Retail Marketing

Inviting customers to learn new skills in virtual classes

Whole Foods Market launches “Home Ec 365” with modernized lessons in #adulting

Whole Foods Market launched Home Ec 365, a digital curriculum designed to modernize the fundamentals of home economics. Through a series of virtual classes, each with a contemporary take on mastering everyday home tasks and need-to-know life skills, ...

Walmart brings the big screen to its parking lots

Retailer’s first-ever drive-in movie theater

Walmart is lifting the curtain on plans for the Walmart Drive-in, a drive-in movie theater experience, which is rolling into 160 Walmart stores across the country beginning this month, created in partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival.Available ...

4 tips on how to handle customer complaints

How you can effectively respond to negative reviews and use them to be a benefit to your company

Most retailers don’t like customer complaints. Plus, they also mean extra work. Yet ignoring complaints is not a great long-term strategy because any bad customer experience can haunt your brand if it becomes public. That’s why retailers ...

The importance of effective complaint management

A strategic and cross-channel approach to handling negative customer experiences

Customers are more demanding than ever, while brand loyalty is declining. Even a couple of negative experiences can alienate consumers and erode loyalty. Shoppers increasingly share bad reviews and complaints on public communication channels for ...

Merchants can build their own businesses by choosing the right daily deal platforms

Bargaining and the three-way transaction that defines the daily deal market

Researchers from the University of Maryland and Harvard University analyzed the bargaining process between the daily deal platforms Groupon as well as LivingSocial and merchants to identify the trade-offs made by both parties during the transaction ...

3 steps to personalisation in e-commerce

How retailers can build trust and foster customer loyalty

The COVID-19 pandemic has left a visible mark on the retail sector, and companies have had to find new ways to reach consumers effectively in a very short time. Many companies that had previously focused on stationary retail have expanded their ...

Spotlight on ... customer retention

Our current focus topic: Which measures help you to retain customers?

Im Versand wie im Verkauf - mit Verpackungen hat der Einzelhändler tagtäglich zu tun. Doch was macht eine gute Verpackung aus? Welche Vorschriften müssen Einzelhändler kennen? Und warum sollte eine Verpackung smart sein?Das und ...

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Sustainability is surviving COVID-19

Trends and consumer demographics for sustainable products and brands

The NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business and IRI® published the results of new research examining consumer purchases of sustainability-marketed consumer packaged goods in the US and taking a closer look at the top 10 states in terms of per ...

Face coverings to be mandatory in shops from 24th July

Guidance and information for retailers

The Government announced that wearing a face covering will be mandatory in shops from Friday 24th July. Penalties for not wearing a face covering will be enforced by the police, who can issue fines of up to £100 (reduced to £50 if paid ...

AfterPay: Survey on the shopping behaviour of Germans

German consumers will make a larger share of their purchases online in July

AfterPay Insights’ end of June research – now covering more 7.400 interviews with German online shoppers – indicates that German consumers will reduce their overall purchases in July. But at the same time, German consumers say ...

Upturn for brick and mortar retail in city centres?

Economic development and city marketing about current measures

Bonn's inner city – like all other cities in Germany – is struggling with the consequences of the Corona lockdown. We asked directly on site what support there is from the economic development and city marketing departments. This ...

Retailers say credit insurance plan could increase liquidity during pandemic downturn

Backstop for trade credit insurance

The National Retail Federation welcomed a report released this week calling for a federal backstop for trade credit insurance, saying the proposal could help provide liquidity badly needed by retailers as they recover from the recession brought on ...

Video marketing in times of Corona

The potential of video content for retailers

The spread of the coronavirus has had a particularly severe impact on the stationary retail industry. Many companies are now increasingly focusing on their online presence to cushion declining in-store sales and to virtually stay in touch with their ...

Retail & Brand Experience World Congress 2020

A unique edition for an unusual context

Since the global pandemic is still impacting our daily lives, the Retail&Brand team and Fira de Barcelona are finding a new way to reconnect all the industry actors and rebuild ecosystems to accelerate recovery. This year we are transforming ...

The Virtual Africa Big Retail Expo 2020 (ABRE 2020)

The spotlight is on the emerging trends in the retail industry at The Virtual Africa Big Retail Expo 2020, set to take place on 6th August 2020

The event is scheduled to begin from 0900 EAT till 1400 EAT. This exhibition is the first annual event which is dedicated to discussing the following:How do retailers keep up as the world tries to deal with the enormous pressure to adapt to ...

Virtual pop-up stores

Here today, change Up tomorrow

They spring up like mushrooms, only to vanish again shortly thereafter – pop-up stores are trendy and now they also increasingly “pop up” online. We spoke with Mohamed Haouache, CEO and Founder of Storefront, about the magical ...

Word-of-mouth marketing: effective strategy

Study says arrogance is the secret to sales

A new study from Michigan State University published in Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science shows that leveraging consumer arrogance might be marketers' most effective strategy for promoting their brands and products."Arrogance is ...

In-store farming: growing parsley inside the supermarket

Purchasing locally grown products

One aspect of globalization means that it’s possible for consumers to buy products from anywhere on Earth. That’s also why a head of lettuce may have traveled more miles from the place it was grown to the supermarket than some salad ...

William Davidson Award for publication in the field of retail research

Award-winning article identifying five different customer journey segments

Oliver Emrich, Professor of Management and Social Media at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), has been awarded the prestigious William R. Davidson Award for a publication in the field of retail research.Entitled "Loyalty Formation for ...

Which businesses should be open?

MIT study looks at tradeoffs between economic value and public health, across different types of retail

Banks and bookstores. Gyms and juice bars. Dental offices and department stores. The Covid-19 crisis has shuttered some kinds of businesses, while others have stayed open. But which places represent the best and worst tradeoffs, in terms of the ...

Smart clothing to drive fitness wearable revenue

New report forcasts a rise of 11 billion Dollar by 2025

A new report from Juniper Research forecasts that annual revenue of integrated fitness clothing will rise from approximately $1 billion in 2020 to $11 billion in 2025. This rapid growth, boosted by higher pricing, will see smart clothing become the ...

COVID-19: lasting changes in the way local pharmacies operate

Survey of American NCPA (National Community Pharmacists Association)

COVID-19 is changing the way local pharmacies do business, perhaps for the long term, according to a new survey released by the National Community Pharmacists Association.According to the survey, 61 percent of community pharmacists anticipate that ...

Cashier as british Vogue cover star

Keyworkers chosen for front cover providing a special moment of thanks during pandemic

British Vogue is breaking with their usual cover stars - a space normally reserved for ‘A’ list celebrities and supermodels, and instead have devoted their iconic cover for the July 2020 issue to honouring key workers who have been ...

WhatsApp Business: A direct line to customers

About the installation, functions and advantages of the app

WhatsApp is a popular communication channel used by millions of people worldwide. Now small and medium-sized retailers or restaurants can use WhatsApp Business to quickly and easily engage and interact with their customers and build customer ...

Job maker 4.0: e-commerce

Retail training and continuing education programs are booming

Digitization in retail and e-commerce growth present fresh challenges for retail employees and the retail world. That’s why interest in the new "E-Commerce Merchant" dual vocational training course offered by Germany’s HDE ...

Take a deep breath ...and get back to work!

Retail employee break rooms and rest breaks in Germany

Working hard is important, but so is taking proper rest breaks! Whether we spend this time alone or with colleagues, by getting some sunlight and fresh air or by relaxing in designated rooms – we all need to take a break sometimes to relax and ...

Now is the time to invest in retail

POS TUNING solutions for the retail industry

The retail sector is particularly affected by the current crisis. The high sales and large customer rushes are countered by staff shortages, sick leave and delivery bottlenecks. In addition to the increased effort required to replenish shelves, it ...

Buy now, pay later options drive increase in e-commerce

New data from Klarna about sales of travel services and event tickets

Klarna released new data from its app in the US, indicating that travel services and event ticket sales are beginning to recover. While still significantly lower compared to an average pre-COVID week, the Airlines category saw a 26 percent ...

Pandemic fuels wine sales at grocery & convenience stores

Latest shopping data shared by Catalina and Koupon

Having closely tracked the impact of COVID-19 on buying behavior in grocery and drug stores since mid-February, shopper intelligence leader Catalina has compared sales data with its partner Koupon, the leading promotion solution provider for small ...

Coronavirus: most Americans now using face masks

New nationwide survey from Fast

A new nationwide survey from Fast shows that the vast majority of Americans – 88 percent – are now using face masks, but 19% want to personally receive a COVID-19 vaccine before they feel safe shopping in stores again, while another 29 ...

26 percent of UK shoppers plan to spend more online after COVID-19

Retailers without online presence threatened

With over a quarter of shoppers now planning to spend more online after the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, retailers with a limited (or no) online proposition must consider investment in order to remain competitive, says GlobalData, a leading ...

Custom-tailored: new in-store safe shopping journey solution

Suitsupply reinvents retail experience including virtual pre-shopping

Suitsupply, the global men's tailoring brand built on radically personal customer experiences, launches new retail journey as stores reopen. The upside of being global, and the staggered timelines of the outbreaks around the world, is the ...

As pandemic spreads, most consumers retreat

How will today’s uncertain times affect consumer behavior?

As a global health crisis potentially morphs into an economic one, Deloitte is conducting a series of biweekly surveys around the globe to better understand the interplay between personal safety and economic vulnerability as a driver of purchase ...

US retail spend set to decline 5.1 % this year

More than double the fall of 2009’s financial crisis

As the second largest retail market in 2019 (behind China), the US is set to experience the steepest slump of all other countries this year (in terms of value) declining over 200 billion dollars versus 2019. Spend is forecast to fall 5.1 percent ...

Study on firms' return policies offline and online

Guidance on pricing, returns, refunds

Because customers who shop online cannot try on their purchases, a third of all Internet sales get returned. But handling these returns is costly, giving retailers that have both physical stores and digital sales a clear advantage over retailers ...

COVID-19: Study reveals impact on hourly workforce

78 percent are worried about making ends meet during the pandemic and 47 percent have less than $1,000 in savings

Bluecrew, the staffing technology platform connecting job seekers with W-2 protected hourly work, released new survey results which indicate hourly workers are bearing the brunt of unemployment and uncertainty in the face of the COVID-19-fueled ...

A return to core competencies: visual merchandising and customer service

Showrooming with samples in brick-and-mortar retail

Brick-and-mortar stores are facing tremendous pressure: competition, pricing pressure, shifting consumer habits. Is setting up your own online store the answer? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. ...

Growth of online grocery sales in 2020

New research by Mintel

The latest research from Mintel reveals the online grocery market is forecast to grow by 33 percent in 2020 to reach an estimated value of £16.8 billion, up from £12.7 billion in 2019. This phenomenal rise follows four consecutive years ...

Consumer product demand in wake of Covid-19 crisis

Newly launched IRI CPG demand index

IRI® released the IRI CPG Demand Index™, a proprietary metric measuring weekly changes in consumer purchases, by dollar sales, against the year-ago period across departments, categories and retail formats.“The COVID-19 pandemic has ...

Coronavirus: digital commerce spend to fall by 14 percent in 2020

Spend set to recover in 2021 as offline spend moves online

A new study from Juniper Research found that global spending on digital commerce will fall by 14 percent in 2020 as lockdowns and reductions in consumer spend are felt. Spending will fall from $11.2 trillion in 2019 to $9.7 trillion.The new ...