Kohl's saw foot traffic to its stores surge almost 24% in the three weeks following its announcement that all of its locations would accept Amazon returns, according to inMarket data. Visits lasting less than five minutes grew the most, increasing 17%, and the retailer also booked a 14% increase in visits that lasted more than 16 minutes, indicating that the new feature could drive in-store sales.
Luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. is introducing its first full line designed for men in a push to boost sales and court younger consumers. The retailer's 300 stores will feature a separate space for the 100-design line, which will also include non-jewelry items like beer mugs and ice tongs.
Walmart raised its full-year sales guidance Thursday, after reporting a 2.8% second-quarter same-store sales increase and a 37% year-over-year rise in online sales in the US. "We're on track to exceed our original earnings expectations for the year," CEO Doug McMillon said.
Revlon has brought in advisers from Goldman Sachs Group as it explores alternatives that could include a sale of some or all of the cosmetics company's assets, sources said. The company faces growing competition from both bigger established companies like L'Oreal and new and celebrity-driven beauty startups.
Kroger has launched an initiative called the Zero Hunger Mobile Market that aims to expand grocery access to those who can't easily access grocery stores. The trailer, which will visit 29 sites in Louisville, Ky., carries almost 200 different products and is the result of a partnership between the retailer and Dare to Care Food Bank.
A growing group of retailers including Macy's, J.C. Penney, H&M and Neiman Marcus have launched initiatives to give a second life to secondhand clothing. Macy's and Penney's will start testing in-store used fashion areas in partnership with ThredUp, H&M rewards shoppers who recycle apparel with 15% discounts and, earlier this year, Neiman Marcus bought a stake in online secondhand store Fashionphile.
Fast-fashion veteran Margaret Coblentz discovered a passion for sustainability while working at Charlotte Russe, and it ultimately led her to launch Frances Austen, a fashion brand selling garments made from 100% biodegradable cashmere yarn. Retailers in the fast-fashion sector, including Zara and H&M, are also focusing more efforts on sustainability.
Square has created a new suite of applications to help merchants track and manage digital and in-store purchases. The Orders API will help retailers consolidate order fulfillment into a single point-of-sale system and ease the way for new in-app payment services.
Retailers will be able to learn about new retail concepts and the technologies that power them at the "Fall 2019 Tech Trends in Retail" event in Plano, Texas, on Sept. 19. The event, organized by NRF and RevTech Ventures and sponsored by American Express, will feature emerging direct-to-consumer retailers and a "fireside chat" with Neighborhood Goods CEO Matt Alexander. Learn more and register.
For every segment of retail, there are more companies opening stores than closing stores. In the food and supermarket category, 56% of companies are opening stores, while only 6% are closing stores. Source: IHL Group.
Retailers have heavily invested in tech to ease the path to purchase, and consumers are on board. In the latest issue of the Consumer View, NRF surveyed consumers to better understand their expectations surrounding technology, and what they hope to see in the future. Learn more.
Retiring Yum Brands CEO Greg Creed will hand over the reins of a company that grew from 43,000 to more than 48,000 global units during his nearly five-year tenure. Creed has made other moves to set his successor up for success, Alicia Kelso writes, including spinning off the company's China division and boosting franchise ownership.
