Pricing

In this episode of Retail Right Now, filmed this week at the Internet Retailer Conference and Expo in Chicago, we review the top retail news of the week, including Sears reaching an amicable resolution in its dispute with power tool supplier One World Technologies; Wal-Mart allegedly punishing workers for using sick days; and Amazon.com's Prime price…

Many lessons have been learned since the early flash-sale sites of 2004, such as Woot. Retailers know that a deep discounting methodology cannot stand on its own as the core to a business model. They need practical, logical reasons and uses for flash selling, along with a well thought out plan. It’s essential to understand…

Everyone is looking for a deal, both online and offline. In fact, 73 percent of consumers rely on coupons more than they did three years ago. We know people want to save money; the trouble is getting them to use your money-saving coupons. If you’re struggling in this area, there could be a number of…

Walking down the street, it seems like every person has a mobile phone in their hands texting, scrolling through social media or snapping a photo. People take so many photos, in fact, that their phones’ memory gets totally full (and that annoying notification pops up right when you're trying catch the perfect shot). And out…

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…

Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette, who succeeded Terry Lundgren just last month, announced plans to grow the department store chain's off-price brand, Macy’s Backstage. "We're hoping that by the end of this year, we have a scaleable [off-price] model to aggressively roll out in the future," Gennette said during the company’s earnings call on Thursday. Macy’s has 26…

There are few things as important as your pricing strategy. Get it wrong and your business won’t survive. Get it mostly right and

Another quarterly earnings season is in the books, and while there were a few star performers, it was another dismal one for retailers. It seemed almost a daily occurrence — headlines littered with the next retailer that struggled under the weight of aggressive competition and changing consumer preferences. We’ve heard this story before, and same…

Rampant discounting in department stores has conditioned a great majority of consumers to wait for the "SALE" sign before even entering. And this is impacting how they make purchase decisions in other aspects of their lives. In fact, roughly 90 percent of the 750 consumers First Insight surveyed last month acknowledged that these discounts are…

The president of Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo threatened to close its U.S. stores if President Donald Trump creates a policy that forces the company to manufacture its products in the United States. Speaking in New York last week, Tadashi Yanai, chairman and president of Fast Retailing, which owns Uniqlo, said he would “withdraw from the…