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Apple's brick-and-mortar stores continue to show astounding growth. Retail revenue nearly doubled in last year's fourth quarter compared to the same period the previous year, and the number of store visitors climbed 49 percent to 75.7 million.
With more big-box retailers and department store chains such as Sears launching commerce-enabled applications for Apple's iPad and other tablets, merchants must position their offerings to differentiate from competitors.
Wounded by a slump that continues to batter department stores despite a recent surge in sales at other retailers, many large U.S. chains are putting stores within their stores. All are drawn to the idea that partnering with specialized retailers and manufacturers can help them fill holes in their product offerings and help them profit from hot trends more quickly.
Rue LaLa CEO Ben Fischman discusses the future of retail from the National Retail Federation's BIG Show in New York City.
Sears, along with Bruno Schiavi's Jupi International, have teamed up with Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian to launch the Kardashian Kollection in 400 Sears stores nationwide in August.
Results of the e-tailing group's 13th Annual Mystery Shopping Study recognized nine merchants out of the 100 benchmarked for excelling at online customer service.
The National Retail Federation's BIG Show, which took place in New York last week, is an annual opportunity for retailers to tap into the latest technologies for improving everything from customer analysis to mobile commerce.
As retailers begin 2011, they need to tailor their operations to better meet the expectations of their increasingly savvy customers. While every retailer is different, with unique challenges, needs and business environments, there are massive opportunities to gain more intelligence and leverage existing data to streamline internal processes and potentially increase profits.
Retail sales rose for a sixth consecutive month in December, helped by big gains in sales of autos and furniture. The increases helped lift sales activity for the year by the largest amount in more than a decade.
Led onto the stage by Mickey and Minnie Mouse, there was no mistaking that Stephen Finney was from the Disney Store when he made his entrance to give the keynote speech at this week's National Retail Federation BIG Show in New York City. The senior vice president of global retail operations for the media and entertainment company was there to talk about Disney's brick-and-mortar stores.
