Retail Stores

Customer satisfaction in the retail and e-commerce industries is getting worse. There's no single reason for this, but it's likely that the recent economic downturn is one of the biggest factors.

Retailers’ sales rose 0.3 percent last month as consumers spent more on gasoline, autos and online goods, the Commerce Department reported. It was the smallest increase since last July, however.

To help meet customers' desire for immediacy during the shopping experience, Nordstrom President Blake Nordstrom announced that the retailer will deploy mobile devices for its store employees by this fall.

A new report by retail consulting and research firm Customer Growth Partners shows that department stores gained market share last year for the first time in nearly three decades. According to CGP's study, department stores' share of the U.S. retail market rose for the first time since the 1980s, fueled both by innovation and superior mall anchor execution combined with top-line weakness at the granddaddy of off-mall big-boxes, Walmart's U.S. division, which is now suffering through almost two years of lagging sales.

The global airport retail market will become one of the best performing in the sector. Sales are expected to exceed 60 percent by 2015, reaching $44.1 billion, reports Datamonitor Retail.

In 2011 there will be new challenges and new opportunities for apparel manufacturers, retailers and brands. Based on insights from this month's just-style management briefing, we look at what the industy can expect this year.

Selling more things at full price, controlling operating costs and increasing wholesale revenue helped Polo Ralph Lauren Corp.'s fiscal third-quarter net income rise by more than half, the company said.

Greetings from sunny San Diego, where I'm covering the Online Marketing Summit (OMS) for sister publication eM+C. I know, San Diego in February, tough gig. 

Clothing retailer Selfridges is displaying the Urban Mobility fashion collection as QR coded artwork. The installation is a unique blend of retail fashion, art and technology and probably demonstrates why Selfridges was voted "Best Department Store in the World" by the International Association of Department Stores.

In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the ailing company alluded to a potential bankruptcy, saying its future was in "doubt" unless it could come up with some fresh financing.