News

JLL report: Three strategies retailers are using to attract holiday shoppers
New data from JLL’s 2014 Holiday Sentiment Report, which includes feedback from 800 largely national or global retailers in JLL-managed shopping centers across the United States, suggests retailers are optimistic about store performance, but are fighting the “survival of the fittest” match.
Forrester: Online holiday spending to rise 13% to $89 billion
New York --Forrester Research said Monday it expects U.S. online sales to reach $89 billion in November and December. That's up 13%, or about $10 billion, over a year ago. But Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru noted that the expected growth is not as high as it could be due to a few unique constraints, including fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and capacity constraints in the already constrained carrier networks.

Brand Keys: Holidays sales to grow 4%; apparel/accessories top categories

New York -- Retail sales this holiday season will grow about 4%, according to a survey by brand loyalty and customer engagement consultancy Brand Keys. In the 2014 Brand Keys Holiday Shopping survey, 54% of consumers indicated they were going to start holiday shopping in November, “a trend we’ve commented upon for a number of years,” said Brand Keys founder and president Robert Passikoff.
Kmart to stay open for 42 hours straight, starting at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holiding Company joined the growing list of retailers with extended shopping hours on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Sears and Kmart stores will open on Thanksgiving Day, with Sears opening at its earliest time ever: 6 p.m, two hours earlier than last year. Kmart will open its doors for 42 hours straight, from 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving to midnight on Black Friday.
Saks Fifth Avenue partners with MasterCard on holiday window display and light show

New York -- Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship in Manhattan will unveil its holiday window display and light show on Monday, Nov. 24. Presented by MasterCard, the show will integrate LEDs, strobes, up-lights, video projections and music.
360pi, JDA align on omnichannel pricing

Scottsdale, Ariz. -- 360pi and JDA Software are partnering to optimize local pricing recommendations for retailers. This partnership integrates 360pi’s zone-based pricing intelligence for national and private label brands with JDA’s rules-based Strategic Pricing solution, part of JDA’s larger Price and Promotion Management portfolio.
Guest Commentary: Dawn of the HVAC “Internet of Things” Revolution

By Paul Rauker, VP of systems and controls at Daikin Applied
Verifone and MasterCard pilot card-linked taxi offers

San Jose, Calif. -- Verifone and MasterCard are providing Las Vegas taxi cab passengers with card-linked offers in a pilot program running from from Nov. 2-6. Targeted offers from merchants, in this case The Hard Rock Café on the Las Vegas strip, the Bali Hai and Royal Links golf courses and Dream Racing at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, are displayed to taxi passengers on VNET–Taxi TV screens integrated with Verifone payment terminals.
Verifone expands secure commerce architecture, rebrands

San Jose, Calif. -- Verifone is making its secure commerce architecture, designed to significantly reduce merchant exposure to large-scale data breaches, available globally. The new architecture is also designed to reduce the certification burden on U.S. merchants, acquirers and other payment providers looking to enable EMV acceptance.
Webinar: Forever 21 Matches Styles to Consumer Demand with Oracle Retail

On Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2014, at 2 p.m. ET, Forever 21 and Oracle Retail offer a webinar about how technology can help retailers meet consumer demand with their assortments.
Epson’s smart printers offer innovative peripheral connectivity for tablet-based POS

Long Beach, Calif. –- To meet the growing demand for cost-effective, reliable peripheral connectivity in mobile and tablet POS environments, Epson offers two new OmniLink smart printers, the TM-T88V-i and the TM-T20II-i.
Kurt Salmon hires PwC vet in retail group

New York –- Kurt Salmon has named Brian Ehrig as a partner in its Retail and Consumer Products Group. Ehrig has spent the last 16 years creating new operational strategies and product offerings for retail and consumer goods companies, as well as leading transformation projects, including those for new market entrances and involving new retail concepts. Ehrig's most recent role was director at PwC.