Total Immersion: Walmart’s VR Retail Training
Training is a fundamental part of any retailer’s operations. New associates need to be brought up to speed on best practices as soon as possible. Current employees also need to be trained when retailers adopt new technology or best practices evolve. VR retail training is an innovative way for retailers to accomplish both of these […]
3 (Non-Marketing) Ways to Use Big Data in Retail
One of the factors in the roaring comeback of retail is the increasing use of big data in retail. Despite articles about the impending death of brick-and-mortar at the hands of e-commerce, retail employment continues to rise and sales figures are promising. Now more than ever, retailers are using big data to understand their customers’ […]
Discount Stores: Why We Love Them and What Retailers Can Learn
Despite the competitive pricing of online retailers like Amazon, brick-and-mortar discount stores are asserting market dominance and growing rapidly. According to Barron’s, discounters, which have roughly 31% of the $811 billion grocery segment, garnered 40% of the growth in that sector. Top players responsible for this outsize share growth are Walmart, Costco, Aldi, and Kroger, […]
Outlet Store Challenges: The DIESEL Store Interview
Sean Demers was behind the register wearing DIESEL jeans and a black t-shirt when I applied for my first job in retail. He smiled when he looked at my resume. I had zero experience. It showed from my inability to navigate the stockroom to my disorientation on the sales floor. I had to ask Sean […]
Delivery in Retail: How Brick-and-Mortar Can Get the Edge
Of the many advantages offered by online over brick-and-mortar retail, one of the least spoken about is delivery in retail. The way in which retailers deliver product into the hands of customers has gone through many changes throughout the years. Mail-order era companies like Sears and Roebuck gave way to the department store, followed by […]
Retail Social Media: Harvesting Likes, Sales and Impressions
With Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram now occupying a seemingly permanent place in our society, social media has become a force that must be reckoned with at every level of public and private life. In the world of retail, social media has the potential to be a powerful tool for advertising, sales, and increasing brand engagement. […]
Omnichannel Retail and the New Role of Stores
Today’s consumer loves convenience. Most retailers have made it as easy as possible for them to shop without ever leaving the house. Even so, brick-and-mortar is not dead—not even on life support. Shopping in-store is still the center of the customer relationship. What retailers are shifting toward now is not purely online or in-store but […]
The Fall of Sears: A Failure to Adapt to Changing Retail Trends
The most high-profile tragedy in the retail world of the last few years has to be the fall of Sears. Once the single largest retailer in the United States, Sears couldn’t adapt to changing retail trends, first by not anticipating the rise of the superstore, and then later by falling well short of the kind […]
5 Misconceptions About Amazon Go and the Future of Retail
On the heels of Amazon’s announcement that they will expand Amazon Go stores in Seattle and may add as many as 3,000 doors in other major cities, the retail world is abuzz about whether checkout-free, cashier-less stores will become the industry standard. A step beyond self-service checkout, shoppers can use the Amazon Go app to enter the […]
Retail Mobile Apps: The Case for (and Against)
Retail mobile apps are some of the most visible in-store innovations to customers. Many retailers push these apps through point of sale promotions and glossy television or online ads, encouraging shoppers to download and install the app in order to receive a promotional offer in addition to the potential quality of life improvement of having […]
