Today on Total Retail
January 29, 2020 at 12:37 pm
Here’s the thing about time: we never have enough of it. This couldn’t ring any truer for U.S. retailers looking to bounce back from a challenging 2019 holiday season. With Thanksgiving landing on Nov. 28 — six days later than the holiday in 2018 — retailers were left with far less time to strategize and…
January 28, 2020 at 9:42 am
The Trump administration is cracking down on the sale of counterfeit products online from platforms like Amazon.com, according to a new report released Friday by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Law enforcement officials will immediately start to identify cases where counterfeit goods are being sold online, according to the report, and will “pursue civil fines and other…
January 28, 2020 at 11:47 am
As we move further into 2020, retail executives continue to respond to the ever-growing expectation for differentiated customer experiences and margin growth. North Highland’s annual Beacon survey of industry executives indicates that two themes will be top of mind for 2020: Customer Experience (CX): 93 percent of retail leader cite this as a 2020 strategic…
January 28, 2020 at 10:47 am
Every online retailer is in a competitive market. As an online retailer you’re not only competing for customers, you’re competing to be found in search engines. Without visibility in search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing, your store doesn’t stand a chance. Competing against big brands is difficult online because corporations have a large budget…
January 28, 2020 at 10:25 am
With the holiday 2019 season in the rearview, now’s the time for retailers and marketers to reflect upon key trends that emerged during a wildly successful shopping season — and leverage those takeaways to kick off a profitable 2020. Despite debate early on about the impact of political issues (e.g., Chinese tariffs) and the fewer…
January 28, 2020 at 10:06 am
Successful retailers know that retail is all about customer experience, whether online or in brick-and-mortar stores. Before consumers begin their buying journey, they first want to know what to expect before they engage. For example, it's typical for modern-day customers to read brand reviews, look at company Facebook pages, and browse photos on Google and…
January 27, 2020 at 2:27 pm
Walmart is testing out a higher minimum starting wage for certain jobs at about 500 of its stores as part of a broader overhaul of roles and responsibilities across its U.S. workforce. According to Bloomberg, Walmart is raising starting minimum hourly wages to $12 from $11. Under the retailer’s new operating model, dubbed “Great Workplace,” some…
January 27, 2020 at 11:20 am
In episode 231 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Melanie Huet, chief marketing officer at Serta Simmons Bedding (SSB), the largest manufacturer and distributor of mattresses in North America. Listen in as Huet talks about her career background in both global brand and D-to-C marketing, as well as where she hopes to lead SSB's…
January 27, 2020 at 12:46 pm
As brands turn to automated intelligence to meet expectations for great customer experiences, new restrictions are being placed on the data collected to inform those experiences. On Jan. 1, California enacted the nation’s strictest data privacy law, following on the heels of Vermont, which has been regulating online data brokers since January 2019. In Europe,…
January 27, 2020 at 12:30 pm
Over the past decade, retail has undergone a number of shifts that have redefined how consumers find and purchase products. An analyst looking ahead from 2010 would have struggled to predict many of the changes we've seen, especially the ways in which the rise of smart devices have disrupted the retail experience. As we head…
