Merchandising

Best Buy will no longer sell security software from Russian internet security company Kaspersky Lab after concerns that the company could be unduly influenced by the Russian government. This summer, the Moscow-based cybersecurity company has faced a series of allegations that it could be influenced by the Kremlin. Due to those concerns, Best Buy decided to stop…

Kmart’s new apparel ad campaign is all about celebrating — not marginalizing — “plus sized” women, while putting that full-figure label to rest for good. Kmart’s new "I Can” ad push fetes women of all shapes and sizes and marks the expansion of its signature brands (e.g., Joe Boxer, Basic Editions, Jaclyn Smith) to larger sizes…

Retailers are facing a tough combination of several major market forces: accelerated pace of innovation including digitization, increased competition, and more empowered customers. To grow — and to beat competition — it’s more important than ever that retailers offer customers the right products, in the right place at the right time. Fortunately, retailers can focus…

Thousands of new CPG products hit the shelves every year, but only a few succeed in capturing the hearts of consumers. With mass competition and limited shelf space, it’s exceptionally difficult to make a product shine. Product of the Year, the United States largest consumer survey of product innovation, is a leading authority in buying…

Secrets for optimizing inventory to maximize profits and best practices for inventory data management for multi-channel sellers.

Earlier this week, Francesca’s Holdings Corporation announced the departure of Laurie Hummel, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, after less than two years on the job. Steve Lawrence, president and CEO of Francesca's, said during an earnings call, “We have a lot of talent in our merchandising team and are confident in their ability…

Last week during an earnings call, Wal-Mart’s executive team shared that the Bonobos and ModCloth brands will soon be sold on Jet.com but not inside brick-and-mortar Wal-Mart stores. “The Jet customer demographic — millennial, urban, higher income — aligns well with the demographics of ModCloth and Bonobos,” said Wal-Mart’s spokesman Randy Hargrove in an interview with Business…

For all the emphasis the e-commerce industry places on big data, the benefits of data are proportional to its quality. Think of it this way: big data is crude oil and rich data is refined fuel. Now let’s apply it to product data: when it’s unstructured, it’s useless, but once it’s organized and enriched, it…

Gucci has filed a lawsuit against Forever 21 for allegedly knocking off its trademark stripe webbing designs. The complaint was made in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California on Tuesday. The contents of the filing include a motion to dismiss Forever 21’s earlier complaint against a threat of trademark litigation from Gucci and…

Today’s consumers have nearly endless choices when it comes to shopping. In order to compete — and win — in this increasingly competitive marketplace, it’s critical for brands and retailers to provide consumers with the information they’re looking for when researching and purchasing products, including reviews, photos and videos submitted by others like them. There…