News

When specialty retail apparel chain Express issued its fourth quarter guidance in early December 2013, it anticipated a promotional holiday season as well as a slowdown in traffic after the Thanksgiving week. What the company encountered, however, was a drop in traffic that was even deeper than expected because consumers waited until much closer to Christmas to shop.

Supervalu has elected Gerald Storch as chair of its board of directors. The appointment comes after Robert Miller, who has chaired the boar since March 2013, announced his resignation.

Big 5 Sporting Goods announced that their fourth-quarter sales results were affected by a lower demand year-over-year for firearms and ammunition products as well as a highly promotional retail holiday environment.  

The company reported net sales of $248 million, an increase of 1.8% from $243.6 million for the prior-year quarter. Same-store sales decreased 0.5% for the quarter versus the prior year period.

Mobile point of sale (mPOS) technology promises to continue to transform the customer’s shopping experience in 2014 and beyond. Gartner forecasts an mPOS market valued at $617 billion with 448 million users by the end of 2016, representing 42% annual growth.

Retail is one of several sectors poised to benefit from mPOS. With that in mind, here are five trends that every retailer needs to be aware of in the space.

New York -- Former Barnes & Noble executive Jamie Iannone has been appointed president and CEO of Samsclub.com in a restructuring that integrates Sam’s Club’s online business into the Walmart’s Global eCommerce business unit based in California. Previously, most of the warehouse club’s online business was run separately out of the retailer’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.

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San Jose, Calif. -- The full months of November and December 2013 suffered a brick-and-mortar customer traffic decline as compared to the same two months in 2012. According to new analysis from RetailNext, average sales decline remained at low single digits, which was aided by average growth in average transaction value (ATV) and a slightly positive 0.2% point increase in conversion.

New York -- From mobile devices to social media to 24/7 connectivity, it’s a brave new world for retail — and one that Chain Store Age will explore at its first-ever Customer Disruption event, May 7-9, 2014, at Sofitel Hotel, Redwood Shores, Calif., the Gateway to the Silicon Valley.

The H&M flagship in Times Square is designed for maximum visual impact and customer engagement. The 42,500-sq.-ft. store has an ultra-modern, high-tech look, with talking mannequins and a digital runway (customers walk the runway floor, which triggers cameras that project their images and video onto LED screens on the store façade). In the children’s department, an illuminated carousel adds to the fun.  

By Scott Jennings, director of market development, Retail & Services, QlikTech

Omni-channel is one of the most discussed (and debated) topics in the retail industry. Some proclaim that it is a total game changer, while others say it is simply the rebranding of a multi-channel strategy. I would argue the omni-channel concept is going to redefine the future of retail business intelligence.