Studies from Deloitte, the National Retail Federation, and Booz & Co. all predict modest retail sales increases for the holiday period, with rises generally up in the vicinity of 3% or 4%. Online and mobile sales are expected to …
Retail
By Matching Online Prices, Are Best Buy and Target Doing Exactly What Amazon Wants?
When Target and Best Buy recently announced that they would be taking the fight to Amazon during the holiday shopping season by matching prices with major online sellers, many shoppers reacted with the thought: Well it’s about …
For 2012 Holidays, War Is On Against Amazon: Target Matches Online Rival Prices
The competition for shopper dollars is always fierce during the winter holidays. Last year, arguably no retailer was as aggressive as Amazon, which boldly stole customers with a price-checking app promotion that was described as …
Best Buy’s Showrooming Counterattack: We’ll Match Amazon Prices
Political Merchandise Extends Far Beyond Official Campaigns
Of the estimated $2.5 billion that Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, and the Super-PACs supporting them will pump into the 2012 presidential campaign, a tiny sliver will go toward the manufacturing of campaign merchandise—the signs …
Right Business, Right Time: Struggling Economy Means Boom Times for Discount Grocer Aldi
The newest grocery store in Manhattan has less than half the selection of a typical supermarket, and features brands you’ve never heard of. And the grocery chain in question, Aldi, is enjoying a remarkable success streak, with …
The One Big Asterisk in Retailer Price-Matching Guarantees
Toys R Us, Walmart, Best Buy, and other stores have recently announced their latest guarantees to match prices offered by competing retailers this holiday season. These guarantees sound terrific for consumers, and at first …
Google+ Hangout: Are Retailers Watching Our Every Move?
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For better or for worse, consumers have gotten used to the idea of being tracked online. Retailers and other businesses have many methods at their disposal to see …
Private Eyes: Are Retailers Watching Our Every Move?
Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers don’t have a lot going for them these days. On the one hand, high unemployment and stagnant wage growth is sapping the purchasing power of the average consumer, and on the other, the rise …
Could ‘Showrooming’ Actually Be Good for Brick-and-Mortar Retailers?
Stores hate it when shoppers scope out merchandise in person, only to whip out a smartphone, shop around, and ultimately make the purchase elsewhere. Yet could this practice, known as “showrooming,” wind up helping retailers, …
Poll: Is it Okay for Retailers to Track Customers’ Shopping Behavior While in Stores?
If you’ve done any shopping online, you probably know the feeling: You pick out, say, a pair of shoes online, put them in your virtual shopping cart, but then for some reason change your mind. Afterwards, it seems that every site …
No Sale? Retailers Try to Avoid Deep Discounting Without Losing Shoppers
At some point in recent years, 50% off became the new normal, with shoppers growing increasingly accustomed to dramatic markdowns—and correspondingly unimpressed with a measly 10% off. Stores jacked up list prices so that the …