To answer that question, one first needs to understand what makes online grocery delivery so different from other forms of online retail. For a traditional retailer, building that solution is a massive and daunting prospect. If you can do online grocery, then you can do some other forms of online retail; but the reverse definitely does not implicitly follow. These offline retailers already have their trusted brand, their efficient supply chains, and their loyal customers. MORE

Big box retail stores are losing relevance, while e-commerce and specialty stores grow in appeal. As a result, big box retail must shift its strategy — from competing on access and selection to staging big experiences and providing big discounts. is over-retailed. MORE

But the employee-centered way is a better way — even in low-cost retail. In my research, I’ve found that retailers using an employee-centered operations strategy, which I call the good jobs strategy , have two strategic advantages. We started with food retail and plan to expand it to other settings once we get feedback on our methodology. (So food retailers that publicly file with the U.S. Executives have a choice in how they run their operations. MORE

When retail clinics entered the U.S. Retail clinics have demonstrated that they are a sustainable business model and clearly fit a patient need: Today, there are more than 1,600 clinics across the country, which have had a total of 20 million patient visits. Understanding their disappointing performance is particularly important given that retail clinics are viewed as the prototypical example of how disruptive innovation can change the health care system for the better. MORE

Virtual reality (VR), along with its sister technology augmented reality (AR), offers retailers the opportunity to transform how people shop. The successful incorporation of VR and AR into retail models also has the potential to vastly change the way retailers are thinking about stores of the future. Retailers looking to develop a virtual commerce strategy should consider breaking it down along the following dimensions. Your camping trip is coming up. MORE

Soon retail brands aligned their strategies around two critical moments: 1) when a customer decides whether to purchase a product, and 2) when a customer uses the product for the first time. Focusing on the post-purchase experience is the next frontier for online retailers. In 2005 A.G. MORE

So, the news continues to look pretty dismal for the big box, physical, brick-and-mortar retailers. In the last few days, we learned just how deep the problem goes. Here are some headlines, from Business Insider: A Scary Reality About Wal-Mart’s Customers: They’re Broke The Era Of Giant Chain Stores Is Over — And They’ve Ruined [.]. Randy's blog entries MORE

Retail profits are plummeting. Sure enough, the Census Bureau just released data showing that online retail sales surged 15.2 But before you dump all of your retail stocks, there are more facts you should consider. percent of retail sales in the first quarter of 2016. MORE

This has particular implications for retail and how we shop. In this interactive HBR webinar, Rigby explores the future of retail and shares five best practices about digital-physical mashups discovered from global leaders in 20 industries. How separate or integrated are your physical and digital operations? In the early days of the online revolution, some executives ignored the digital world, viewing it as a passing fad. MORE

One of the biggest questions faced by brick-and-mortar retailers today is whether prices should be the same online and in stores. Gaining clarity on this issue is critical for traditional retailers to successfully compete in both environments. Brick-and-mortar retailers have been struggling with pricing since Amazon’s inception, 23 years ago, so why is it so important to resolve this issue now? Well, the news for retailers keeps getting worse. MORE

When Amazon announced last week that it will acquire Whole Foods Market, a grocery chain with over 450 retail stores and deep industry talent, for $13.7 You could almost hear the three-year plans of every grocer, and nearly every other traditional retailer, grinding through the shredding machines. Nobody in the industry should be surprised that the future of retailing is moving toward a fusion of digital and physical experiences. retail sales, or $391 billion of $4.9 MORE

Coaching Corner Emotionally Intelligent Leadership Future Leadership Issues Leadership Lessons Learned Leading & Developing Other Leaders everyday professional leadership Leading the future Professionalism retail leadershipA really good buddy of mine got me thinking about something he said one day: “Be a professional, this is the key to being a great person and great success.” […]. The post On Leadership, Appearance and Being Professional appeared first on Linked 2 Leadership. MORE

I teach a course on retail supply-chain management that includes several classes on store execution. Sometimes I do this exercise when retail executives are visiting the class to support a case we're discussing about his or her company. A Mega-Problem for Retailers. Losing immediate sales when customers can't accomplish their shopping missions because of the problems listed above is a huge issue for retailers. Why is this happening and how can retailers fix it? MORE

Across the retail landscape, a war is going on, and the battles are being fought on multiple fronts: business models, channels, brands, customers, technologies, and more. Postal services are becoming fulfilment platforms, taxis are delivering parcels and food, recipe box companies are eating the lunch of restaurants and grocery retailers, and so on. This is having a knock-on effect on traditional retail brands that are struggling to compete in the new world order. MORE

So how can a low-wage retailer increase productivity? But it’s a different story for retailers and fast-food companies — the largest low-wage employers. So far, the technology we hear most about in retail is self-checkout. MORE

In e-commerce, advances in tracking and analytics have made it possible for retailers to understand what individual customers are doing before they make a purchase, and to gather and analyze hundreds and thousands of data points to identify trends. Decision making Retail Technology MORE

Bertice wasn’t dressed like the sales staff, and the couple had no way of knowing that she was the daughter of Benjy’s founder or that she’d been recently appointed to chair the board of the $40 billion electronics and appliance retailer. Kenneth Andersson. MORE

We've Moved! Update your Reader Now. This feed has moved to: [link] If you haven't already done so, update your reader now with this changed subscription address to get your latest updates from us. link]. Reader Submission mobile payments MORE

Design by 12GrainStudio Team Building & Leadership Process for a Retail Operation; New Product Launch Saturday, November 27th, 2010 Posted by: mike Team Building & Leadership process that was created for a retail organization that was preparing for a new product launch. MORE

The recent headlines about retailing are nothing if not provocative. They seem to bolster Marc Andreessen’s prediction that by the end of this decade “ retail guys are going to go out of business and e-commerce will become the place everyone buys.”. And panicked retailers who get confused about what’s really happening will head off in dangerous directions. There’s no doubt that digital technology is transforming the retail industry. Competition Retail MORE

Future Leadership Issues Leadership vs. Management Leading & Developing Other Leaders Leading Change Practical Steps to Influence future leadership lead by example leadership retail leadership Step-up leadrship trainingHave you ever heard a leader say something like this: “Wow, it would be a great idea if we held our people accountable for….?” Well for me, the first question I ask is this: “Do you hold yourself accountable for….”? MORE

But there’s a surprising insight in the data released by the National Retail Federation : 36% of shoppers reported that all of their purchases were on sale; 11% made that claim in 2015. Analysts attribute this more than 300% increase to widespread discounting by retailers. unemployment rate , applications for unemployment at a 43-year low , median income on the rise ), why are retailers choosing to battle it out on price? MORE

This holiday shopping season, the keys to winning for retailers will not be having the “toy of the season,” free shipping, or huge Black Friday sales. Outdoor retailer REI does this well across their channels including email, mobile, website, stores, in-store kiosks, and print. MORE

Traditional brick-and-mortar retail stores have many disadvantages when competing against online counterparts. New technology promises to allow retailers to beat online players at their own game, transforming the customer experience and dramatically improving their positioning. MORE

Retail. Bureau of Labor Statistics , the two largest occupations in the United States are retail salesperson and cashier. Retail employees typically receive their work schedules one or two weeks in advance and even those schedules can change at the last minute. A common misconception is that this is okay because retail jobs are mainly for high school or college kids looking for supplemental income. In 2014, the median age of a retail salesperson was 35. MORE

It's emerged as this season's hot holiday pricing strategy for online retailers such as Amazon and Best Buy: dynamic pricing. From a pricing perspective, there are a variety of reasons why retailers are employing dynamic pricing. Retailers need to understand that how they set prices is a key component of their brand ‘ and any changes can adversely affect both their brand as well as how consumers shop. MORE

Infographics ecommerce m-commerce mobile commerce mobile retail mobile shopping retail trends We''ve Moved! Update your Reader Now. This feed has moved to: [link] If you haven''t already done so, update your reader now with this changed subscription address to get your latest updates from us. link]. MORE

Traditional retailers are feeling the heat. Even as competition intensifies , shoppers’ visits to retail stores are declining every year, leading one industry veteran to ominously ask his peers , “Is anyone not seeing large traffic declines?” ” Online retail, on the other hand, is thriving. Retail sales through digital channels (including mobile sales) increased by a massive 23% in 2015. Much of these gains have gone to online retailers. MORE

Most retail outlets — whether conventional brick-and-mortar shops, digitally enhanced stores like Macy’s in the U.S. The vocabulary of retailing reflects this model, assuming in particular that shopping is the central component of this model. MORE

Consumers haven’t always shopped in mega-malls, retail centers, and supermarkets. Big box retailers did away with this model decades ago, the result of their lower-cost real estate, which enabled both better pricing and greater selection. Today the retail center model has taken one of its primary benefits — choice — to the extreme. For retailers, the benefits of offering subscription services can be considerable. MORE

I have attended the Africa SME Banking Conference in Johannesburg in early May, organised by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – part of the World Bank. Having heard several presentations and held few discussions over those 3 days I am under impression that the SME banking model needs a specialist bank rather than an all-purpose one which can apply different risk tolerance and underwriting processes compared to those used in traditional banking risk management model. MORE

Launching a company in the retail industry is harder today than ever before. So, all new retailers need to launch a website too. Nobody wants to fail at retail because you often have to invest a lot of money to get the operation off the ground. MORE

Last week, I moderated a "Super Session" at this year's annual National Retail Federation " Big Show." Powered by local, mobile, and social media, online retail is becoming something that no long-time, card-carrying NRF member might reasonably have anticipated. With six to eight boutiques opening every day, at prices 50 percent below retail, Mack says the goal is to make every day "Black Friday" — without selling out too fast given the 72-hour lifetime of each boutique. MORE

In the rush to get online, retailers focused on building lower-cost digital equivalents of their stores that left behind many of the human connections we once enjoyed. Other retail start-ups are developing business models that monetize social connections in new ways. MORE

Penney in November 2011 with a mandate to turn the ailing retailer around, all eyes were on him. He had an amazing legacy: Senior VP of Retail Operations at Apple pioneering the concept of the Apple Retail stores and the Genius Bar. Consumer goods Execution Retail MORE

This blog post is part of the HBR Online Forum The Future of Retail. Ever since people started shopping on the internet, commentators and forecasters have been predicting the death of retail as we know it, much as the self-service format (Retail 2.0) largely killed off the full-service model (Retail 1.0) In many categories, online retailing is advancing much faster than the last format innovation — self serve — did the last time around. Retail MORE

More than any other retailer of scale, Tesco had committed to customer research, analytics, and loyalty as its marketing and operational edge. Practically every retail Big Data and analytics case study over the past decade explicitly referenced Tesco as “best practice.” Better insights, loyalty and promotion may not be worthless, but they are demonstrably worth less in this retail environment. Information & technology Leadership Retail MORE

Product returns are a costly problem for retailers. In online retailing, return rates are an even bigger problem. In online retailing, most products are returned because customers aren’t satisfied with what they get—but this isn’t necessarily due to product defects. This is why retailers provide information—product descriptions, pictures, and videos—to help customers make more informed purchase decisions. MORE

In the physical world, retailers have become quite adept at following the relatively faint tracks shoppers leave in their stores, primarily through their participation in loyalty schemes. Retailers can’t tell what shoppers looked at but didn’t buy, or whether they forgot something that they likely needed. And mobile provides a unique opportunity to help physical retailers compete. Retailers can also upgrade their traditional loyalty programs using mobile technology. MORE

Most retailers follow what I call a bad jobs strategy. Retail stores are complex operating environments. Compensation Employee retention Retail Gap announced last week that it would increase its hourly minimum wage to $9 this year and $10 next year. Naturally, President Obama applauded the decision , which was in line with his own push to raise the minimum wage. But what Gap is after is not greater fairness or less income inequality. MORE

These retailers pay better than many others and that counts for a lot in a low-wage industry like retail. Over the past year, we hosted current or former leaders from each of these retailers at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, and all four talked about a corporate culture of setting high expectations and creating conditions that encourage employees to innovate. MORE

This post is part of the HBR Forum, The Future of Retail. All of these retailers, along with Trader Joe's, invest significantly more in their employees than is typical for their retail peers. These retailers deliver great value to their customers, employees, and investors all at the same time. (My My article in the January-February 2012 issue of Harvard Business Review , Why "Good Jobs" Are Good for Retailers, analyzes how they manage to do this.). MORE

In fact, 98% of IR500 retailers use some form of web analytics. Location analytics firm RetailNext currently tracks more than 500 million shoppers per year by collecting data from more than 65,000 sensors installed in thousands of retail stores. For their part, venue owners — from retail to airports to education to amusement parks — are applying insights gathered from location analytics to all aspects of their business including: Design. Retail Technology MORE