The past decade has been a steady drumbeat of retail’s imminent demise as brick-and-mortar Goliaths were outwitted and outpaced by such digitally-native upstarts like Bonobos and Everlane. Capitalizing on e-commerce’s growing piece of the retail pie, superior digital marketing and compelling prices through the elimination of the middle-man, the Davids Read more…
January marks one of the year’s hardest challenges for retailers as they seek to liquidate old inventory to make room for Spring-related goods. Excessive discounting risks diminishing a retailer’s brand appeal. Poor inventory forecasting in the Fall can result in severe losses in January, resulting in significant gross margin loss. Read more…
The department store was pronounced dying, if not dead, with the recent release of dismal first-quarter earnings, despite rising consumer optimism that saw increased consumer spending in six out of ten retail categories (US Dept. of Commerce). While the challenges are real, department stores also have significant potential to stage Read more…
Bloomingdale’s, the storied retailer, knew what it was doing in 1898 when it installed the first escalators in a department store. The new technology became a source of curiosity, attracting customers, and also opening up much needed space on multiple floors for merchandise to be displayed. Technology has since been the retailer’s Read more…
Retailers are now getting ready for the transition to spring and the clearance racks are full of last season’s goods. A surfeit of goods marked for clearance even after repeated price reductions during the season is a sign of mismatch between supply and consumer want. In the apparel industry, one Read more…