Knowing what consumers want and how much they are willing to pay is the type of intelligence that keeps retailers in business. Looking to offer a more targeted and competitively priced assortment, BJ’s Wholesale Club is rolling out the price suite from merchandise optimization technology provider Revionics. The management and price optimization solutions will help […]
Lowe’s Companies Inc. is expanding its use of augmented and virtual reality to help customers truly “visualize” home improvement projects. Lowe’s is partnering with Microsoft to let shoppers use Microsoft HoloLens augmented reality headsets to view 3-D representations of kitchen remodel design elements in empty in-store showrooms. In select pilot stores, HoloLens lets customers visualize […]
A new collection of five emojis created by Facebook gives users of the social media platform new ways to express themselves that could have huge implications for retailers. Facebook has released “Reactions,” a set of five emoji that expand upon the “Like” button. The new emoji are small icons representing love, haha, wow, sad and […]
Chamath Palihapitiya is a famous startup investor who runs his own venture-capital firm, Social Capital. He was an early Facebook employee and is now estimated to be worth over $1 billion. Because Palihapitiya is a VC, he gets to invest in a lot of different companies. But if he had to put his entire capital in a […]
On the heels of announcing it would close more than 150 stores in the United States, Walmart says it will open 15 supercenters this month in Canada. These grand openings bring Walmart Canada’s total store count to 400 stores, including 312 supercenters and 88 discount stores. The company says its 15 supercenter projects represent an investment […]
In November, Amazon opened its first bookstore, and reports from the CEO of one of America’s largest shopping mall operators Tuesday afternoon suggest that the company is prepared to open several hundred new ones across the country. This prompted many to ask why the company that destroyed the physical bookstore industry would possibly want to […]
Who do you trust? A recently released survey showed which brand name products reign supreme among American shoppers. BrandSpark International determined the most trusted brands in America by asking American shoppers about their favorites. The market research firm surveyed 38,000 people between Oct. and Dec. 2015 and recorded their “top of mind” answers. “The annual BrandSpark […]
Home Depot is replacing its US stores, Marc Powers, with another company veteran, becoming the latest major retailer to change the leader of its store operations. The spokesman said Mr. Powers wasn’t available to comment. Home Depot is the 3rd big US chain this month to change the executive in charge of its stores, as […]
Walmart said it will close 269 stores worldwide this year, including many of its smallest stores, in an unprecedented move CEO Doug McMillon characterized as being more disciplined about growth. Plans call for the company to close 154 locations in the U.S., including the company’s 102 smallest format stores, Walmart Express, which had been in […]
Macy’s said warm weather took a huge toll on holiday sales, which were much worse than expected, prompting the company to announce major cost-cutting moves. During November and December, a period characterized by unseasonably warm weather, Macy’s said its same store sales declined 4.7%. Excluding the performance of leased departments, the comp decline was a […]