News

Tech Guest Viewpoint: Click and Collect: Are U.S. Retailers Ready?
By Gary Whittemore, Experian FootFall

The quest to offer greater levels of customer convenience has seen a growing number of U.S. retailers experiment with flexible fulfilment methods, including click and collect, which offers shoppers the opportunity to pick up online orders from a store.

Although click and collect has already taken European markets by storm, adoption in the U.S. has been somewhat slower. However, U.S. organizations are now beginning to see consumer appetite rise.
Boston Marathon RunBase, Boston

Target does creative fitness deal with Lifetime

Target is flexing its marketing muscles with the introduction of a 39-minute workout regimen at Lifetime Fitness clubs to shape up sales of its proprietary C9 Champion activewear brand.
Foot Locker launches mobile app — with sneaker emoji

New York -- Foot Locker has launched its first smartphone mobile application for iOS and Android, along with 85 “Shoemoji” sneaker replica emoticons. The emoticons allow customers to share their love of sneakers in a visual way. They can also show off some of their favorite styles with the new Shoemojis.
What retailers need to know about the omnichannel revolution

Merchandising and marketing concepts such as shoppable videos, digitized stores and social campaigns on Instagram and Twitter were alien ideas to retailers just a few years ago. Not anymore, according to Tom Ebling, CEO of cloud-based e-commerce solutions provider Demandware, who has a unique perspective on what it means to be a “connected brand.”
Sam’s plays hardball with Texas football fans

Texans love their football so what better way to drive traffic at the opening of a new Sam’s Club in Austin than enlisting some of the game’s biggest legends and rising stars.

Sam’s opened a new club in Austin on April 16 and to turn up the heat in a market accustomed to warehouse club shopping the retailer drafted notable players to appeal to fans of every generation.
Brown Shoe Company rebrands at Caleres

Corporate identities don’t get more generic than Brown Shoe Company which helps explain the shift to a new name but most customers won’t even notice.
Office Depot, Walmart named top companies for women

Office Depot, along with Walmart, Target and CVS Health, have been named as top companies for women, according to the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).
Brown Shoe Company to change name, add men’s line

St. Louis -- One of St. Louis’ oldest public companies and one of the nation’s most diverse footwear companies, Brown Shoe Company, is putting a new foot forward and changing its name to “Caleres,” a Latin word that means “passionate, to glow.” The Brown name, however, will live on in a new men’s footwear business called Brown Shoe Bootmakers that the company plans to launch in 2016.
NRF, Gap support Trade Promotion Authority

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation (NRF) and Gap Inc. are both asking Congress to approve legislation that would reauthorize Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), saying such authority is critical to advancing free trade agreements.