I’m the first to admit that I am skeptical about the overly optimistic holiday sales forecasts that are filling my inbox. This year I am particularly surprised by how many forecasts top NRF’s predictably rosy… Read More
We’ve all heard it thousands of times in earnings calls. “Unfavorable weather conditions” are a popular excuse as to why sales are down, and profits not realized. Quarter after quarter, year after year, this straw… Read More
Back in 1974, Wilson Bryan Key published Subliminal Seduction exposing the ways marketers use subconscious images to manipulate consumers, like the word “sex” hidden in ice cubes in a liquor ad. The book was filled… Read More
As a market researcher, I have always been intrigued by what is known as the “observer effect,” whereby the mere observation of a phenomenon changes the phenomenon observed. I am keenly aware of it when… Read More
Luxury brands are hitting the street, literally. Street-inspired fashion is popping up all across the luxury spectrum. It has created such pairings as Gucci and Dapper Dan, Louis Vuitton and Supreme, Ralph Lauren and Palace,… Read More
Second-hand luxury retailer The RealReal just went public with an initial goal to raise $270 million. But on REAL’s first day of trading they did better than that, selling 15 million shares at $20 each… Read More
Retailers have traditionally thought in terms of distribution channels and have structured their internal systems and metrics around them. But that channel-centric thinking is at odds with how customers actually engage with retailers. For example,… Read More
The next seven years are going to be tough for retail. A sweeping restructuring and downsizing of physical retail will occur through 2026, as the penetration of online retail rises to 25 percent from its… Read More
Have you been watching the weather recently? A foreboding-sounding weather system, a bombogenesis formed over the Atlantic Ocean that l traveled up the coast. Fortunately, it was to be a fast-moving system that was out… Read More
In the estimated $225 billion warehouse membership business, Costco gets all the press while BJ’s is often an afterthought. The numbers tell it all: But hidden behind those figures is an ace in the hole… Read More
