It wasn't long ago that every suburb was chasing the same elite retailers. They would create special zones to give residents all the must-have shopping amenities: big-box outlets, DIY shops, grocery stores, and fashion boutiques to browse at their leisure. Then came the e-commerce explosion. Shoppers’ trips became more calculated, with less time spent browsing…
You might assume that tech-savvy millennials and members of Generation Z do all of their shopping online and never venture into brick-and-mortar stores. However, new research tells a very different story. While the average American visits up to three physical stores per week on a single shopping trip (not including grocery stores), millennial shoppers go…
Expectations of retailers’ customer experience (CX) are higher than ever. Consider, 75 percent of consumers say they would stop shopping with a brand following a bad experience. Walmart is long considered an innovator regarding in-store CX, and its latest activations include everything from Pickup Towers and autonomous floor cleaning robots to the launch of the DotCom…
After a good start to the 2018 holiday selling season, December sales fell flat. Year-over-year (YOY) sales improved just 1.1 percent from December 2017, and overall holiday sales finished just 2.6 percent above 2017. Retailers felt the impact to their gross margin line and now face potential inventory issues due to lower-than-expected December sales. Thus…
Clothing subscription company Rent the Runway has added drop boxes to four Nordstrom locations in Los Angeles. The deal, which CNBC announced on Thursday, is Rent the Runway’s second plan to expand its reach after agreeing last fall to put drop boxes in certain WeWork locations. The drop boxes will be at three of Nordstrom’s…
Retailers face a number of threats, some specific to their brand and merchandise, others based on their geographic location. Keeping employees and customers safe requires a two-pronged approach: establishing the right culture and providing a safe and secure physical environment. For employees, this means investing in security awareness training for staff, which is simply a…
In episode 202 of Total Retail Talks, Executive Editor Joe Keenan interviews Julia Babina, vice president of operations and customer service at Brooklinen, a direct-to-consumer brand selling luxury bed sheets, pillows, comforters and blankets. Listen in as Babina discusses the story of Brooklinen's growth, and why the launch of a pop-up shop was a test…
Defunct children’s retail chain Toys"R"Us will open about a half dozen U.S. stores and an e-commerce site this holiday season, roughly a year after shuttering U.S. operations, according to a report in Bloomberg. Richard Barry, a former Toys"R"Us executive who is now CEO of new entity Tru Kids Inc., has been pitching his vision to reincarnate…
In episode 201 of Total Retail Talks, Executive Editor Joe Keenan speaks with Mike Tamte, co-CEO and co-founder of EVEREVE, a national women's fashion brand that works to inspire joy in its customers. Listen in as Tamte discusses the growth of EVEREVE, including investments in brick-and-mortar stores; hiring the right talent, particularly for its technology…
Lululemon Athletica Inc. has quietly closed its men’s standalone stores in New York City and Toronto, even as it plans to more than double its men’s business in the next five years. The retailer found that guests respond better to Lululemon “as a dual-gender brand,” spokeswoman Erin Hankinson told Bloomberg News when asked about the locations. “We…
