Target

Tablets have been touted as "reinventing" and "revolutionizing" retail. Retailers and consumer-facing businesses have been testing the use of tablets to ­­­­­­­­gain operational and marketing advantages, and they like the results. Here are some ways retailers are getting big impact out of small screens:

Target is looking to a cause-related campaign to kick off the back-to-school season and boost awareness of its Up & Up brand. The retailer will give one Up & Up brand school-supply product to a student in need for each Up & Up school supply purchased between July 13 and Aug. 2. Ultimately, Target hopes to donate $25 million worth of supplies to the Kids In Need Foundation — a goal it will be tracking and updating consumers on throughout the campaign. 

Ron Johnson, who has been keeping a relatively low profile since he was ousted from J.C. Penney in April 2013, took to the podium in May, as a guest lecturer at Stanford University. Johnson discussed with Stanford Graduate School of Business students J.C. Penney, Apple and Target, and the lessons learned over his career in retail. Looking back on his time at Penney, Johnson believes it was the pace of his transformation plan, as opposed to the plan itself, that was wrong. It was too fast for a company as traditional as Penney.

Target is "respectfully" requesting that shoppers not bring guns into its stores. The retailer posted a notice on its website Wednesday and quickly drew attention on Twitter — #ontarget. "Our approach has always been to follow local laws and, of course, we will continue to do so," the notice says. "But starting today, we will also respectfully request that guests not bring firearms to Target — even in communities where it's permitted by law."

The ground has been shifting under the world of retail, but in my opinion, the real quake hasn't hit yet. There are three major factors causing this upheaval: economic uncertainty that's begun to split the middle class, the increasing share of wallet moving online, and the shift from the boomer generation to millennials as the driving force. While there's no "magic bullet" to address these changes, a deeper examination of these factors brings to light consistent themes and provides a jumping off point to ward off a real quake. There are immediate, low-risk changes that every retailer should consider implementing as soon as possible.

Nothing screams USA pride more than a skimpy red, white and blue bikini. But does it matter that the $32.98 swimsuit mentioned above, and sold at Target, actually was made in Cambodia? As the nation prepares to celebrate its 238th birthday, "Buy America" efforts are still going strong, though emotions on the subject tend to fluctuate depending on the state of the economy. But what about products, ranging from toothpicks to towels, with specific patriotic motifs? Or the U.S. flag itself? Should those products, which are marketed with an Uncle Sam sentiment in mind, be made in the United States?

When Target's CEO, Gregg Steinhafel resigned in early May, we wrote with some confidence that the data breach was the least of Target's problems, and likely the most minor reason for his departure. We did think that the retailer's disastrous entrée into the Canadian market was a more significant issue. As it turns out, the story is worse and more contentious than that. According to a

Costco has been a remarkably successful player in discount retail over the last several years, and the company has outgrown competitors such as Wal-Mart and Target by a considerable margin. But investing is about the future, not the rearview mirror, so investors need to analyze if the company can continue outperforming on a forward-looking basis. Interestingly, there are some reasons to believe Costco should continue getting stronger over time. When comparing Costco versus other mass-merchant retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target, the difference can be truly remarkable. Costco has done much better than both 

By October 2015, U.S. credit card networks and merchants will adopt EMV payment systems and point-of-sales technology. EMV chip technology, named after its creators — Europay, MasterCard and Visa — will replace the dated magnetic stripe technology currently on major credit and debit cards in favor of tiny computer chips. With the deadline looming for merchants to update their card readers to be compatible with EMV payment technology, it's critical for retailers and card providers to understand the implications of the change.

Target announced Monday that it's broadened its free shipping policy to simplify online shopping for customers and better compete with web retailers. Now, nearly all online orders of $50 or more on Target.com, with the exception of oversized or heavy items, will qualify for free shipping. Previously, only some items were eligible, but online shoppers didn't always realize that and were sometimes frustrated when they checked out and discovered they were being charged for shipping because only some of the items in their cart qualified.