Retail Stores

Retailers play a fast-paced game in which their success — or failure — is measured by yesterday's sales. To stay in the game, the best retailers measure the results of all programs in every area, including operations, merchandising and marketing. Smart marketers calling for a loyalty program need to respect that mind-set, but can gain acceptance on a new set of rules using the "loyalty measurement triangle."

It took three months to perfect the lighting in the dressing rooms, but the first Spanx retail store opened its doors in Tysons Corner, Va. last Friday. The 14-year-old company, which specializes in shapewear, has become a staple of women's wardrobes in recent years. Many of the company's 200 pieces are sold at department stores such as Nordstrom and Lord & Taylor.

The "paper or plastic" mantra at store checkouts is getting a digital twin: "paper or email?" As smartphones proliferate, more stores and banks are offering to email shoppers their receipts rather than giving them a printed copy. These electronic or digital receipts, touted as green for saving paper and convenient for saving time, enable retailers to market directly to customers.

How did Sandy treat you? Did it have a positive effect on your business? A negative effect? Did you have to close stores or hold off on deliveries? Let us know by going to Retail Online Integration's Facebook page to comment.

So far Hurricane Sandy has unfortunately proved itself worthy of many of the "worst" descriptors it was assigned prior to its arrival along the East Coast of the United States. Certainly the 48 people who lost their lives, 8 million people who lost power, and the hundreds of thousands of homeowners who lost pieces of their homes and their peace of mind represent the worst of the worse possible outcomes created by Hurricane Sandy. But just behind that, the negative impact that Hurricane Sandy will have on U.S. business overall, the retail industry in particular, is staggering. 

Staples, the largest U.S. office supply retailer, has agreed to install "Amazon Lockers" in its U.S. stores, a Staples spokeswoman said on Monday. The Amazon lockers at Staples will allow online shoppers to have packages sent to...

In a bid to capture the first rush of holiday shoppers, Amazon.com has opened an online store for Black Friday offers 22 days before the national shopping event will take place. Many online retailers won't post their offers until Cyber Monday, which takes place the Monday following Thanksgiving. But many will go ahead and post their offers on Black Friday to compete with brick-and-mortar retailers, several of whom opened their stores to shoppers at midnight on Black Friday last year in an effort to beat out the competition.

Building strong personal connections with shoppers is more challenging than ever before. Consumers are smarter, more distracted and have a wealth of information instantly available on their smartphones. Here are three simple ways retailers of all sizes can design a powerful retail experience that engages shoppers, establishes meaningful relationships and fosters customer loyalty, the often elusive quality that builds brand success.

Retailers up and down the mid-Atlantic region are scrambling today to bring customer service operations back online in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. With widespread power and phone outages, consumers can expect longer response times across all channels. New York-based wine retailer Lot18 closed its office Tuesday, with many team members at home without power. In an email to customers, the company said delivery of shipments in Sandy-affected areas are likely to take a couple extra days.

How would that Poang chair look in your living room? Now you can find out via this app by developers at District Nerds, which lets you "preview" furniture in the Ikea catalog to see how it would look in your house. The app, which wasn't sanctioned by the Swedish retailer, was built in four weeks, and since its release has had 35,000 users from over 90 countries. The developers told Creativity that they used their "iPhone-loving wives" to test the app.