Merchandising

In episode 101 of Total Retail Talks, Anna Cole, director of e-commerce operations, user experience and merchandising at Carhartt, a workwear manufacturer and retailer, details how the company is leveraging customers’ ratings and reviews to make more informed business decisions, particularly around merchandising its website.

Target Corp. is making some changes to the brands it sells. The retailer is beginning to phase out both the Merona and Mossimo clothing lines and, at the same time, introducing four new brands that can’t be found on competing online stores: Goodfellow & Co.: Menswear line, replacing Mossimo A New Day: the new “modern…

In episode 99 of Total Retail Talks, Peter Leff, executive vice president of wholesale, and Mark Sondheim, sales manager, team sports licensed apparel division, wholesale, both of Tommy Bahama, discuss the casual lifestyle brand's partnership with Major League Baseball (MLB) for a line of licensed apparel. Leff and Sondheim talk about why MLB is a…

Online merchandising (i.e., the art of displaying products or offers on a website with the goal of increasing sales) is an important part of any brand’s overall e-commerce strategy. Presenting products in an organized yet visually appealing way will entice site visitors to click on products, increasing the likelihood of a sale. However, merchandising teams…

Amazon Prime. Amazon Flex. Amazon Dash. Amazon Go. What’s next? Everyone jokes that Amazon.com is taking over the world, but it seems as if it's truly dominating the U.S. retail market and beyond. From supply chain to customer loyalty to a culture of innovation, Amazon is attacking retail from all angles, and the industry needs…

The fashion industry is supposed to be run by those designers who dominate fashion weeks in New York and Paris. However, in the last couple of years, the biggest changes on the catwalk haven't been the styles, but how they're presented — namely in season and ready for purchase today. The same forces that are…

Ginger Reeder, the woman who led the annual challenge of finding over-the-top gifts to feature in the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book, has decided to retire after 21 years. The Neiman Marcus Christmas Book is thought of as a kickoff to the holiday season and features extravagant gifts, like a collection of 90 first-edition great American…

Uniqlo, a leading apparel retailer, uses a direct mail catalog as part of its strategy to differentiate itself in a crowded marketplace. In the catalog, Uniqlo emphasizes that comfort — i.e., how to make a customer physically feel better — can be as important a benefit as style, value or quality in brand positioning.

Stage Stores, the company that purchased Gordmans out of bankruptcy in March, plans to turn the chain into an off-price retailer, comparable to TJ Maxx or Burlington Coat Factory. Gordmans’ current business model is a department store-off-pricer hybrid, with 80 percent of its merchandise being bought at full price. Stage Stores plans to shift this…

As we've seen lately in the retail industry, companies need to work harder to get shoppers into their stores. Some retailers offer experiences, others sales and discounts. DEBUT, a newly opened store at the Minneapolis-based Mall of America (MOA), offers a revolving collection of products to entice shoppers to walk through its door. “The goal…