According to The Wall Street Journal, web-style consumer testimonials and other online conveniences are migrating to retail. Taking a page from the e-commerce world, companies including Cabela's and Staples are featuring endorsements from shoppers in their product displays. These testimonials are different from the Web version in one big way: While most Web retailers leave negative ratings and reviews untouched on …
Nutritional, Ethical and Environmental Information Needed
"It's high-time that the humble barcode is recognized as a practical and cost-effective solution to consumers' thirst for information." -Sion Roberts, director of consumer industries and retail at EDS Apparently, shopping carts are being fitted with computers that crunch data as you roll. [via Reuters] …
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Some Spice With My Panties Is What I Really Really Want
According to The Wall Street Journal (paid sub. req.) record company execs are turning increasingly to non-music retailers in hopes that they can help move recorded merchandise. The Spice Girls' U.S. label, Capitol Records, has made arrangements for Victoria's Secret to accept the 500,000 to 600,000 copies of the CD that it has ordered on a "one-way" basis. That means unsold merchandise won't get returned, greatly …
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Circuit City’s Loss May Be Aaron Rents’ Gain
In the wake of Circuit City dumping its most experienced and highest paid workers, other, better-managed companies are looking to hire. Most notably Aaron Rents, as BusinessWeek reports: Just one day after the electronics chain Circuit City Stores announced that it would lay off 3,400 workers and replace them with lower-paid employees, Charles Loudermilk, chief executive of the rental retail company Aaron Rents began …
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Painting Airports Green
Dutch beer brand, Heineken, is rolling out airport bars on five continents, according to The Wall Street Journal (paid sub. req.). In recent years, a range of consumer goods makers have tried creating a "brand experience" in retail outlets to exert more control over how their products are presented to buyers. In 1992, Nike Inc. moved beyond its Oregon base to launch an elaborate "Niketown" flagship store in Chicago. …
Killing The Iconic Sears Brand, One Dollar At A Time
Here's an interesting article from the Washington Post about Sears and its chairman, Edward Lampert. Lampert bought Sears in 2004. He has no retail experience. Actually, he's a Wall Street guy. So he's taking the money he makes from Sears and is turning it into a hedge fund while letting the stores die: But, if Sears the Retailer is ailing, Sears the Hedge Fund has never been healthier. Hedge funds are massive …
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Gap Takes $40 Mil Hit
According to The Wall Street Journal, Gap, of San Francisco, opened 19 Forth & Towne stores over the past 18 months in a bid to tap the baby-boomer market, long considered underserved by women's clothing stores that tended to focus on teens and young adults. But the move failed, and now Gap is closing the chain to refocus on its core brands. Gap has also recently launched Piperlime, a shoe Web site that sells other …
Consumers Speak. Retailers Listen.
BusinessWeek says retailers are learning from social networking sites like MySpace and are now busy weaving the functionality found there into their own sites. Customer reviews have long been part of cutting-edge sites like Amazon.com and Netflix, but the practice is spreading dramatically these days to a broader array of retailers. By the end of 2006, 43% of e-commerce sites offered customer reviews and ratings, …