News

Lowe's has named Michael A. Jones as the company's chief customer officer, effective April 30. Jones currently serves as Lowe's chief merchandising officer, overseeing the full merchandise offering for all Lowe's U.S. stores and Lowes.com, as well as all global sourcing activities.  

Jones will succeed Gregory M. Bridgeford, who plans to retire after 32 years with the company.

In his new role, Jones will be responsible for overseeing customer experience design, merchandising, marketing and communications and digital interfaces.

By Mark Ledbetter, Global VP Retail Strategy, SAP

The changing nature of retail combined with an ever-greater reliance on data is forcing retailers to adjust their workforce and employee skill sets accordingly. From a customer experience standpoint, most retailers are transitioning to a brick-and-click model that aims to ensure customers have a seamless shopping experience regardless of which channel they use.

Springfield, N.J. – Village Super Market Inc. reported a 69% decrease in net income during the second quarter of fiscal 2014, compared to the same period in the prior year. Net income fell to $2.8 million from $9.1 million.

General Mills Big G cereals now include four collectible comic books featuring DC Comics' Justice League characters, on shelves now through April 2014.

Four specialty issues created exclusively for General Mills, in partnership with DC Entertainment (DCE) and Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP), can be found in grocery retailers nationwide, with a bonus fifth issue available only in select boxes of Cheerios at Target.

Ottawa, Canada -- Well-executed dynamic pricing strategies, such as those deployed by Amazon and Overstock, led to higher sales during the 2013 holiday season as opposed to all-season discounting and other strategies. In its “Retail’s 2013 Holiday Winners and Losers” report, pricing intelligence vendor 360pi rated retailers’ overall financial performance for the 2013 fourth quarter on a scale from +5 (above expectations/excellent) to -5 (below expectations/very poor) based on third-party financial analysts’ overall assessments.

Sport Chek has opened a digitally savvy flagship in the largest shopping mall in North America: West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, Alberta (Canada). The sporting goods retailer has woven interactive technology and digital installations throughout the 80,000-sq.-ft., two-level space, which is designed to offer an enhanced, personalized shopping experience that connects consumers to the sports they are passionate about.

Education is the first step to safety

While debate goes on about the use of technology to reduce the potential for credit card fraud, there are basic operational steps that retailers can take now to protect customer data and minimize risk. And the starting point should be to draw up a statement of standard operating procedures (SOP) for everyone in the organization.

Over this year, four key trends will propel the industry down the path to more efficient payments.