Retailers upgrading POS, focusing on its marketing capabilities

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

July 8, 2009

Aberdeen Group reports that 73 percent of retailers rate themselves as sub-par when it comes to keeping their POS systems up to date technologically. And…

Customers abandon food, household brands, but stay loyal to child and pet care products

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

July 8, 2009

Marketing company Epsilon just released the results of its recent survey of 1,500 shoppers, exploring which types of products the newly frugal are abandoning…

Opinion: Retailers need to cut their SKUs

Increasingly, less is more. Here are some tips on shaving your product assortment down to a more manageable, profitable size.

Niemann Foods testing in-store mobile messaging program

July 7, 2009

NORMAL, Ill. — American Digital Signage, a digital out-of-home network and digital signage solutions provider, has announced it was chosen by retail chain and…

New service tracks deli shopping habits

July 6, 2009

Progressive Grocer: The NPD Group is now tracking consumer shopping habits, purchases and perceptions of the supermarket deli department through its new…

Retailers localizing discounts

July 6, 2009

The Wall Street Journal: Retailers such as Walmart and Home Depot have taken on or expanded some form of "localized markdowns," rather than slash prices the…

Consumers want more convenience, more American-made food products

July 1, 2009

Progressive Grocer: Consumers are more frequently choosing American-made products over less expensive foreign goods, according to a recent report by The…

Despite economy, largest retailers remain power players

June 30, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In spite of economic uncertainties, many of the nation's largest retailers held onto their coveted spots at the top of the retail ladder…

What recession? Retailers still spending on store maintenance, upgrades

June 28, 2009

Building Design & Construction: Not all is bleak on the retail construction scene. Though most retailers have scaled back their new store development plans…

New, smaller Meijer concept coming to Chicago

June 28, 2009

Display & Design Ideas: Grand Rapids, Mich.-based supercenter chain Meijer plans to open a new smaller-format, grocery-focused store in the Chicago suburb…

Food Lion promotion encourages shoppers to stock up on private brands

June 28, 2009

In-Store Marketer: Food Lion staged an incentive this month enticing shoppers to stock up on private label products. From May 27 to June 23, the chain offered…

Pan-Oston program helps distributors improve estimate and order efficiency

June 24, 2009

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Pan-Oston has announced the release of its newest sales tool for its distributor customers. This Web-based C-Flex Order Configurator is…

2D bar codes put marketing messages at shoppers' fingertips

June 22, 2009

The Packer: Entering a supermarket, a person is faced with thousands of choices of what to buy, pitting fruits and vegetables in the produce department not…

Supermarkets intensifying online non-food push

June 18, 2009

Retail Week: Supermarkets look likely to steal a further slice of general retailers' sales as both Tesco and Sainsbury's revealed plans to extend their…

Red Book reveals latest version of store execution management tool

June 16, 2009

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Red Book Solutions today revealed the latest version of Source-2-Source, a solution focused solely on store-level task completion. Paired…

Happy birthday, bar codes!

Next week marks the 35th anniversary of the first retail bar code scanner, installed in an Ohio supermarket.

Tesco to test DVD-rental kiosks in Ireland locations

June 15, 2009

CHELTENHAM, Gloucestershire — U.K. supermarket chain Tesco will trial DVD-rental kiosks from The Movie Booth this month, according to an announcement from The…

Hispanic foods moving out of the ethnic aisle

June 14, 2009

MSNBC: Several major chains are expanding their specialty offerings to capture business from Latinos, the country's fastest growing population and already…

Loyalty segmentation needs to extend into the store

When front-line employees are left out of the loyalty process, points programs miss the point.

Whole Foods offering free rides home — via rickshaw

June 9, 2009

Supermarket News: Whole Foods Market stores in Manhattan this week are offering to take shoppers home for free — via rickshaw.