News

▲Construction and construction costs are not an exact science: Information derived from data may be predicable; people are not.

▲ The process takes time: Construction encompasses more that just the time it takes to physically build a store. It also involves the lease-negotiating phase, drawing phases, permit phase and bidding phase.

▲ Smaller spaces don’t always translate into big cost reductions: It’s often assumed that as store square footage gets smaller, the overall costs go down.

Starting with a washer and dryer, Whirlpool products will be getting smarter with the help of Nest’s learning thermostat. The appliance company plans to integrate some of its products with Nest’s thermostat.

It’s a common retail scenario: Last year, several sites deployed consistent schedules and set-points and also staged energy-consuming assets into groups that engaged at different times of the day. These executed measures led to significant kWh savings.

▲ Customer experience: Poorly maintained stores cost sales and dilute the brand and customer experience. Not giving facilities the funding required to keep stores clean and in good condition will impact the bottom line in that customers will shop elsewhere. Today, more than ever, shoppers have high expectations regarding the look and feel of a store, and they also have many more options from which to choose.

Personalization, localization, interaction, “limited edition” retail and store experience. These are the top priorities — to varying degrees — for retailers as they look to bridge the divide between online and offline retail in the physical space. Here’s a look at how it plays out in three new stores:

Every few years, a new term enters the retail IT industry lexicon and takes firm root, even though nobody can provide an actual, definitive meaning.

Stellarton, Canada – Canadian supermarket chain Sobey’s Inc. has signed a cross-Canada, long-term agreement with loyalty and marketing solutions provider Alliance Data Systems Corp. Under the agreement, Sobeys-owned banners in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Western Canada, and northwestern Ontario, will remain sponsors in the Alliance Air Miles Reward Program. In addition, other Sobeys-owned banners in western Canada will also issue Air Miles reward miles beginning in fall 2014.

Intense price competition during back-to-school season is nothing new, but the competition now occurs on the shifting sands of an increasingly dynamic online world.