No Turn On Red

Just came across this new application in iTunes called iRetailer (caution: link takes you to the Apple iTunes store). It is a task organizer and note-taking application that is geared towards retail managers allowing them to divide tasks into categories such as people, operations, and merchandising.

From their description:

I was tired of using note applications that were either too complex or just didn’t do a good job. I built my own app to take care of simple task throughout the day. You have enough to do throughout your day without having to ‘chase notes.’ Have your list with you at all times. I have saved so much time just through the development phase, by using iRetailer.

I don’t know how well the application works, but I can totally support the idea. When I was involved at the store level of retail, I always had a notepad on me that had to-do lists and goals. Sales targets, merchandising objectives, and daily operations coverage were always in my pocket. The concept of an iPhone app is intriguing to me because it centralizes the information a bit more.

Good idea for an app. If anyone tries it out and has feedback on it, I’d love to know.

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Missed this last week due to the holiday, but I wanted to share a link to Beth Harte’s excellent post called Want to Figure Out Your Social Media Plan? Consider a Plan. It’s an excellent primer on developing a business plan for social media and setting clear goals in order to measure ROI. Not only is the post informative, but it has spurred a great conversation in the comments on different ways to define and measure ROI with a social media plan. I’ve just skimmed through the comments, but I know I have a lot to read and digest tonight.

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A few of the stories I’m reading and wanted to share today:

John Zogby’s got a very insightful look into the political trends of retail consumers and dives behind the numbers to make sense of it all. He looks at presidential election polling numbers, the retailers the customers shop at, and how this relates to the retailers’ branding.

J.Crew’s website has had their share of mistakes and downtime lately. Church of the Customer is talking about the apology e-mail that the retailer sent out to their customers and what this means for the company.

Matt at A New Marketing presents a clean, easily digestable definition of what social media is.

.. and finally – Starbucks is offering a $2 discount on iced beverages in the afternoon when you buy a drink in the morning. I think this is a smart move that should drive repeat business throughout the day. Besides that, I’m selfish and now look forward to saving a little bit of money on my second trip to Starbucks every day.

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Let’s play a game. I’ll name two retailers and you guess which one has more locations in the five boroughs of New York City. Ready?

Starbucks vs. Dunkin’ Donuts

McDonald’s vs. Burger King

Rite Aid vs. CVS

Coach vs. H&M vs. Pinkberry

Best Buy vs. American Apparel

According to a new study from the NYC-based think tank, Center for an Urban Future, the numbers are suprising.

Dunkin Donuts has more locations (341) in the five boroughs than Starbucks (235). Though Starbucks’ has more than double the amount of Manhattan locations (186 vs 78). McDonald’s has 248 locations compared to Burger King’s paltry 92. Rite Aid has 209 locations to CVS’s 108, but not as much as NYC-favorite Duane Reade (with 216 locations). Coach and H&M have as many NYC locations as California upstart Pinkberry (all with 12 locations in the city) and would you believe that American Apparel has more locations than Best Buy (16 vs 9).

The details revealed by the study are interesting, with a thorough breakdown of how many locations each retailer has in each borough. It is worth downloading the PDF and taking a look at their results.

Couple of interesting commentaries on the report from the New York Daily News, the New York Observer, and the New York Post.

Photo above from Flickr user lab2112, used under Creative Commons.

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Another mixed month for retail sales.  While some retailers rebounded and look to go into Back to School on a positive note, it was another dark month for some mall and teen retailers.

Wal-Mart beat expectations with a 5.8% increase in June (showing 6.1% increase at their US name-brand stores and a 4.6% increase at their Sam’s Club locations). Target ended up in positive territory with a 0.4% uptick in same store sales. Costco showed a 9% increase, Kohl’s beat estimates with a 2.3% increase, and even mall retailer Aeropostale showed gains with a 12% increase in June.

The month was not as kind to mall and teel retailers such as Gap (company down 7%), Abercrombie (down 3%), and American Eagle (down 11%).

June’s numbers have been posted to Retail Numbers, which allows you to chart and track the retail industry monthly same-store sales.

More coverage from Fox Business and the Associated Press.

Photo above from Flickr user James@mannequindisplay. com, used under Creative Commons.

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Imagine it is Friday at 5:00PM and someone just posted, on their blog, about a horrible shopping experience they had at your store. Maybe a cashier was rude or maybe a store was disgusting – but whatever their frustration, they just posted their thoughts online and now it’s gotten linked to from two dozen websites and now people are talking about it across the country.

In this day, do you really want to wait until corporate PR gets into the office at 9:00AM on Monday morning before someone even thinks about reacting to this story? Monday is too late when there’s the potential that someone, reading the blog post, has decided not to shop at your store on Sunday.

Think it is far-fetched? I talked about this earlier in the year, when one consumer posted about their bad experience at a Kohl’s.

Think something like this can’t happen to your business? I can tell you that no matter how well you think you are training your employees, something somewhere is going to happen and someone is going to talk about it online. The next big story could be affecting your retail chain.

Today I read, over at Consumerist, about an unpleasant experience a person had returning items at Victoria’s Secret. Look through the comments and you will see a range of responses – some agree with the poster and complain about Victoria’s Secret customer service, while some stick up for Victoria’s Secret, while others debate the quality of merchandise Victoria’s Secret carries.

You know what I would love to see? Someone from Limited Brands posting a comment in that thread. Maybe they say that they are sorry for the experience, that they will look into it, and get in touch with the original poster privately. They could talk about how they are going to look into the policy and figure out if the sales person was poorly trained, rude, or even correct in what they do. A personal face of the corporation, being honest and engaging conversation, could stop an already bad experience from spiraling out of control. A personal face who could prevent the same situation from happening again.

This is the role of an online Community Manager: someone who represents a brand, online, and engages in honest communication with managers. It’s not hard to go through blogs, social networks, and community websites to find out what is being said about your brand. It’s not that hard to engage and welcome conversation and criticism. It’s not that hard to admit that, hey maybe someone made a mistake at the store level but it was due to poor training and we are going to correct that.

People make mistakes and they want to see big businesses admit that they do, as well. But a retailing remaining silent and ignoring the conversation around them is going to hurt their business and drive away customers.

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The New York Times ran a report this weekend, suggesting that online retail sales may be losing steam. The report has gotten a lot of people talking across the industry, but it is slightly misleading. While the year over year growth may slow down a bit, overall retail sales will continue to grow with the help of online sales.

Retailers need to continue adapting their online retail strategies. I think the most growth will still be seen within traditional (”brick and mortar”) retailers who create an online experience that is an extension of the in-store shopping experience. This will continue to create consumers who are better informed, make more confident purchases, and feel a stronger connection to the retailer.

Traditional retailers should begin to view their online presence as an extension of their brand. They should seek to create communities around their brand instead of just pushing products. There is still a lot of room to grow in this area. The result will a more loyal customer and an increase in overall sales.

Margaret Brennan at CNBC writes that online shopping is not dead yet. Good look at the rise in non-traditional online sales, including sales in footwear and apparel.

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Stories that I’ve come across today on the web that I’d like to share:

Originally announced back in August, the Rite Aid purchase of Eckerd and Brooks pharmacy chains is official today. Rite Aid will have to divest certain properties to allow for competition. Conversion of the stores should take 16 months. Once this deal is complete, Rite Aid will be the third largest pharmacy chain in the US (behind Walgreens and CVS) and the predominant pharmacy retailer on the East Coast. More thoughts from the Albany Times Union.

I’ve got to say that I’m sad to see the Eckerd brand go. Part of it is the fact that the Eckerd stores in my area are newer than the Rite Aid locations, making for a more pleasurable shopping experience.

Last week the Motley Fool had a good look at Abercrombie & Fitch, this week they’ve got a good look at J.Crew. They’ve had a succesful IPO, improved their gross margin, increased revenue, and increased same store sales. Good times for that retailer.

Recently, Target introduced a line of wedding dresses and related apparel by Isaac Mizrahi. Today, the Chicago Tribune is talking about this, what it means for Target, and what it means for the industry.

Finally, lux.et.umbra is asking whether summer hours would improve business in Silicon Valley. Good thoughts. The budgets for small retailers is tight, but not being open when your customers want to shop is bad business. That’s not to say that everyone should be open 24 hours, but late hours during the Summer may not be a bad thing.

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CNBC television is reporting that Limited Brands has made three headlines:

- Limited Brands has reached an agreement with private equity firm Golden Gate Capital to sell a 67% stake in the Express brand for $548m

- They are still exploring “strategic options” for Limited Stores

- They have slashed their Q1 earnings forecast in half from $0.25 – 0.28/share to $0.12 – 0.14/share.

LTD Stock has reopened after being halted at $27.14 at 2:27 and has immediately dropped to around $26.

More from CNBC and a just issued press release by Limited Brands.

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CNBC television is reporting that Limited Brands stock (LTD) has been halted on the NYSE pending breaking news.

Jim Cramer on CNBC’s “Street Signs” speculates that they could be going to announce some sort of spinoff.

Speculation lately has been that the chain was shopping the under performing Express Fashion and Limited stores to potential sellers. Previous spinoffs from Limited Brands have included Abercrombie & Fitch, Lane Bryant, Lerner New York, & Limited Too/Tween Brands.

Could be an interesting shakeup to the mall landscape.

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