News

Hers may not be a household name among Walmart suppliers, but few of the retailer’s executives have as much of an impact on the daily lives of trading partners as Suja Chandrasekaran.

As Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Walmart, Chandrasekaran leads the technology and data transformation underway at Walmart that is referred to as Retail Link 2.0. The information sharing system known as Retail Link was pioneered by Walmart more than two decades ago and today is used extensively by suppliers for all manner of supply chain applications.

Hamilton, Bermuda – Signet Jewelers Ltd. had a sparkly holiday season. The retailer’s eight-week fiscal 2015 holiday season sales grew 3.6%.

Signet's omnichannel strategy was successful during the holiday season. E-commerce sales increased 90.9%, and, excluding the Zale division, increased 20%. As a percent of Signet's holiday season's total sales, e-commerce increased 1.6%. Each division delivered higher e-commerce growth and penetration relative to total sales.

Retailers will hear a lot about innovation at the National Retail Federation convention this year, but the most innovative thing many will see is the trade group’s latest effort to elevate the industry’s profile.

Matthews, N.C. – Higher sales of discounted, low-margin items did not necessarily add up to a happy holiday season for Family Dollar Stores Inc. The company missed Wall Street expectations for both net income and net sales during the first quarter of fiscal 2015, even as Dollar Tree and Family Dollar both continue making preparations for a multi-billion-dollar takeover this year.

Barnes and Noble Inc. saw a sharp decline in holiday sales in its Nook e-reader division, even as its retail segment showed small improvement.

The Nook segment (including digital content, devices and accessories), had sales of $56 million for the nine-week holiday period, decreasing 55% as compared to a year ago. Device and accessories sales were $28.5 million, a decrease of 68%. Digital content sales were $27.4 million, a decline of 25%.

Barnes & Noble is expected to spin off the Nook segment into a separate business in March.

This is the age of the empowered consumer. Energized by the rapidly accelerating global growth of mobile devices, shoppers now have immediate access to data on products, prices and competitive services. In addition to shifting the balance of power away from retailers and manufacturers, the spread of information and the growth of technologically sophisticated pure-play retailers have contributed to rapidly rising expectations about just how personalized and participatory the shopping experience can be.

Lowe’s is teaming up with a key supplier to engage a new generation of shoppers with a multifaceted initiative that involves in-store and social media elements.

Tool manufacturer Dremel will be offering a series of in-store clinics at Lowe's to help families design and build a race-worthy Pinewood Derby Car. With the help of Dremel tools and accessories, participants will learn how to create a winning derby car without an elaborate set of tools.

Despite strides many retailers made this past holiday season integrating their physical and digital operations, omnichannel remains a highly underdeveloped opportunity for an industry looking to keep pace with shoppers.