J.C. Penney

Wal-Mart said it's eliminating 2,300 workers at its Sam's Club division as it reduces the ranks of middle managers in a bid to be more nimble. The layoffs, which cut 2 percent of the membership club's U.S. employee count of about 116,000, mark the largest since 2010 when the Sam's Club unit laid off 10,000 workers as it moved to outsource food demonstrations at its stores. The cuts come as Sam's Club strives to compete better with Costco Wholesale Corp. and online players like Amazon.com's Prime membership service. 

Along with the bigger news of plans to close 33 stores leading to the layoff of 2,000 workers, J.C. Penney also revealed last week that it was reinstating commission pay for associates in its window coverings, furniture and fine jewelry departments. The switch, set to occur in February and March, will affect more than 3,000 associates. "Offering a competitive salary base that includes a commission incentive not only helps in retaining some of our best sales associates, it motivates them to build and maintain stronger customer relationships," the company stated in an email sent to media outlets. 

They'll tap technology to get up close and personal with individual shoppers, mine "big data" for meaningful consumer insight, and invest heavily in fashion makeovers to breath new life into their stores. So said the CEOs of Macy's, J.C. Penney, Bloomingdale's, Ethan Allen, as well as Saks Fifth Avenue's new president a week into the job. After a long Monday at the National Retail Federation's Big Show in New York City, I stole a few moments with the executives during a party held by investment firm Financo at the Harmonie Club.

In yet another sign of its deep slump, J.C. Penney said on Wednesday that it would close 33 stores across the country and shed about 2,000 jobs. The company said in a statement that the closings and resulting job cuts would save about $65 million a year. One of the oldest retailers in the nation, J.C. Penney has undergone considerable management and investment turmoil in the last few years. It fired one chief executive, Ron Johnson, and then brought back his predecessor, Myron E. Ullman III. 

There's a big difference between the Christmas results of J.C. Penney and Macy's. While Macy's rejoices about solid gains, J.C. Penney is pleased with the results but will not reveal the true facts. I've given the two approaches a lot of thought. In an environment where most companies failed to reveal their sales plan, the two companies were leaders in the retail industry. 

Can a shopper with a specific item in mind find it on your mobile site? In other words, what's the "findability" of your mobile site? Given the increase of mobile traffic and the revenue impact of mobile and mobile-influenced sales, the concept of findability is critical.

As your inbox no doubt reminded you, perhaps incessantly, this was the last weekend to shop before Christmas. Retailers are making their last-ditch pitches to get people into their stores, sending emails that broadcast aggressive promotions, including offers that in many cases match or exceed those on Black Friday. Stores such as Express and Ann Taylor were advertising half-off all purchases, while Macy's, Aéropostale, J.C. Penney and Children's Place promoted 60 percent, 70 percent and 75 percent off select items.

This holiday season, Bon-Ton has come out of the woodwork to try and wrest away customers from competitor J.C. Penney. Since 2011, when the company hired Brendan L. Hoffman as its new CEO, Bon-Ton has been doing its best to draw in younger customers, cut down on excess inventory and improve its e-commerce business — quite often using strategies perfected by Macy's. So far, the company seems pretty optimistic that it's going to succeed following an improved third quarter.

High-end fashion brands have been replacing decades-old clientelling methodologies (e.g., black books and handwritten index cards) with iPads and customer management systems that provide employees access to customer information on-the-go. Mobile technology enables store associates to both offer the right product or service to consumers at the right time and to transfer customer ownership into a centralized database instead of storing it in the employee's head. In high-end retail environments, where a one-on-one shopping experience is the norm, arming individual sales associates with mobile devices can help increase sales.

Nordstrom has done it again. According to a new study by Market Force Information the upscale retailer has been voted North America's overall favorite fashion retailer for the second consecutive year. "When Market Force asked consumers to name their overall favorite retailer, Nordstrom ranked No. 1, earning significantly more votes than all of the other…