Gap

As the United States’ largest specialty apparel chain, Gap needs to keep the shelves well stocked at its 2,425 U.S. stores and 3,100 worldwide. That means keeping a lot of in-store inventory. At the same time, the company needs enough inventory in its e-commerce fulfillment channel to meet that growing demand. To bridge those two inventory sources, Gap came up with a solution, known as Ship From Store, at the end of 2012 and implemented it into its e-commerce system. Ship From Store lets online shoppers buy directly from store inventory.

It was announced yesterday that Facebook is bringing back GIFs to the social platform, and retailers have already started adjusting their social marketing strategy. With the help of Giphy, a social code-breaking technology, Gap was the first to post to enhance its #Backtoblue campaign. "'Gap's GIF highlights its Tumblr-based "What's Blue to You" contest while…

Gap wants to create a "pop culture moment" for its fall Back to Blue campaign, and it's turning to Tumblr to create it. On Monday morning, Gap issued a call on Tumblr for creators to share, through an original piece of content, what "blue" means to them — blue being, of course, the color of Gap's logo and its signature product, the blue jean.

Retailers’ sales continued to heat up in June amid improving weather and discounting as chains looked to clear out spring merchandise and prepare for the back-to-school season. One standout was Gap, which continued to record strong sales. Its same-store sales growth of 7 percent handily topped expectations. Gap stores posted a 5 percent rise when 6.3 percent growth was expected, while Banana Republic's same-store sales declined 1 percent, compared with expectations for 0.7 percent growth. Old Navy recorded 13 percent growth, well ahead of expectations for 5.4 percent growth.

When it comes to a 219 percent salary increase, just do it. The New York Times released an infographic last week detailing the 2012 earnings of the 200 highest-paid CEOs in national public companies, which includes some well-known retail brands. Nike's chief boss got that 219 percent bump in pay, going from $11 million in 2011 to $35.2 million last year. The CEO at Gap banked $24.6 million last year, a 154 percent increase from 2011. 

Gap's chairman and CEO said on Tuesday the U.S. retailer was ready to sign a global accord designed to prevent another deadly disaster in Bangladesh's garment industry, provided there were some "very minor accommodations." A series of incidents at factories has focused attention on safety standards in Bangladesh's booming garment industry while creating a trans-Atlantic divide between U.S. and European retailers over ways to resolve these issues.

Michael Kors 553,161 956,368 73% CVS 7,273,276 10,877,674 50% American Apparel 380,814 534,573

In addition to Gap's recent inventory optimization and store-based fulfillment initiatives, the retailer is also focusing on big data and personalization. According to Gap, the issue isn't having the data or having big data, it's turning the data into relevant information that then feeds a personalized shopping experience. The technology is there and the retailer is now starting to customize and test personalization of its website landing experience. For Gap, personalization will, has and is forming the bridge between the online world and the brick-and-mortar experience.

With high-profile brands such as Gap, GameStop and, in the U.S., J.C. Penney, having opened and then subsequently closed Facebook stores (presumably because they weren't delivering return on investment), it would be easy to assume that social media isn't suitable for sales — too easy, perhaps. But those who dig a little deeper may find that opportunities abound if social media is leveraged in the right way.

As more technologies are being developed to supplement and enhance existing POS systems, it's becoming more important than ever for retailers to determine which types of software and applications are integral to reaching their end goals. While Google's recent emphasis on ecommerce