To survive in today's economic climate, retailers must stay on the cutting edge of technology, business strategy, and more. This section is all about business strategy, with content focused on topics such as retail technology trends, retail and e-commerce marketing strategies, merchandising, omnichannel best practices, and more!
In this episode of Women in Retail Talks, Women in Retail Leadership Circle Senior Content Strategist Ashley Chiaradio interviews Lisa Erickson, senior director of customer relationship management and loyalty at Sleep Number, the mattress company that's been transforming the sleep industry since 1987. Listen in as Erickson discusses how the company's loyalty program drives its repeat and referral business, why exclusive health content drove the loyalty program during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what the sleep brand has planned for 2021 around health and wellness.
Duration: 13:41
As we watch the pandemic begin to slowly recede, it’s becoming increasingly clear that COVID-influenced marketing trends like accelerated digital transformation across industries and increased online shopping in the retail space are likely here to stay. However, there’s one key shift that retailers may not be aware of, one that has the potential to have...
The outbreak of COVID-19 forced the temporary shutdown or reduced operation of many brick- and-mortar retail stores. When government restrictions relaxed, retailers reopened stores with new measures to inform and protect shoppers. According to a recent Acxiom survey, most shoppers (54 percent) won’t return to stores until the government says the outbreak is contained. It continues to be crucial for retailers to take precautions to ensure consumers are protected and comfortable shopping in their stores. Between mid-July and early August 2020, NAPCO Research conducted an in-store review of 100 top retailers’ COVID-19 measures based on 29 unique criteria, including signage, safety messaging, traffic, technology, and friendliness/experience. The resulting report highlighted the top performing retailers, emerging trends in COVID-19 readiness, best practices for retailers, and the main areas for improvement. To evaluate their progress in the months since, an identical follow-up assessment was conducted in mid- to late December 2020. This report will reveal the results of this second assessment, including comparisons between the results of the first and second rounds.
For the fourth consecutive year, NAPCO Research, in conjunction with Blackhawk Network, executed a comprehensive review of the state of merchants’ gift card offerings. However, unlike the previous three years, the 2020 review included an assessment of retailers’ e-commerce/digital, mobile, and in-store gift card offerings, providing a truly 360-degree view into the consumer gift card purchase and recipient experience. Why make this change in methodology? First, consumer behavior has been trending toward omnichannel — i.e., engaging with brands across multiple channels, such as stores, online, and mobile, often in the same purchase journey — for some time now. Interacting with brands across channels during the purchase journey, whether the item being sought out is a gift card or some other product, has become commonplace for consumers. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the COVID-19 global pandemic, which upended the retail industry and fundamentally changed the way many consumers shop, rapidly accelerated this trend.
Stay-at-home orders and restrictions during the pandemic accelerated the already growing consumer reliance on e-commerce. Demand for online shopping grew across all sectors of retail, especially for items that used to be purchased in-store day-to-day, like household products and groceries. We connected with Mary Fox, general manager, BIC North America, a global leader in stationery...
In this episode of Women in Retail Talks, Women in Retail Leadership Circle Senior Content Strategist Ashley Chiaradio interviews Sabina Khan, founder of Planet Nature, a U.K.-based sustainable online lifestyle retailer offering solely fair trade products made from locally sourced natural materials. Listen in as Khan discusses Planet Nature's brand ethos and business model, how the company only operates clean eco-manufacturing, and the sustainable materials used for the products sold on its site.
Duration: 19:32
The “new normal” may be here to stay, with retailers and consumers alike embracing the new, online-driven landscape of the retailer sector. Yet, we cannot attribute this development exclusively to the pandemic. Even before 2020, brick-and-mortar retailers had been fighting a fierce battle against leading e-commerce players. These challenges have now accelerated, but this doesn’t...
In 2020, we saw the COVID-19 pandemic pose incredible challenges for the retail community as business owners tried to stay afloat. Despite incredible challenges, many retail leaders proved their companies’ resiliency by pivoting their business models and adapting to new consumer needs. As a small business advisor and brick-and-mortar store co-owner, I anticipate that three...
In this episode of Women in Retail Talks, Women in Retail Leadership Circle Senior Content Strategist Ashley Chiaradio interviews Abby Morgan, co-founder and chief marketing officer of CUUP, a direct-to-consumer bra company focused on providing women with the essential bra. Listen in as Morgan discusses the inspiration behind launching the company, what makes CUUP bras different from competitors' products, and how the brand's BodyTalk™ platform is building a community of women supporting women.
Duration: 17:20
Influencer marketing campaigns exploded for brands and companies during the COVID-19 pandemic, with their powerful ability to reinforce customer loyalty, give inspiration for increased product usage, attract new demographics of customers, and drive e-commerce sales. In many cases, consumers flocked to the content and took action as a result of strategic influencer campaigns. However, there...
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