Retail insights at the intersection of now and next. Unfiltered. Unbiased
Any retailer should be clear about what it cannot match; it should decide what it can own. A local retailer can know its customers more closely, change the floor faster than a chain can approve a reset, and make choices no national planogram would allow. Those advantages count only if the store is run to a high standard, with the same attention on a Tuesday afternoon as on a holiday weekend.
The world of constant connectivity has, quite naturally, extended to how customers interact with the staff at their local store. The same drive for authenticity propelling next-gen customers to forego flaw-covering concealer for an expressive pimple patch drives them to connect with real local store associates online.
Hey Retail Executive, your customer thinks you’re a crook. A new study says more than 85 percent of consumers believe retailers are playing games with their pricing ahead of Black Friday. Duh.
IKEA’s heritage means there are limits to how far the brand can move upmarket or deviate from its traditional offer. IKEA’s identity rests on the idea that well-designed furniture should be affordable, and if premium collections become too expensive, or services add costs that customers are unwilling to pay, the company risks weakening the very essence of its brand.
When Dollar General settled with the New York State Attorney General’s office, admitting it overcharged customers by as much as 39 percent—39 PERCENT!—and paying out $1.875 million to consumers, it had to be a pretty embarrassing moment. Here’s one of the nation’s biggest retailing corporations, one that prides itself on low prices and great values doing a big fat oops and hoping not too many people notice.
Join Haley and Warren Shoulberg, TRR contributor and retail expert, as they deconstruct the disconnect between in-store retail operations and the isolation of the corner office. Is it hubris, over-confidence, scheduling pressure, or poor management? Find out how a company’s culture is shaped by a CEO’s presence and participation at the local store level.
Optionality requires decisions only C-Suites and Boards can authorize. This special report details how optionality, powered by AI, is a strategic tool to ensure long-term competitive profitability and success.
There is an irony here: Crocs built a global empire by convincing consumers to embrace authenticity and disregard appearances. Yet behind the scenes, the company has mastered a very different art: arranging its finances so that profits can appear to have been earned thousands of miles from where its shoes are actually sold. The $4 billion footwear phenomenon has mastered comfort, fashion—and moving profits offshore.
Over 6o percent of Gen Alpha say social media makes them want to buy something. Some product categories are more digital-first than others, and 78 percent of Gen Alpha consumers discover beauty products through at least one online source. Restrictions on social media, or even outright bans, will mean that marketers need to rewire the Gen Alpha marketing playbook.
Sign up for emails from The Robin Report and get our Daily Report, the latest in retail insights and analysis, delivered to your inbox.
