Stores Weekly

First Edition

There’s a lot to be said for knowing your audience. These days, there’s even more to be said for reaching a new one. As competition continues to be fierce for consumer dollars, this year’s annual celebration of ideas worth stealing revealed a surprisingly consistent theme. Read on for inspiration — and turn an eye toward any places your own company might explore, reach and prosper.

Visit https://stores.org/2018/12/31/20-ideas-to-steal/?utm_medium=STORES%20Weekly&utm_source=Email&utm_campaign=STORES%20Dec%20&utm_content=Ides%20to%20steal%202019 to view the full article online.

Just do it

Don’t make excuses. Don’t stop for pizza and beer and get distracted. Just do it! When you arrive in New York City this month for NRF 2019: Retail’s Big Show, be sure to check out Nike NYC, a 68,000-square-foot, six-level, cross-category destination that merges physical and digital retail. This newest flagship experience represents the best of Nike product, style and sports innovation.

Visit https://stores.org/2019/01/01/just-do-it/?utm_medium=STORES%20Weekly&utm_source=Email&utm_campaign=STORES%20Jan%20&utm_content=Editor's%20note to view the full article online.

Championing retail, taking risks

Marla Beck didn’t see herself as an entrepreneur. Nor did this self-described beauty junkie with a public policy degree envision starting a beauty business. Still, Beck held fast to a family credo: If it feels terrifying, pursue it. Inspired in part by a Harvard University lecture given by Jeff Bezos during the early days of Amazon, in 1999 Beck jumped into the nascent, dial-up world of internet retail to launch her vision of an online cosmetics brand.

Visit https://stores.org/2019/01/01/championing-retail-taking-risks/?utm_medium=STORES%20Weekly&utm_source=Email&utm_campaign=STORES%20Jan%20&utm_content=Retail%20Champions to view the full article online.

How Push-to-Talk Apps Grow Retail Sales

Gone are the days of searching for coworkers, taking trips to the stockroom, and removing salespeople from the sales floor. Instead, retailers like Restoration Hardware are cutting costs and leading their industry in sales with high quality, live voice messaging apps. Push-to-talk applications empower retail teams to communicate using their personal mobile devices--no hardware required.

Learn more about push-to-talk >>

NRF is proud to provide our members with the online Retail Buying Guide to search for trusted vendors, products and services in the retail industry. Our guide is a user-friendly forum designed to bring suppliers and purchasers together. You can search by keyword, location, company name or category. Available whenever you need it, the Retail Buying Guide makes it easy to locate products and professional services geared to the retail industry. Click here to visit the online Retail Buying Guide! To advertise, please contact Sarah Allen for more information.

Visit https://www.naylornetwork.com/nrf-nwl/articles/index.asp?aid=538422&issueID=64435 to view the full article online.

Trends

Here, kitty, kitty: Let mama take a picture

Lovimals offers fresh hope for those who long to take their pets with them everywhere they go. (Who doesn’t?) The company offers socks, mugs, cushion covers, totes and other lifestyle accessories emblazoned with a personalized hand-sketched drawing of any pet.

Visit https://stores.org/2019/01/02/here-kitty-kitty-let-mama-take-a-picture/ to view the full article online.

Pac-Man eats up nostalgia with Red Bull

Pac-Man on Red Bull? In perhaps the gnarliest partnership since the 1980s, a limited-edition version of Red Bull Energy Drink has been offering special codes under its tabs to unlock Red Bull-themed gameplay experiences with the Pac-Man mobile app.

Visit https://stores.org/2019/01/02/pac-man-eats-up-nostalgia-with-red-bull/ to view the full article online.

The digital edition of STORES includes must-read pieces, including the articles featured here. Read the current issue and browse the archives for issues you may have missed.

Visit https://www.naylornetwork.com/nrf-nwl/articles/index.asp?aid=538437&issueID=64435 to view the full article online.

NRF News

Consumers continue to shop after the holidays

The holidays may be over but the shopping season is still in full swing. For many consumers, the weeks following the December holidays are a chance to exchange unwanted gifts and score some last deals before those New Year’s resolutions kick in. Here are three ways that get consumers to shop at the end of the season.

Visit https://nrf.com/blog/3-ways-consumers-are-continuing-shop-after-holidays?utm_medium=STORES%20Weekly&utm_source=Email&utm_campaign=Winter%20Holidays&utm_content=Holiday%20returns%20blog to view the full article online.

Why 2018 was a historic year for retail — and what’s coming in 2019

In 2018, NRF projects retail sales will grow at a minimum of 4.5 percent of 2017; retail sales already grew 4.8 percent year-over-year in the first half of 2018. That marks nearly a decade of steady expansion, says NRF CEO and President Matthew Shay on LinkedIn: Consumers are confident and spending big with retailers – so much so that market watchers are pointing to retail sales as a sign of the economy’s strength entering 2019. While the overall economy has supercharged gains, make no mistake: Retail’s success is the result of investment, innovation, hard work and vision.

Visit https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-2018-historic-year-retail-whats-coming-2019-matthew-shay/ to view the full article online.

Smarter solutions for global multichannel retailers

Island Pacific has over 40 years of experience providing software solutions to over 600 global multichannel retailers. Island Pacific SmartSuite is available as a comprehensive, integrated system, or as feature-rich, stand-alone modules. From the creation of initial plans, inventory management, business intelligence, Unified commerce, mobile and fixed counter POS. All modules interact seamlessly, ensuring data integrity and a single view of information driving business growth and consistent Return on investment

Read our latest case studies

TV entrepreneurs/retailers Chip and Joanna Gaines to headline NRF 2019: Retail’s Big Show

The business of celebrity is big, beyond the silver screen, reality TV or sold-out mega venues. As one’s cultural connection to fans and consumers rises, so does their stock in launching extensions to their personal brand that trest their husiness acumen and ability to scale. NRF 2019: Retail’s Big Show concludes with impactful lessons from entrepreneurs Chip and Joanna Gaines, along with entertainment executive and entrepreneur Scooter Braun. “We are pleased to welcome Chip, Joanna and Scooter to wrap up our show,” NRF CEO and President Matthew Shay said. “This is an inspiring group of entrepreneurs who are passionate about cultural connections, social change and showing others how they can grow their businesses.”

Visit https://nrfbigshow.nrf.com/session/brand-builders-balancing-business-and-creativity-make-cultural-connection ?utm_medium=STORES%20Weekly&utm_source=Email&utm_campaign=NRF2019&utm_content=Chip%20and%20Joanna to view the full article online.

Webcast: IoT cold chain solutions

The need for secure, IoT-enabled cold chain solutions are being driven from multiple industries including regulations in pharmaceuticals and food safety, increased consumer demands on quality and visibility. In this webcast, Arm, BOSCH and Exosite explain how to develop next-generation cold chain solutions to meet compliance on demanding industry standards.

Watch Webcast

National Retail Federation