Retail Prophet

APRIL 11, 2025

Lord & Taylor shut down in 2020, and Baker took HBC private the same year. He also set his sights on Saks biggest rival, Neiman Marcus, completing the deal last year, creating by far the largest luxury department store operator in North America. HBC acquired Saks Fifth Avenue in 2013.

Payment Services

Retail TouchPoints

JULY 15, 2025

March 2020 brought an unnerving tide of news reports, a growing sense of unease, and the undeniable arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic continued its relentless march through 2020 and 2021, we rapidly scaled the system. It was a beacon of hope, proof that the impossible might just be achievable.

Payment Services

Retail TouchPoints

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

GameStop is accelerating store closure plans as part of its “de-densification” strategy. The retailer plans to shutter 400 to 450 stores worldwide in fiscal 2020, which ends in February 2021. GameStop already has closed 388 locations this year; the retailer currently operates more than 5,100 stores around the world.

Store Operations

Retail TouchPoints

FEBRUARY 11, 2021

Is that even possible coming out of a year like 2020? One futurist we know said, “2020 was so weird I didn’t even get a chance to be wrong.”. Next is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which was getting mindshare, if not budget, well before 2020. But let’s be real here. But the post must go on.

Retail Trends

Retail TouchPoints

DECEMBER 22, 2021

Passengers can use their mobile devices to order contactless deliveries to their location in the airport’s Concourse B from select retail stores operated by Paradies Lagardère. The live robot deliveries, which debuted for the 2021 holiday season, will provide further data for refining the program and user experience.

Store Operations

Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 19, 2021

Another retail holiday season has come and gone — and the 2020 season was unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Let’s review the biggest trends of the 2020 season — including takeaways for retailers to engage staff, delight customers and demonstrate resilience in the year ahead.

Management

Retail TouchPoints

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

Party City is hiring 20,000 temporary workers for the holiday season — 80% of its 25,000 seasonal hires in 2019 — even though the retailer is drastically reducing the number of Halloween City pop-up stores it will open this year.

Planning

Retail TouchPoints

JUNE 14, 2021

Persaud, who has held the role of EVP, Retail since February 2020 , will now be responsible for orchestrating new in-store experiences and operations processes under the retailer’s RxEvolution strategy. Persaud has 25 years of retail experience across multiple channels at companies in both the U.S. and Canada.

Supply Chain Management

Retail TouchPoints

NOVEMBER 30, 2021

In another first, customers access the checkout solution via the Sainsbury SmartShop app rather than the Amazon app, meaning they can use an interface they already are familiar with. Sainsbury’s, one of the UK’s largest supermarket chains, had piloted a cashierless customer experience at this store using its own technology in 2019.

Checkout

Retail TouchPoints

JULY 23, 2020

For the time being, however, 96% of the retailer’s approximately 1,400 stores — operating under the Men’s Warehouse , Jos. Bank , Moores Clothing for Men and K&G brands — have returned to operation after closing due to the pandemic. Although Ulta Beauty announced that it would permanently close 19 stores by Nov.

Location

Retail TouchPoints

DECEMBER 16, 2022

Organized retail crime has been on the rise since 2020 and costs retailers an average of $700,000 per $1 billion in sales, according to the National Retail Federation. Solutions up until now have typically involved locking up high-value merchandise, but Lowe’s new technology could allow the company to throw away its padlocks and shelf gates.

Point of Sale

Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 11, 2021

While it’s hardly noteworthy that a retailer increased online sales during some of the worst months of COVID, M.Video-Eldorado Group , a 1,039-store electronics and appliance retailer serving more than 250 regions across Russia, did much more than simply funnel products through its suddenly active ecommerce channel. year-on-year.

Payment Services

Retail TouchPoints

JULY 29, 2020

Ready to grow even further, the company launched a digital transformation to swap out its legacy systems, advance customer knowledge through data and provide a truly omnichannel customer experience. If a customer walks into a store and says, ‘My hands are full, ship it to me,’ that’s one experience we have to offer.

Planning

Retail TouchPoints

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

in 2021 and in line with shrink rates seen in 2020 and 2019. reduced specific stores’ operating hours; 29.7% reduced or altered in-store product selection; and 28.1% closed specific store locations. When calculated as a percentage of total retail sales, shrink represented $112.1 billion in losses, up from $93.9

Sporting Goods

Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 2, 2021

The return rate has always been higher for goods bought online — as much as 3X that of products bought in stores depending on the category, according to research from returns technology provider Optoro. So when ecommerce sales jumped 32% percent year-over-year as they did in Q4 2020, returns also went through the roof.

Returns

Independent Retailer

JULY 29, 2022

With the new era of retail increasing shopper expectations, delivering a flawless in-store customer experience has never been more critical. Adopting item-level radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology ensures customer service is elevated to new levels in order to remain relevant within a crowded field of competitors.

Customer Experience

Retail TouchPoints

MAY 23, 2022

After nearly a decade of underinvestment in its tech stack, FTD began making significant solution investments in early 2020 centered on its upgraded Mercury HQ (MHQ) solution. Part of FTD’s growth plan is to expand from the approximately 2,000 florist member customers currently using the platform to at least 5,000 within the next two years.

Payment Services

Retail TouchPoints

JULY 15, 2022

Over a four-week period, Build-A-Bear turned its store locations into micro-fulfillment centers so it could maintain store operations, keep associates working and create a bright spot for consumers navigating uncertainty and stress. Creating Joy Amid Uncertainty.

Fulfillment

Retail TouchPoints

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

The women’s apparel and fashion accessories retailer plans to open additional store locations in markets across the country through the rest of 2020 and into early 2021. The openings had originally been planned for March 2020 but were delayed due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Accessories

Retail TouchPoints

OCTOBER 12, 2021

Our team members are a key part of the experience, so we hire enthusiasts and seek to be seen as a friendly, clever ally. While the JOANN customer experience is extremely human-centric, the retailer doesn’t shy away from using technology. Customers have to wait in line, so it can be a difficult experience.

Customer Experience

Retail TouchPoints

JULY 9, 2024

Sharmeelee Bala Owned by Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management since late 2020 , JCPenney is actively working to retake its place as a leading department store retailer, most notably with a $1 billion turnaround plan unveiled in September 2023. RTP: What about the many areas supporting the customer experience?

Point of Sale

Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 12, 2021

While retailers can target and engage with customers online, it’s been a long-time struggle for merchants to convert foot traffic into intelligent data. They provide feedback on customer engagement and brand performance that can help shopping malls and merchants refine their strategies and offerings.

Shopping

Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 11, 2021

Buoyed by a return to growth in Q4 2020, Adidas has unveiled a new growth strategy that will transform the company into a direct-to-consumer-led business with an emphasis on sustainability. The sportswear company’s new “Own the Game” 5-year growth strategy was unveiled at its Investor and Media Day March 10. More than €1 billion ( $1.2

Planning

Retail TouchPoints

JULY 22, 2021

This has increased e-commerce’s share of global retail to 17% in 2020, up from 14% in 2019. At the end of the day, only one certainty remains; the retail industry needs to keep improving its customer experience to stay in the game. . Indeed, Statista predicts ecommerce revenue to reach $563.4 million by 2025, up from $431.6

Payment Services

Retail TouchPoints

AUGUST 27, 2020

J.Crew Group has reached agreements with its landlords to improve lease terms for its stores, anticipating savings of approximately $70 million in 2020 and approximately $60 million in 2021. The plan provides $400 million in exit financing and $400 million in new term loans.

Finance

Retail TouchPoints

APRIL 20, 2023

However, Amazon did say that through the pilot of ACX, it already has detected hundreds of matching accounts, where the same counterfeiter tried to create selling accounts on Amazon and at least one other store operator. “We We look forward to supporting this momentous effort with all of the tools that the IPR Center brings to bear.”

Accounting

Retail TouchPoints

JUNE 16, 2023

Dunn originally departed from Walmart and Bonobos in 2020 but did not provide information about the reasons for his departure or his future plans. He will partner with Express CEO Tim Baxter and Bonobos President John Hutchinson to help drive the future of the brand.

Fashion

Retail TouchPoints

JULY 5, 2024

“For years, many in the industry have anticipated this transaction and the benefits it would drive for customers, partners and employees. This is an exciting time in luxury retail, with technological advancements creating new opportunities to redefine the customer experience.”

Department Stores

Retail TouchPoints

NOVEMBER 9, 2021

Since the middle of 2020, several of the country’s largest retailers have taken steps to raise associates’ pay. Following are some of the most notable milestones on the road to higher wages: In June 2020 , Target implemented a $15 minimum wage; In January 2021 , Wayfair boosted its minimum wage to $15 per hour for all U.S.

Planning

Retail TouchPoints

APRIL 20, 2022

We love creating genuine interactions in our stores and look forward to bringing that experience across the country.” ” Brooklinen’s brick-and-mortar expansion was previously announced after the company raised $50 million in March 2020. At that time its stated goal was reaching the 30 -store mark by 2023.

Planning

Retail TouchPoints

DECEMBER 8, 2022

The stress of the pandemic sparked a surge in the wine, beer and spirits market: a 2020 RAND Corporation study found that alcohol consumption among adults 30 and older increased by 14%. However, beginning in late 2020, many people started to re-evaluate their habits and explore no- and low-alcohol (NA) beverage options.

Fulfillment

Retail TouchPoints

OCTOBER 2, 2020

As the company’s chief merchant, he has been responsible for all store and online merchandising departments, merchandising strategy, services and vendor management, marketing and in-store environment. The Home Depot has named Edward “Ted” P. Decker as President and COO, effective Oct.

Promotions

Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 28, 2023

John Mocadlo From a single-store debut in December 2020, the retailer now operates 17 brick-and-mortar locations along with an ecommerce site and mobile app. He projects that Impossible Kicks will operate a total of 25 stores this year and 35 by 2024. John Mocadlo: We make it an attainable luxury experience.

Customer Experience

Retail TouchPoints

OCTOBER 19, 2020

“Adding a Same Day Delivery option is one of the ways we are adapting our 133-year-old company to meet the needs of our modern customers.”. Belk had launched a free contactless curbside pickup service earlier in 2020 that allows shoppers to place their order on Belk.com or the retailer’s mobile app and then pick it up at a store the same day.

Department Stores

Retail TouchPoints

NOVEMBER 18, 2021

Consumer expectations of retailers have been transformed by their experiences buying from Amazon and other innovative retailers that are able to provide fast, efficient omnichannel experiences. Last year, COVID-19 lockdowns that restricted shopping at brick-and-mortar stores sent shoppers online.

Supply Chain Management

Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 19, 2024

Ulta Beauty isn’t the first retailer to take on the challenge of recycling these products’ containers and packaging, but with the chainwide expansion it’s certainly among the largest in terms of scope.

ATS

Retail TouchPoints

APRIL 3, 2024

The retailer will instead rely more heavily on its smart Amazon Dash Carts , which have been deployed at Fresh stores since 2020 as well as at Amazon subsidiary Whole Foods. The company already had moved the JWO unit out of its retail group and into its AWS cloud computing division.

Merchandise Store