News

It’s money that matters for back-to-school shoppers
Framingham, Mass. – There are a lot of things parents look for when doing back-to-school shopping, but as Randy Newman once sang, it’s money that matters.

A new online survey of parents of children ages 8-18, commissioned by Staples and conducted by Harris Poll, finds that price is the top consideration for 86% of these parents when buying school supplies.

Highlights of Staples 2015’ Back-to-School Parents Survey include:
Small supermarkets manage big workforce issues in the cloud
Paragould, Ark. – Even smaller retailer still have to handle big issues relating to effectively managing workforce management processes. That’s why small-to-mid-sized supermarket chains such as Paragould, Arkansas-based Hays Supermarkets and Brockton, Massachusetts-based Vicente’s Tropical Grocery are relying on the cloud-based Kronos Workforce Ready Suite.

Are men the same as women when it comes to shopping?

San Diego – Contrary to popular wisdom that women desire a highly interactive shopping experience while men just want to be left alone, the two genders may actually have some similar retail preferences.

According to Interactions Marketing’s latest Retail Perceptions report, “Does Gender Influence Shopping Behavior?” men and women’s shopping behaviors have many similarities.
Jockey mixes money with technology in C-suite

Kenosha, Wis. – Some things are traditionally assumed not to mix – oil and water, cats and dogs, finance and IT. While the CFO has been taking a more active role in high-level IT decision-making in recent years, vertical apparel retailer Jockey International Inc. mixes money with technology more than most of its competitors.

The Wall Street Journal reports that privately held Jockey recently hired Dain Bussewitz, former VP of finance at Abercrombie & Fitch, to assume the combined role of CIO and CFO.
Millennial moms drawn by beacons

Los Angeles – It may be hard to believe, but many members of the ballyhooed millennial generation (defined by the U.S. Census as born between 1982 and 2000) are now moms. To reach millennial moms, new data released by beacon proximity platform inMarket suggests retailers should use beacon and proximity-based engagement platforms.
Advance Auto Parts shifts into high financial gear

Roanoke, Va. – Advance Auto Parts Inc. is shifting into high gear when it comes to finance. The retailer has been selected to join the prestigious Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 stock index at the close of business July 8, replacing Family Dollar Stores Inc.
Don’t tell the kids: Mom and Dad are getting ready for school

Los Angeles - Although summer vacations have just begun for many schoolchildren, parents already have back-to-school shopping on their minds.

According to the new Consumer Pulse survey of parents with kids in grades K-12 and college from Rubicon Project, 56% of respondents said they plan to spend more money per child than they did last year to prepare the students for the upcoming school year.
BJ’s keeps up the store with Toshiba TCxCare maintenance service

Westborough, Mass. – Keeping up the store is never an easy prospect, especially when you operate hundreds of stores with POS applications and peripherals from multiple vendors. To ensure store upkeep, at least from a hardware perspective, BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. has selected Toshiba TCxCare to manage and be the single point of contact for “wall to wall” maintenance services at its 200 stores.
Boy Scouts prepare for better store experience

Irving, Texas - Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has always lived by the motto “Be Prepared,” and that spirit extends to its in-store retail activities.

The youth organization has selected Raymark's store management software suite for deployment in its 182 Scout Shops, 220 independent Council Shops, High Adventure Trading Posts and temporary Scout sales locations.
Tech Guest Viewpoint: Five Ways EMV will Help Smaller Retailers

Today, nearly half of the world’s payment cards are EMV-enabled, meaning that the cards are embedded with special computer chips that help reduce counterfeit card fraud. The cards also protect retailers and consumers against losses caused by this fraud. The prevalence of EMV cards will only continue to increase with the upcoming liability shift in the U.S. in October, when merchants that are not EMV-compliant will be held liable for financial losses incurred from counterfeit card fraud.
This retailer wants in on omnichannel action

If ever a retailer’s product assortment cried out for an omnichannel approach it would be the fast-growing Batteries Plus Bulbs chain where customers are drawn by an offering of 50,000 unique items.

The chain of 650 stores, with 50 more units in the works this year, recently introduced a new Web site with the goal of tightly integrating its digital and expanding physical presence.
Mommy, I want a Bearded Dragon

A unique traffic generating and sales diversification promotion that doesn’t involved dogs and cats will take place at Petco stores nationwide on July 18.

The operator of more than 1,400 locations plans to host a two hour Reptile Rally on Saturday July 18 where the objective is to expose customers to the world of reptiles, create interest in ownership and the wide range of products that are available.