Category Archives: Retail
Postal Service Gets With the Times
Written on November 30, 2012 at 2:42 pm, by Inferential Focus
Starting December 12, the U.S. Postal Service will begin a test of same day delivery service for online shoppers residing in San Francisco – with additional plans to expand this program next year into Boston, New York and Chicago. Could such an offering eventually become the moneymaker the Postal Service needs to replace the Continue Reading »
Mailboxes and General Stores: What Year is This?
Written on November 19, 2012 at 7:00 am, by Inferential Focus
Are mailboxes and general stores new/old solutions for contemporary service? For one, the mailbox is answering the call for delivery of online purchases. Amazon is now teaming up with Staples, Radio Shack, 7-Eleven and Albertsons for its Amazon Locker Service. The physical retailers will install Amazon lockers in their stores, allowing customers to buy from Continue Reading »
Process Over Products
Written on November 12, 2012 at 9:39 pm, by Inferential Focus
As we have been discussing, consumers now trust their shopping “process”, which includes things such as comparison shopping, blog reviews and friend queries more than they trust any specific product or brand. Yabbly is a new community-based question and answer Website and app which allows consumers to receive feedback on potential purchases from others who Continue Reading »
Bigger is No Longer Better
Written on September 4, 2012 at 6:01 pm, by Inferential Focus
Is “too big to fail” in retailing becoming “too big is failing”? For the past few years, we have written about the ways in which consumers have gained control over their shopping experience, and one of the results of that control is the beginning of the end of the big-box era (see, “The Consumer Continue Reading »
The Penney Experience
Written on August 13, 2012 at 5:47 pm, by Inferential Focus
J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson has outlined his plans to make the retailer a “mall within a mall,” including in-store shops and a central “town square.” In August, the company introduced free haircuts for kids for the back-to-school period. In the Levi’s shop denim bar, J.C. Penney has added iPads. Store traffic in the Continue Reading »
Making a Move in Distribution
Written on May 25, 2012 at 6:12 pm, by ifblogadmin
New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie announced that Amazon will build two large distribution centers, each about one million square feet, in New Jersey. The crux of Christie’s announcement was that the state will now be able to collect sales tax from Amazon on all goods sold in the state. While the focus of the Continue Reading »
Virtual Wall, Real Sales
Written on May 1, 2012 at 7:53 pm, by ifblogadmin
An Adidas store in Oxford, England, increased sales of its F50 sneaker ($270) five-fold when it tested the Adidas Virtual Footwear Wall. The company subsequently installed the technology in its Lower Broadway, Manhattan (NY) store in March. The Adidas Virtual Footwear Wall renders products in 3-D on four 46-inch vertically-stacked touch screens. Customers can Continue Reading »
A New Best Friend for Retail?
Written on April 23, 2012 at 7:54 pm, by ifblogadmin
Costco launched a pet medication business last year and rolled it out nationally this month. The new initiative includes a custom, continuing-education program for pharmacists who dispense pet meds as well as a veterinary drug handbook shipped to stores with access to veterinarians who can answer pharmacists’ questions. Meanwhile, U.S. retail sales of pet medications Continue Reading »
