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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December wasn’t kind to Macy’s as they saw a 4.0% drop in same store sales and have now announced that they are closing 11 stores. Combining November and December, same store sales dropped 7.5% over last year for the retailer.
Close to 1,000 employees are affected by these store closings – unknown how many fo them will be able to transfer to positions in other stores.
From their press release, the closing stores are:
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Ernst & Young Plaza (Citicorp Plaza), Los Angeles, CA (135,000 square feet; 136 employees; opened in 1986)
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The Citadel, Colorado Springs, CO (195,000 square feet; 105 employees; opened in 1984)
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Westminster Mall, Westminster, CO (156,000 square feet; 110 employees; opened in 1986)
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Palm Beach Mall, West Palm Beach, FL (190,000 square feet; 71 employees; opened in 1979)
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Mauna Lani Bay Hotel, Island of Hawaii, HI (3,000 square feet; 3 employees; opened in 1983)
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Lafayette Square, Indianapolis, IN (160,000 square feet; 84 employees; opened in 1974)
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Brookdale Center, Brooklyn Center, MN (195,000 square feet; 72 employees; opened in 1966)
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Crestwood Mall, St. Louis, MO (166,000 square feet; 176 employees; opened in 1969)
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Natrona Heights Plaza, Natrona Heights, PA (73,000 square feet; 124 employees; opened in 1956)
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Century III Furniture and Clearance, West Mifflin, PA (83,000 square feet; 3 employees; opened in 2000)
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Bellevue Center, Nashville, TN (211,000 square feet; 76 employees; opened in 1990).
These store closings represent a troubling sign of things to come for the retail industry. I believe Macy’s is just the first in a line of retailers to announce downsizing over the next few weeks. Who’s next?
More coverage from the Consumerist, Reuters and BloggingStocks.
Photo above from Flickr user pkeleher. Use under Creative Commons License.
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Wednesday
January 7, 2009
I was curious to see how retailers are handling and delivering mobile content. I decided to visit a variety of e-commerce stores, on my iPod Touch, and captured the results. Consider this a beginning of the year snapshot of the mobile online retail web – I look forward to capturing these sites again in 12 months and seeing what changes.
A few observations:
6 of the 50 retailers redirect iPhone users to a mobile-optimized website: Amazon, Best Buy, Foot Locker, Target, Victoria’s Secret, and Walmart. Ralph Lauren should be on this list, since they offer a mobile-optimized website, but the server doesn’t redirect iPhone visitors.
Way too many retailers have Flash movies with no non-Flash support. Typically these are promotion pieces and don’t interfere with the navigation. However, the Nike shop redirects the iPhone user to a page that tells them they should download Flash with no way to view the site otherwise. I also have to note Ralph Lauren’s Rugby store and Express, both sites are just about completely unusable without Flash.
Kudos to retailers like Gap and J.Crew who have javascript animations for their homepage promotions. The iPhone user still has a pleasant visual experience.
If you are interested or involved with the design, development, or user experience of e-commerce stores, please visit ecommr. ecommr is a website showcasing the best (and sometimes worst) in e-commerce design, with a clear focus on the individual elements that make up online stores.
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Abercrombie & Fitch
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American Eagle
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Amazon
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Anthropologie
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Armani Exchange
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Best Buy
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Bloomingdale’s
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Bluefly
Continue reading this entry
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Really recommend this blog post written by Jim Barraud: Email Newsletter Makeover. He takes a real email newsletter he’s received and shows the technical issues with it that prevent most people from getting all of the content and then shows how easy it is to make it more accessible. Very good use of a real world example and some very simple tips that all retailers should be aware of, especially as the use of email newsletter blasts ramps up as we progress through the holiday season.
For full disclosure, Jim is an associate of mine at Media-Hive.
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The stimulus checks have been (presumably) spent, back to school shopping is underway, and the retail sales numbers for July are in and they are, well, pretty ugly. A lot of retailers posting negative same-store-sales numbers for the month, many of them posting numbers that fell below Wall Street’s expectations. Wall Street is responding – as of 12:30, the S&P Retail Index is down around $7.
The negative results are hitting all segments of retailers – from department stores to the mall, teen retailers to mass market merchandisers. Wal-Mart posted a positive sales increase of 3.0%, but that is less than the 3.5% increase that Wall Street was looking for. Target saw same store sales drop 1.2% in the month of July and warn that August isn’t going to be much better. JCPeneny’s sales dropped 6.5% but raised their Q2 guidance “due to better than expected sell-through of promotionally priced merchandise and continued expense management measures.” Kohl’s saw a steep 10.4 drop in same store sales in the month.
Gap saw negative numbers across all brands – Old Navy down 16%, Banana Republic down 8%, and Gap North America down 6%. When are they going to spin off the Old Navy brand, sell it, and let someone else deal with the turnaround?
Teen retailers aren’t seeing the Back to School numbers they hoped for with American Eagle down 7%, PacSun was down 4%, Abercrombie & Fitch (as a company) was down 7% (with only A&F proper posting flat numbers, up 1% for the month. Hollister was down 11% – blowing away the 4.1% decrease expected by analysts), but Aeropostale saw sales jump 13%.
More coverage from CNN/Money, Forbes, and Marketwatch.
Reminder, all of July’s numbers are available to analyze over at our partner site, Retail Numbers.
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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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Today, JCPenney has announced the launch of a new activewear line called Xersion. The line, developed, sourced, and designed by the retailer, fits in the “better” pricepoint of Womens activewear. This is one of the six brands JCPenney is launching with this back to school season.
More details are available in their own press release.
Timing of this launch is interesting as Kohl’s readies to launch their exclusive licensing agreement for activewear with Fila. Makes sense that JCPenney would want to ramp up their private label activewear offerings.
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Someone forgot to merchandise these products in the J.Crew store:
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It’s official:
Boscov’s Inc., the 9,500-employee department-store chain founded in 1911 in Reading, Pennsylvania, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Wilmington, Delaware, today, citing decreased consumer spending.
Boscov’s, which said in court papers that it’s the biggest family-owned full-service department store chain in the U.S., will immediately close 10 of its 49 stores. The company said it will borrow as much as $250 million from a group of lenders led by Bank of America Corp. to help it restructure.
The Associated Press has the full list of stores that are closing:
MARYLAND
Marley Station Mall, Glen Burnie
Owings Mills Mall, Owings Mills
White Marsh Mall, Baltimore
NEW JERSEY
Monmouth Mall, Eatontown
PENNSYLVANIA
Harrisburg East Mall, Harrisburg
Monroeville Mall, Monroeville
Montgomery Mall, North Wales
Oxford Valley Mall, Langhorne
South Hills Village Mall, Bethel Park
VIRGINIA
Piedmont Mall, Danville
More coverage from the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, and Reuters.
This is a blow to the retailer that touts itself as American’s largest family owned department store. In an age of consolidation and rapid, national, retail expansion, Boscov’s was one of the last regional department store chains that we had here in the Mid-Atlantic.
I wonder how many of these locations are being scouted by JC Penney and Kohl’s.
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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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