Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 28, 2022

Approximately 16.6% of all U.S. retail sales in 2021, or $761 billion in merchandise, will be returned this year, according to a report from the National Retail Federation and Appriss Retail. Total retail sales reached $4.583 trillion in 2021. The total rate of returns is up from the 10.6% reported during 2020, but despite soaring ecommerce adoption, online returns will remain in line with recent years at 20.8%.

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Retail Wire

JANUARY 28, 2022

A Reuters survey of over 500 economists finds a consensus that inflationary pressures will remain in place throughout 2022, tamping down growth in the process. Nearly 40 percent of respondents identified inflation as the biggest risk to the global economy this year. Nearly 35 percent are concerned what role new coronavirus variants may have.

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Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 28, 2022

Things haven’t been easy of late for the retail sector. The combination of labor shortages, rising costs, product availability and shipping delays, and of course good old-fashioned DTC competition and everything else we’ve heard about brick-and-mortar’s denouement for the last decade or so have maxed out the stress levels of everyone in the retail space, making it even more difficult to prioritize the urgent versus the important.

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Retail Wire

JANUARY 28, 2022

Kroger is opening a 50,000-square-foot spoke distribution center in Louisville, KY, to support its Ocado automated fulfillment center in Monroe, OH. Levi Strauss is building a 575,000-square-foot warehouse in Northern Kentucky that will open in 2023.

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Fulfillment 130

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Adopting MACH technology means more than implementing new platforms. This type of digital change affects your organization at every level and requires a thoughtful approach to navigate challenges that crop up. The Get MACH Ready report, co-authored by MACH Alliance member Scott Canney in collaboration with Orium, commercetools, and Contentstack, will provide you with strategies to prepare your organization for a digital transformation.

Management

Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 28, 2022

Today’s online shoppers have become accustomed to a wide selection of in-stock products at competitive prices that can be delivered in a matter of days. It’s a high bar. Given that many of these expectations were first set by customers’ experience with Amazon , it should come as no surprise that third-party marketplaces have become a key tool for many retailers to meet these consumer demands.

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Retail Wire

JANUARY 28, 2022

Home Depot has named Ted Decker as its new CEO, replacing Craig Menear, effective March 1. Mr. Decker has been president and chief operating officer at the company since October 2020. Mr. Menear will remain chairman of the board.

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ATS 130

Inside Retail

JANUARY 28, 2022

H&M grew its online business by 24 per cent last year to the point e-commerce now accounts for about one-third of its total sales. In what the Stockholm-headquartered multinational fast-fashion retailer described as a “strong recovery” H&M increased its net profit nearly seven-fold to US$1.5 billion in the year to November 30, on sales up just 6 per cent to $21.13 billion.

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Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 28, 2022

Sam’s Club will add Inventory Scan capabilities to its existing fleet of nearly 600 robotic scrubbers chainwide, in partnership with Brain Corp and Tennant Company. The robots will be able to capture data as they move through their respective store and deliver actionable reports to club managers. The information collected by the robots can be used to assist with tasks including verification of pricing accuracy, planogram compliance and checking stock levels.

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Inventory Management Management Location Shopping 264

Retail Wire

JANUARY 28, 2022

LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault believes that there will be business opportunities for luxury goods in the metaverse in the years ahead but prefers to focus on “the real world, selling real products” for now. “We are not interested in selling virtual sneakers for 10 euros. We’re not into that,” said Mr. Arnault who cautioned of the potential for speculative bubbles arising from the pursuit of metaverse opportunities going forward.

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Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 28, 2022

Athleticwear retailer Finish Line is working to optimize its merchandising strategies across its operations with the help of Aptos. The new technology investment will allow Finish Line to manage inventory across its 890 Finish Line and JD Sports branded mall locations, Finish Line shops inside Macy’s as well as both the Finish Line and JD Sports websites.

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Location Management Consumer Shopping 264

Speaker: David Azoulay, Marc Stracuzza, Román Tejada, and Guest Speaker Sucharita Kodali

Imagine a retail landscape where every interaction is personalized, every decision informed, and every opportunity maximized 🤔✨ Join us for an exploratory journey into the heart of AI-driven retail innovation. We’ll unveil the transformative potential of AI and data analytics in shaping the future of omnichannel personalization and e-commerce.

Customer Experience

Retail Wire

JANUARY 28, 2022

Apple posted an 11 percent increase in sales and a 20 percent jump in profits during the fourth quarter of 2021, despite having to deal with supply chain disruptions brought about by the pandemic. “We pride ourselves in getting products to customers who really want them, and we try to do that on a fast basis, and so it’s frustrating that we can’t always do that at the speed we would like,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

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ATS 100

Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 28, 2022

Seeking to build up its industry expertise and product assortment ahead of a category expansion into beauty slated for later this year, Farfetch will buy luxury beauty retailer Violet Grey for an undisclosed sum. Beauty by Farfetch will offer the platform’s millennial and Gen Z luxury audience access to insights and expertise from multiple beauty experts and communities, including the Violet Grey community.

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Fashion ATS Fulfillment 262

Retail Wire

JANUARY 28, 2022

The National Labor Relations Board said that Amazon.com illegally surveilled and threatened workers at a warehouse in Staten Island, NY, that it believed were engaged in labor organizing activity. Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said the allegations made against the company were false.

ATS 100

ATS 100

Nvidia

JANUARY 28, 2022

Despite the feats of modern medicine, as many as 250,000 Americans die from medical errors each year — more than 6 times the number killed in car accidents. Smart hospital AI can help avoid some of these fatalities in healthcare, just as computer vision-based driver assistance systems can improve road safety, according to AI leader Fei-Fei Li. Whether through surgical instrument omission, a wrong drug prescription or a patient safety issue when clinicians aren’t present, “there’s just all

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ATS 113

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Understanding the intricate world of Point-of-Sale (POS) technology is a common challenge for tech buyers. When it comes to defining the functions of Point-of-Sale systems, the communications have yet to be standardized–—until now. Forrester’s new report, Demystifying The Technical Functions of POS Solutions, breaks through the noise and provides business leaders with the information and tools they need to evaluate the features of POS systems.

Point of Sale

Retail Wire

JANUARY 28, 2022

H&M said it plans to increase spending on technology, supply chain, renewable energy and sustainability as part of its effort to double its sales by 2030. “We ended the year strongly, with sales back at the same level as before the pandemic and with profitability better than it has been for several years,” said CEO Helena Helmersson. “Now that we are back to a more normalized situation with a strong financial position and good profitability, we can fully focus on growth again.”.

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Planning ATS 100

Mulesoft

JANUARY 28, 2022

What is an API? What are APIs? Well, we’re so glad you asked! APIs are a key component of our digital world and enable billions of digital experiences every minute of every day. API stands for “Application Programming Interface.” An API is a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other. In […]. The post What are APIs and how do APIs work?

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Retail Dive

JANUARY 28, 2022

The retail giant seems to be taking a page from Target's revamp, which in turn has embraced some of the best elements of old school merchandising.

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Department Stores 122

VMS

JANUARY 28, 2022

The Home Depot (Atlanta) has named Edward “Ted” Decker, its current COO, as its new CEO, effective March 1, according to a company press release. Craig Menear, the outgoing CEO who has been with the company for more than 20 years, will remain Chair of the board. Decker, who became COO in October 2020, originally joined Home Depot in 2000. He was previously the Chief Merchant and Executive VP of Merchandising. “As a 22-year associate of The Home Depot, Ted has nurtured our culture by living

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Visual Merchandising Finance 97

Speaker: Jennifer Wright, Michael Scholz, Jasmin Guthmann, and Scott Canney

Digital transformation in retail is so much more than new technology. You need to get your whole organization, from entry-level workers to executives, on board with the new tech, new skills, and culture changes that digital transformation brings. Leading this mindset shift can be a daunting task… but that’s where this webinar comes in! Join our panel of experts as they guide you through the challenges of digital transformation, preparing you to avoid common mistakes and make the most of incredib

Management

Retail Dive

JANUARY 28, 2022

Tested at first by Ulta and MAC Cosmetics, the new type of shopping lens allows users to view similar products at a given retailer, in addition to product information.

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Shopping ATS 106

VMS

JANUARY 28, 2022

This spring, Gucci (Florence, Italy) will open a freestanding store at Columbus, Ohio’s Easton Town Center, becoming the first freestanding Gucci store in the state, The Columbus Dispatch reports. The existing space the brand plans to take over at 4120 The Strand East has housed the likes of Tiffany & Co. (New York) and Louis Vuitton (Paris), and more recently Henri Bendel (New York), which shuttered that location in 2019.

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Visual Merchandising Location Planning ATS 96

LS Retail

JANUARY 28, 2022

©iStock/lemono According to Lilly Partin, the majority of the difficulties associated with establishing a global small business stem from failing to accomplish the small things correctly. The basics will lead you to the top, and if you don't follow the basics, well, let's just say you'll end up at the bottom. If you’re thinking of starting a global small business, make sure you follow these 10 small business rules.

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ATS 79

VMS

JANUARY 28, 2022

Glossier (New York) laid off more than 80 employees, which is a third of the company’s workers, this past Wednesday. Emily Weiss, CEO of Glossier, reportedly said in an email obtained by Retail Dive that the beauty brand had “made some mistakes.”. In August 2020, Glossier closed all its brick-and-mortar locations. Last year, the retailer made moves back into the physical retail space with three stores, and Glossier still plans to expand its footprint.

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Visual Merchandising Location Planning 87

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Did you know—74% of IT leaders are looking to improve their tech stack to offer better personalization? It’s impossible to ignore the importance of personalization, but it comes with challenges. How do you do it with a tight budget? What about customer privacy and the use of data? The Personalization Playbook is packed with research and insights from Orium, Talon.One, and Bloomreach and gives IT leaders answers to these tough questions, helping them shape 2024 strategies for personalization.

Retail Dive

JANUARY 28, 2022

As customers return more merchandise than previous years, retailers must contend with the increasing costs of returned items.

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Returns 88

Shopping Center

JANUARY 28, 2022

Greenfield, Wis. — Mid-America Real Estate Group has negotiated the $9.3 million sale of 84South Small Shops in Greenfield, a southern suburb of Milwaukee. Built in 2018, the 17,805-square-foot retail center is located along Layton Avenue. Tenants at the time… The post Mid-America Negotiates $9.3 Million Sale of Retail Center in Metro Milwaukee appeared first on Shopping Center Business.

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Location Shopping ATS 59

Retail Dive

JANUARY 28, 2022

The hiring announcement comes in the same week that Reebok, soon to be acquired by Authentic Brands, confirmed layoffs.

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Mass Relators

JANUARY 28, 2022

Digital screens welcome customers as they enter the store. Dynamic lighting calls out the store’s beauty department. An elevated display in the Baby Department showcases the perfect nursery. Fashion takes center stage in the apparel department. The Gap Home display showcases quality and style. A customer using Scan and Go with Gap Home products.

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Visual Merchandising Apparel Location Shopping 59

Speaker: Shaunna Bruton - Associate Director of Product Strategy at Orium | Sam Panzer - Director of Industry Strategy at Talon.One | Frank Passantino - Director of Product Management at Bloomreach

More and more, customers are expecting a better personalized CX. But can retailers actually deliver? Data from McKinsey shows that companies that excel in personalization increase their revenue by 40%, but despite these numbers, retailers struggle to implement customer personalization strategies. So what are the potential solutions? Join us to gain a better understanding of the current retail landscape and learn what you can do to translate personalization strategies into practical implementatio

Customer Experience

365 Retail

JANUARY 28, 2022

With the rise of technology-savvy and smartphone-dependent consumers, more and more companies are starting to invest in digital strategies to stay competitive. Fortunately, industry experts share valuable knowledge about the latest updates and trends in digital marketing. As a result, digital marketing strategists receive helpful tips and advice on how to create campaigns that accurately address the needs and requirements of your target audience.

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Marketing Promotions Consumer 58

Hyken

JANUARY 28, 2022

This week we feature an article by Joy Gomez, founder of Field Promax , a company that helps organizations streamline and standardize their workflow, manage teams, communicate with customers, process work orders digitally, and grow their business. He shares the 5 ways a CRM can influence the customer and business part of your organization. Customers play a crucial role in establishing the position of a business in the market.

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Customer Retention Management Marketing Returns 58

Talking Retail

JANUARY 28, 2022

The relaxation of Covid rules in Wales should help give a boost to retailers despite the fact that masks are still mandatory in shops, says the Welsh Retail Consortium (WRC). Sarah Jones, head of the WRC, said: “Today’s move to Covid alert level zero will be welcome news for Welsh retailers who have been hit. This story continues at Welsh retail body welcomes loosening of Covid rules.

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Shopping ATS 52

Shopping Center

JANUARY 28, 2022

Atlanta — Branch Properties has signed leases for two new tenants to join Peachtree Battle Shopping Center, a 168,000-square-foot, grocery-anchored center in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta. Roshambo, a new concept from local restaurant group Unsukay, is set to open… The post Two Restaurants to Open at Peachtree Battle Shopping Center in Atlanta’s Buckhead District appeared first on Shopping Center Business.

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Shopping ATS 52

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Are you considering moving away from a monolith platform and over to composable architecture? Join experts from Google Cloud, GroupBy, and Orium as they discuss the benefits of moving to a modular digital experience platform. In this masterclass, uncover key indicators that show your brand is ready for a modular DXP, and learn how to lay the foundation for composable commerce.

Planning