to the critical needs of consumers in the impacted areas, both in preparing for a disaster and immediately after.

Mystery shopper reports served as a wake-up call to Kroger’s 131-store Fred Meyer division.

In 2009, Fred Meyer stores scored a meager 68.3% in overall customer impression in the reports. But over the past three years, the number has jumped to 83.8%, according to data provided by Reality Check of Seattle, the retailer’s secret shopper service provider.

With an eye on expansion, both from customer engagement and operational perspectives, retailers are eager to revitalize their brands and overall shopping experiences, according to industry experts. The upcoming 102nd annual NRF Convention & EXPO, produced by The National Retail Federation, Washington, D.C., promises to educate attendees on these and other business strategies.

Loyalty programs may be commonplace across the retail industry, but few are capable of rewarding members on a personal level. Société de transport de Montréal (STM) may not be a retailer, but retail chains can learn a valuable lesson from how the transportation company rewards individual consumers for their loyalty.

The strategic role that IT plays in retail is evident as retailers across the board continue to up their technology investments. And with retail innovation being driven largely by tech-related advances in customer analytics, mobile and social commerce, and cross-channel strategies, IT spending is expected to remain a top priority.

But with increased investment comes the risk of overspending, warned NPI, a spend-management consulting firm that works with large retailers to maximize IT and telecom spending.

Traditionally, cash office management and the reconciliation process have relied on manual procedures, such as counting currency and coin by hand, creating handwritten check deposits, and keying totals into the POS system. Many retailers have used the same cash office procedures for years, with the procedures inconsistently executed from store to store. Chain Store Age talked with Balance Innovations’ Janette Davis about how technology is bringing new efficiencies to cash office management.

The life of any top-level retail executive is hectic, but there’s a whole host of mobile app tools to help manage everyday tasks and ultimately boost efficiency.

From keeping track of to-do lists and meetings to eliminating paper receipts needed for expense reports, here are eight essential iOS and Android apps every retail exec should download — and actually use:

By many accounts, Walgreens is already a mobile retailing veteran. But eager to keep its service exciting and valuable, the drug store chain recently added a new product-mapping service within its mobile strategy.

Walgreens began its mobile journey in September 2009, when it launched an app designed to “improve the way our customers interact with us,” explained Tim McCauley, senior director, mobile commerce for Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreens.

By Phillip M. Perry

Overcast with clearing skies — That’s the economic forecast from a major research firm as retailers enter a new year. Drizzly conditions will remain at least for the first half of 2013 as consumers hold tight to their pocketbooks. By the summer, though, light should break through the clouds as the resolutions of critical national uncertainties encourage corporate hiring, capital investment and consumer spending.