Tom Shull sees tens of millions of ready and loyal customers sitting out there — just beyond his reach. That's hard for any retailer to pass up, but it's even harder when your profits help soldiers and their families, said Shull, chief executive of the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES). AAFES, the U.S. military's largest retailer, is asking the Pentagon to allow it to offer online shopping to all honorably discharged veterans. The site is now available only to active service members, retirees and disabled veterans.
On the heels of disappointing results for the first quarter of fiscal 2014, American Eagle Outfitters Inc. has decided to close 150 stores in the U.S., including 100 namesake stores. For 2014, the company is planning to close approximately 50 American Eagle and 20 aerie stores in North America. Beginning in 2015, the company anticipates annualized after-tax savings of approximately $10 million to $15 million related to these store closures. American Eagle's net income plummeted 86 percent to $3.87 million from $27.98 million. Total net revenue fell 5 percent to $646.13 million from $679.48 million.
Target may have been knocked down by a huge holiday season data breach last year, but its most recent quarterly earnings report and continuing replacement of top management show the retailer has other, bigger problems to address. Target's Canadian expansion has suffered from poorly managed inventory planning and a lack of understanding of the Canadian market. Meanwhile, merchandise even in U.S. stores has lost its gotta-have-it quality, and foot traffic had been slowly declining even before the breach happened. "They're behind the curve right now," says Sandy Skrovan, U.S. research director for Planet Retail, a retail research and advisory firm.
Sears posted a bigger loss for the first quarter as the struggling retailer failed to arrest a fall in sales despite offering heavy discounts to woo shoppers. Shares of the company, which operates Sears department stores and the Kmart discount chain, fell 7 percent in premarket trading. Sears, controlled by hedge fund billionaire Eddie Lampert, has been shedding assets and closing stores as it battles the operating losses and weak sales that have plagued the company since 2005, when the two chains were merged.
At no point in the last several decades has a company's chief information officer been more important to the overall organization. That's because if CIOs can effectively manage their customers’ privacy, they'll be able to enhance loyalty, drive sales and improve a company's stock price in the midst of this challenging new environment. The recent hacking of millions of credit cards and other confidential customer information at major retail chains has put information security on the front page. A proactive, savvy CIO can put his company's safeguards on the front page as well.
An unlikely hero is emerging at the back of a store. A store's back-room space has become a secret weapon in the war for e-commerce market share. It enables goods processing, returns and a new delivery channel: ship from store. With a critical IT investment to support inventory visibility across a retailer's entire platform, this method of retail combat is driving revenue, supporting same-day delivery, avoiding costly markdowns and integrating the customer experience. Back rooms are now doubling as local, mini distribution centers.
Since 1969, Gap has rallied around fun, joyfulness, optimism and inclusivity. It's a brand that was launched for the youth of America, and it still speaks to that demographic today. Even though target consumers aged over the decades, Gap's founding principles are unchanged and remain relevant. "Your long-term purpose and the tone of your brand and belief system should never change, but the way you express it can change time and time again," says Gap Chief Marketing Officer Seth Farbman.
This summer, craft-focused retailer Etsy.com will expand into Etsy Wholesale. Instead of merchants simply selling to consumers, the commerce platform will now allow and support vendors who are producing and selling extremely large quantities of goods. The move signals a significant pivot from Etsy's handmade, small-scale origins. According to new rules, companies on Etsy Wholesale can hire merchandisers to make products for wholesale distribution. Best-case scenario: the woman you buy your hand-drawn stationery from lands a deal with Anthropologie. Worst-case scenario: those "handmade" items you'd buy for wholesale distribution are actually being produced en mass in factories.
J.C. Penney's first-quarter results were better than expected as lost customers start finding their way back to the retailer. The department store's 6.2 percent sales increase, a narrower loss and a new credit line all represented progress for the injured retailer. The sales increase was the second consecutive quarterly rise for Penney after two years of steep declines. Customer traffic was up in April for the first time in 30 months. That kind of deep hole doesn't fill back up quickly. Still, Penney CEO Mike Ullman was upbeat in a call with analysts.
Hear answers to the most-asked Amazon questions; best practices for retailers selling on Amazon; and what NOT to do on Amazon.
