Operations

The urban legend in the retailing business is that the precious space surrounding checkout lanes and around cash registers represent the most productive sales-per-square-inch territory in a store. So, imagine if you took that concept of impulse-driven buying and made a whole store that way? Okay, that’s a great idea still waiting to be launched. But pay attention to Miniso and Daiso, two chains out of Asia that have entered the American market and have big expansion plans. What’s clear after visiting these stores is that each in its own way …

The New Asian Invasion: How Miniso and Daiso Are Reinventing the Dollar Store ConceptRead More

What did I tell you a couple of weeks ago? I’ll remind you. I said the reason Amazon was closing most of their physical retail properties, including its bookstores, after years of fiddling around (testing is what they would call it) was because they simply don’t understand the “art” of retailing. And it seems that Amazon believes the “science” of retailing is superior with all the tech stuff they’ve been testing in some of their stores plus their masterful analytic skills identifying local consumer preferences. Wait! Did I say superior …

As Amazon Closes Bookstores, B&N Bounces Back: A Sweet IronyRead More

In the dynamic world of retail, regularly quantifying and characterizing traffic – online and offline – is key to tracking performance. While most retailers understand the importance of keeping close tabs on web and app traffic trends and changes, not everyone sees the value in applying the same level of scrutiny to foot traffic. But without visibility into offline data, brick-and-mortar retail stakeholders will never obtain a full picture of their brand’s reach and performance. What Exactly Is Offline Traffic Data?  On the most basic …

Measuring Offline Traffic is Critical to Retail SuccessRead More

Retailers have been remerchandising their stores almost since the invention of the SKU. But reinvention to take them beyond just places where shoppers buy things and into homes, workspaces and even advertising mediums is a whole new strategy for some of the world’s leading retailing corporations. And this recent development comes on top of a decades-long process of repurposing former retail space into all kinds of other uses, from libraries to schools. Coming out of the massive overbuilding of retail that occurred in the last decade of the …

The “Re” in Retailing Now Stands for RepurposingRead More

At last week’s JP Morgan Chase Annual Retail Roundup, Macy’s CFO Adrian Mitchell laid out a very clear-eyed path forward, recognizing the obstacles and issues. He also identified numerous opportunities Macy’s is preparing to capitalize on, expressing the need for agility in uncertain times. I heard personalization, localization, off-mall smaller formats, (including Market by Macy’s, Bloomie’s and Backstage), reimagining real estate assets, an expanded and curated digital third-party marketplace, decentralized decision making, inventory …

Macy’s Solid Plan…on Agile FootingRead More

How do we reconcile consumers’ sustainability obsession with booming off-price sales? Recent data from Meta show that consumers are 1.3 times more likely to purchase sustainable product since the onset of the pandemic. However, much of what we’re hearing about where consumers are shopping seems counter to the idea of sustainability as a purchasing priority. Here’s a fact: Not only is the Dollar General opening more stores than any other retailer this year, it’s also opening more stores than every other retailer combined. Like most discount …

Discounting, Sustainability, and the Grey Economy: A ReconciliationRead More

Amazon workers’ recent warehouse unionization win Is one small step for workers and one giant leap for labor unions. Christian Smalls, a former Amazon employee who started the Amazon Labor Union, has become a hero for many workers around the country. While the feat of winning a unionization vote for the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island that employs 8,300 workers might be a small one in comparison to the 165 million workers across the U.S., it marks a pivotal moment in the history of unionization in the retail industry. The second-largest …

Old Anti-Union Tactics Will Not Work with Today’s WorkforceRead More