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Retailers are striving to minimize return rates and maximize customer satisfaction. In a recent survey from Voxware, it was revealed that 57% of consumers are returning items they purchased online. 42% noted the products they received were in the wrong size or color and 15% said they received the wrong product altogether. Nearly 20% of… Read more »

Hudson’s Bay Company, which has 90 locations, two outlet stores, thebay.com and is the parent company of Saks 5th Avenue and Lord & Taylor, is forming two joint ventures valued at $4 billion to bring more value to its property portfolio. The company has entered into agreements with Simon Property Group Inc. and RioCan Real… Read more »

Retailers have much more sophisticated tools for in-store analytics of customer behavior, but a study conducted by Forrester Research, Inc. revealed pitfalls and recommended key actions for retailers to take to achieve success with in-store analytics. Legacy store analytics only has allowed for slow reaction and limited breadth of activity measurement in traffic counting, merchandise… Read more »

The American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) reports that consumer satisfaction with retail is on the decline for the first time in four years. The ACSI report states brick-and-mortar customer satisfaction fell flat or weakened, while Internet retail is up from last year. By category, overall satisfaction with department and discount stores stayed flat at 77,… Read more »

Despite disappointing end of 2014 sales, Fossil is focused on the future, announcing Tuesday that it has reached a ten year licensing agreement with Kate Spade, assuming its existing watch business. Fossil CEO Kosta Kartsotis called the agreement, “yet another great example of our ability to capitalize on lifestyle brands that are poised for global expansion.”… Read more »

A recent benchmarking survey of key consumer product metrics by Gartner and IDC Manufacturing Insights found SKU-level forecast error rates one month out had an average of 21.9%. For new products, the error rate grew to 48.3%. In that report, Gartner says consumer goods companies will continue to get better at using POS data and… Read more »

January US consumer spending barely rose .1 percent, despite cheaper gasoline and a buoyant labor market. Economists are speculating that consumers were using their extra income to pay down debt and boost savings. This was below Wall Street’s expectations for a .4 percent increase. “Should we be worried about the weakness of underlying sales over… Read more »

Retailers need to figure out how to keep shoppers engaged with their mobile apps so they come back and shop for more, instead of downloading an app, using it once, and then forgetting it or deleting it. In a recent panel of 250,000 US and 2 million global app users, an engagement measurement of monthly… Read more »

Francis Blake, 65, joins the Proctor & Gamble Co. board of directors, effective immediately. This announcement comes just a few days after his retirement as chairman of Home Depot. He stepped down from the CEO position in November. Blake’s extensive retail experience joins Macy’s Inc. CEO Terry Lundgren on the board. Prior to Home Depot,… Read more »

PwC’s annual global consumer survey of about 1,000 US respondents list Amazon as most favorite retailer with 52% of the vote. Amazon was followed by Walmart with 41% and Target 29%. These retailers were followed by several department stores. Kohl’s was rated the highest of the department stores with 14% of the vote. Other department… Read more »