In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Kristina Stidham and Joe Keenan talk about a recent article that ran in Total Retail Report as well as on Total Retail’s website, 6 Emerging Trends in Social Media Marketing. The author, Andrew Rayment of Dopel.io, identifies six emerging trends in social marketing that retailers need to…
Kristina Stidham
Athletic apparel brand lululemon athletica launched personal care product line Selfcare on Tuesday, reports CNBC. The retailer is expanding outside of its traditional activewear clothing to offer products that target post-workout needs, helping customers freshen up after exercise and get back to their day. Products in the Selfcare line include dry shampoo, deodorant, face moisturizer, and…
In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Joe Keenan and Kristina Stidham talk about consumer spending forecasts for Father’s Day. The National Retail Federation released a report on the holiday, and it expects American consumers to spend an all-time high of $16 billion on dads this year. The report also uncovered interesting data about…
Amazon.com will end its U.S. food delivery service, Amazon Restaurants, at the end of June, reports Business Insider. Amazon Restaurants launched in Seattle in 2015, and expanded to over 20 markets globally, yet failed to become a top player in the American food delivery space. The service was available only to Amazon Prime members and…
In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Joe Keenan and Kristina Stidham discuss a recent report released by Total Retail, Lessons Learned: Stories From Top Retail Executives. The special report features interviews with retail leaders Vanessa LeFebrve, president, Lord & Taylor; Lori Twomey, senior vice president and chief merchant, Zulily; Jenny Fleiss, co-founder…
Hedge fund Elliott Management announced Friday that the firm will acquire bookseller Barnes & Noble for $683 million, reports CNBC. The acquisition is set to close in the third quarter of 2019, and will be structured as a merger. Barnes & Noble has faced increasing pressure from Amazon.com as well as independent booksellers in recent years,…
In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Kristina Stidham and Joe Keenan discuss the true cost of shipping for retailers following the recent publication of two articles that dug into the issue, including how retailers could mitigate rising shipping costs. Total Retail contributor Rob Martinez outlines the USPS’ new dimensional pricing and offers strategies for…
Abercrombie & Fitch announced Wednesday plans to close three more flagship stores, reports CNBC. The announcement comes as the apparel retailer reported lower-than-expected first-quarter sales and a drop in share value. The locations set to close include a Hollister store in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, an Abercrombie store in Fukuoka, Japan, both…
In this week's Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Joe Keenan and Kristina Stidham discuss the recent moves by Kohl’s to diversify its business in response to challenges facing traditional brick-and-mortar retailers, particularly department stores. Within recent months, Kohl’s announced that it was exploring acquiring home decor retail chain At Home Group Inc., partnered with Fanatics to sell…
Truthinadvertising.org (TINA.org) filed a complaint Tuesday to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Williams-Sonoma Inc. over deceptive Made in USA marketing statements, according to a press release. The complaint alleges that hundreds of statements found in Williams-Sonoma brands’ marketing materials are deceptive in nature, claiming products are made or crafted in the USA "despite the…
In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Joe Keenan and Kristina Stidham discuss the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China, and what it means for retailers and consumers. Last week, President Trump announced that the U.S. would be raising tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent from…
In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Kristina Stidham and Joe Keenan discuss the decision by H&M to discontinue its print catalog after 39 years of publication. In addition to analyzing H&M's reasoning for getting out of the catalog business, the pair discuss the future of print catalogs in an omnichanel marketing mix,…
The 2019 Women in Retail Leadership Summit kicked off last week with an energetic and powerful keynote presentation from Amy Errett, founder and CEO of Madison Reed, a hair color brand for women. In the opening keynote, titled "One Woman’s Journey to Disrupting a Multibillion Dollar Industry," Errett discussed how she was able — with determination, tenacity, passion and an innovative mind-set — to take on the multibillion dollar hair-dye industry and completely disrupt it.
In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Kristina Stidham and Joe Keenan recap the Women in Retail Leadership Summit (WIRLS), an annual event held by Total Retail’s sister brand, Women in Retail leadership Circle. The 2019 Summit took place this week in Miami, and over 350 women retail leaders attended. The three-day event featured…
In this week's Retail Right Now, Joe Keenan and Kristina Stidham discuss Total Retail's 2019 Top 100 Omnichannel Retailers report. They discuss key findings to emerge from the report, as well as identify the omnichannel trends gathered from the data. This report is the third annual ranking of 100 publicly traded retailers based on their…
