Merchandising

CVS Expands Healthy Foods Initiative
June 21, 2016 at 1:00 pm

CVS announced today the expansion of its healthier foods and beverages initiative to more than 2,900 stores nationwide. Throughout the year, 100 stores each week are being enhanced with a carefully curated selection of national and niche better-for-you brands that make healthier eating convenient and affordable. CVS launched the program as a 500-store pilot in…

lululemon Sales Beat Estimates as New Items Draw Customers
June 9, 2016 at 11:52 am

lululemon posted first-quarter sales that topped analysts’ estimates, helped by new products like an expanded selection of women’s tops. Sales rose 17 percent to $495.5 million in the quarter ended May 1, the Vancouver-based company said in a statement Wednesday. Analysts projected $487.6 million, on average. The results signal that lululemon’s new merchandise is gaining traction. The yogawear retailer…

Nordstrom Quietly Purging its Stores of Michael Kors
May 26, 2016 at 10:50 am

Nordstrom and Michael Kors are on the rocks. The Seattle-based department store is quietly dumping the designer’s handbags in more than half of its 121 full-line stores across the country, according to a research report on Tuesday. Nordstrom is also feeling squeezed by rival Macy’s, which has a glut of Kors bags, many of them on sale,…

Make Big Data Work for You
May 18, 2016 at 10:09 am

Everyone knows big data. Everyone talks about big data. But you, as the e-commerce hero in this story, know that big data can be intimidating. It probably lives in various formats in multiple places across the organization, and trying to find meaningful pieces of intelligence seems virtually impossible. Rather than trying to solve the big data problem all at once, you know the real weapon at your disposal is rich data, or more precisely, product data.

President Carly Rosenberg on the Evolution of Bluefly
May 17, 2016 at 9:16 am

There’s been a lot going on lately at Bluefly, the online seller of women's, men's and children's apparel and accessories, home furnishings and décor and beauty items from both high-end niche as well as up-and-coming brands. Earlier this spring, for example, Bluefly unveiled a new look, including a site redesign, new logo, new branding, and…

GameStop Increases Profits Through Brand Diversity
May 12, 2016 at 11:31 am

In an industry that saw a 15 percent drop in physical retail sales in 2015, one brand continues to grow profits. For the third year in a row, GameStop profits per store increased. The electronics retailer reported profits of $176,000 per store, on average, or nearly 15 percent for each of its more than 6,600…

You Can't Fix What You Can't See
May 10, 2016 at 2:03 pm

The job of in-store merchandisers is evolving, thanks to technology. The process of arranging products in-store for optimal sellthrough used to be manual and time consuming, consisting of a store staffer taking a photo of a display, attaching it to an email and then waiting for feedback from headquarters on how to modify the display…

Gap Pulls Unauthorized T-Shirts of Indie Rock Bands From Shelves
April 22, 2016 at 10:57 am

Gap Inc. is pulling T-shirts displaying the names of two indie rock bands from store shelves after the musicians accused the retailer of selling the items without their permission. The two groups, Cold War Kids and The Shins, discovered the items last month and notified fans that the apparel chain wasn’t authorized to sell the shirts.…