E-Commerce Pop-Ups Deliver a Much-Needed Physical Presence to Online Retail
Once upon a time, pop-ups were simply opportunistic. A way for retailers to generate extra sales in empty storefronts, a low-cost solution for emerging businesses hoping to gain a toehold in a market, or a way for big-buck brands to
Calculated Risk: A Marketing Lesson Learned from the Nike Kaepernick Gamble
Last year’s Nick Foles Super Bowl trick play on 4th down for the TD. Going for the three-point buzzer beater and the Big Dance win. The defensive slide tackle on a counter that’s either a PK or a game-saving stop at
Physical Retail’s 80/20 Rule Is Rapidly Changing. Is Your Store Ready?
The 80/20 rule for brick and mortar stores meant stocking their shelves with 80% basics and 20% items that would delight and surprise shoppers. E-commerce changed that balance. With a click on your device, you can instantly order everything from
Retail Holiday Creep: Pros and Cons of (Too) Early Retailer and Retail Brand Displays
Today is the spookiest day of the year – and it’s also one of retail’s sweetest and tastiest. After the kids crash from sugar overload, the last cobweb is swept up and the witch’s hat is hung up until next
Rethinking Consumer Retail Tech to Target Younger Audiences
Over the past decade, consumer retail tech has advanced rapidly. Flat-screen televisions, gaming consoles and MP3 players used to dominate the market, sold primarily at big-name tech stores like Best Buy. Today, smartphones and other smart devices lead tech sales
Leveraging In-Store Shopping Technology
These days, who doesn’t shop without a smartphone glued to their hand or tucked into a pocket? Rather than fight the wave of smartphone apps or limit technology to the check-out area, brick-and-mortar brands should join the rising tide. In-store
Pop-Up Retail Moments at NYFW: Feminism, Color and Eye-Catching Experiences
Around Manhattan, Labor Day signals two things: the end of the summer and the arrival of New York Fashion Week (NYFW). This year was no different, with designers, retailers, models and celebrities descending on the Big Apple for a week
Testing 1, 2, 3: A Pop-Up Test for Toy Expansion
We all know the retail landscape is shifting. Lines constantly blur between sectors – workplaces are becoming stores, sporting warehouses are clothing stores and fashion retailers are experimenting with designer food! Now, the toy industry is following suit. The demise of Toys“R”Us
Squeezed by Retail Returns: E-commerce’s Bane Is Brick & Mortar’s Advantage
Like so many bad habits, it started out innocently. First it was two, then it became four. Before you knew it, it was up to eight. At first, it felt like a dirty little secret. Now, it’s out in the
In-Store Shopper Happiness. Paying Attention Yields Big Results.
How can you tell when a customer is happy? We mean really happy. A smile while she walks out the door? Sales? Repeat sales? The tone of social media posts? How you measure shopper happiness, and the agility with which you
A Case Study in Evolving: How Best Buy Survived to Thrive
Electronics stores are dead. Or so we thought. Best Buy, against all odds, has fought its way back to become once again a thriving electronics chain. Since they had a leadership switch in 2012, Best Buy’s shares have rocketed from
Bringing the Power of the Beauty Vloggers In-Store
Vlogging, or video blogging, is revolutionizing the beauty market. Social media influencers with YouTube channels and Instagram feeds are raking in funds – often enough to subsidize an entire career – to make videos promoting brands. Beauty vloggers dedicate hours
How Healthy Is Your Promotion of Wellness In-store?
Time was you only went to the drugstore when you felt under the weather or needed a prescription refilled. Today’s drug stores have evolved and expanded to extensively cover almost every part of our lives: medications, health and beauty offerings,
The Rise of the Microbrands
Across the country, a dichotomy is taking place on store shelves: well-known (and well-funded) products are now elbow to elbow with small, emerging microbrands. The up-and-comers aren’t necessarily spin-offs, developed in the R&D facility of some large conglomerate. These new
The Mass Merch Scaling Challenge: Urban Shoppers
Mass merch scaling. It seems like everyone is headed for the city, mass merchandisers included. Typically suburban-based, megastores like Kmart and Costco have traditionally subsisted on a broad swath of the population buying anything and everything within their doors. But
The Art of Thriving: Why Some Brick and Mortar Retailers Do and Others Don’t
5 Differentiating Strategies for Brick and Mortar Survival It’s a popular myth that brick and mortar retail is nearing extinction; in reality, strong strategies and effective execution can support thriving in-store retail. Brick and mortar survival is simply a matter
Forward Thinking – The Future of Retail
CBRE’s The Future of Retail | 2030 looks at the state of shoppers and shopping 13 years from now. Forty fascinating insights demonstrate the continued evolution of buying and selling.
Four Avoidable Holiday Signage Mistakes
A couple of days ago (on I-Can’t-Believe-I’m-Doing-This Sunday, which I just invented to fall between Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday), I ventured out into retail world to do some basic marketing reconnaissance. I saw some decent displays, bumped into
Last-Minute Social Media Marketing Hacks
Is your brand’s social presence starving for some Halloween spirit?
Digital to Physical Retail: Why Retail Startups Still Need an Old-Fashioned Store
The rise of ecommerce has made the in-person experience all the more valuable to the shopper.