News

Best Buy opening earlier on Thanksgiving
The dishes from Thanksgiving dinner will barely be dry when Best Buy stores open at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 28, to treat shoppers to an early wave of doorbuster deals.
Report: Retailers unprepared for rise in mobile shoppers
Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Mobile shopping is expected to reach new highs this holiday season, but retailers aren’t prepared to meet customers’ mobile needs, according to a new CFI Group study, sponsored by eBay Enterprise.

REI hires first chief creative officer

Leading national outdoor gear and apparel retailer REI named agency executive Ben Steele as the company's first ever chief creative officer.

Steele most recently served as executive creative director at Hornall Anderson in Seattle, a globally recognized brand experience design agency with additional offices in London and New York. He will start in his role at REI's headquarters on January 1, 2015.
Best Buy to open 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving, one hour earlier than last year

Minneapolis -- Best Buy has joined the ranks of retailers that have moved up the time their stores will open on Thanksgiving Day. The consumer electronics giant said Tuesday that some 1,000 of its stores will open at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, which is one hour earlier than last year. The stores will close at 1 a.m. Friday before reopening at 8 a.m. on November 28 (Black Friday) and close at 10 p.m. that day.
RetailNext names IBM exec to marketing role

Marc Dietz has joined big data analytics provider RetailNext as chief marketing officer.

Dietz joins RetailNext from IBM where he led worldwide marketing for the company's SaaS portfolio, including multiple acquisitions such as DemandTec, Coremetrics, and Silverpop. Prior to the $440 million acquisition of DemandTec by IBM, Dietz led all marketing efforts at the cloud-based analytics provider for retailers and consumer products companies. He helped grow DemandTec from an early stage through IPO in 2007, and the IBM transaction in 2012, according to RetailNext.
Aaron’s names head of Progressive Leasing unit as new CEO

Atlanta -- Aaron's announced today that John W. Robinson III, executive VP of Aaron's and CEO of its Progressive Leasing unit, has been named CEO of Aaron's, effective Monday, Nov. 10, 2014.
Are you talking to me?

Recently, I participated in a strategic conference that included several sessions on how to effectively use advertising and promotion to reach moms, millennials, multiculturals and other shopper segments. Not surprisingly, significant emphasis was placed on the use of emerging digital and mobile media. But each session also reinforced that traditional media including television, radio, retail feature ads, and Free Standing Insert (FSI) coupons should not be undervalued.
TechBytes: Three Ways SAP Bilt Enhances Customer Experience

About a year ago, I wrote a TechBytes column about a concept app called “Snap", which SAP had developed to provide consumers with interactive instructions for assembling products at home. After some fine-tuning, SAP is now officially launching a DIY home assembly app called “Bilt” for Android and iOS tablet devices.
If the app fits, wear it

Stride has developed a new app called RiteFit that allows an iPad to be used as a device to accurately determine a child’s shoe size.
RetailNext names IBM exec as chief marketing officer

San Jose, Calif. -- RetailNext Inc., a leader in applied Big Data for physical retail, named Marc Dietz as its chief marketing officer. Dietz comes to RetailNext most recently from IBM where he led worldwide marketing for the company’s SaaS portfolio, including multiple acquisitions such as DemandTec, Coremetrics, and Silverpop.