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Etsy aims to cut carbon emissions in a big way

Like a lot of organizations, executives at ecommerce website Etsy are concerned about their company’s operational impact on the environment. Founded in 2005, Etsy’s global marketplace features handcrafted pieces and vintage items sold by 2.1 million active sellers, 87 percent of which are women. Most items ship directly from sellers to buyers, which presents a challenge.

French supermarket giant moves forward with IBM blockchain initiative

“Pomme puree” is a popular dish in France and other European countries, with Nestle’s Mousline brand instant mashed potato mix a supermarket best seller. Carrefour, the multi-national Paris-based food retailer and a major seller of Nestle products, saw an opportunity in a joint project with Swiss-based Nestle and the IBM Food Trust: Using blockchain technology to track food sourcing.

An inside look at streetwear brands Need Supply and Totokaelo

When Need Supply and Totokaelo merged operations last year, it might have seemed an aligning of two fairly similar brands. Both focus on new wave and streetwear fashions and both are heavily focused on ecommerce with a relatively small bricks-and-mortar footprint.

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Sense and sensibility

For more than 30 years, Andrew McQuilkin has held leadership roles with major architecture and planning firms specializing in retail design. He is currently responsible for leading BHDP Architecture’s retail design and architecture expertise in branding, store planning, interior design and merchandising.

City Furniture updates in-store communication systems

Established in the 1970s, City Furniture is known around south and central Florida for its expansive showrooms with furnishings in various styles and price points. With 29 locations and stores that range from 80,000 to 125,000 square feet, it’s hard for a shopper not to find something that fits their needs and budget.

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.

Cut TCO by 15% on barcode devices

Retailers have relied on rugged handheld devices for over 30 years to boost efficiency and productivity. All along, devices have suffered from failures due to charging contacts that get dirty, corrode, or break. Wireless charging prevents device failure, drastically reducing TCO. An enterprise can easily reduce TCO by 15% or more deploying wireless charging devices.

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Trends

A sober group

Here’s yet another way millennials are changing society. In fact, let’s go ahead and brand them the “moderation millennials” — at least when it comes to drinking, according to the millennial and Generation Z marketing firm Ypulse.

Putting a ring on it

The folks at Pinterest have noticed another trend: More women are searching for creative ways to pop the question. Whether that means they actually are doing so remains to be seen.

NRF News

Why consumers’ trust is important in an evolving retail world

As retailers seek to build personalized and engaging customer experiences, they're collecting more consumer data than ever before. PricewaterhouseCoopers US Cybersecurity and Privacy Leader Sean Joyce returns to NRF's Retail Gets Real podcast to talk about how retailers must build trust with consumers around their use of customer data.

Back-to-school shopping could break records

Families plan to spend more than ever on school and college shopping this year, according to NRF’s annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Families with children in elementary school through high school plan to spend an average $696.70, topping the previous record of $688.62 set in 2012. Meanwhile, families with college students are expected to spend $976.78, outpacing the record of $969.88 set in 2017. View survey highlights.

How Zulily built a culture of data-driven decision making

As manager of media and partnerships for Zulily, Brian Doherty leverages “both the art and science of retail marketing” to create “compelling, engaging and effective” campaigns that he says build bridges between brands and customers. Ahead of his presentation at the NRF NXT conference next week in Las Vegas, Doherty explains how non-engineers can work with advanced technology and embrace a data-driven culture. Read more.

Relationships included with every shopper interaction.

Your biggest successes are still ahead. But to get there, you’ll need to include something extra in every transaction: an awesome relationship. That’s where Salesforce has your back. It’s the world’s #1 engagement platform, helping you connect to your shoppers in a whole new way.

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Retail Deals

European discount retailer Pepkor Europe, the parent company of the PEPCO, Poundland and Dealz brands, has chosen Oracle Cloud to better manage its merchandise and finances.

OSF Commerce is partnering with Bouclair to transform the home décor brand’s online business by taking an innovative multi-cloud and multi-platform approach to enhance the company’s digital environment.

A new alliance by FedEx and Dollar General will offer new, convenient access to FedEx drop-off and pickup services at thousands of the retailer's stores to increase access for all customers, particularly those living in rural communities.

ReposiTrak Inc., an industry leader in compliance, food safety and risk management for the retail supply chain, has announced that Father Sam’s Bakery, an east coast baker, has adopted the ReposiTrak Compliance & Risk Management Solution to automate compliance with its suppliers.

California-based Scandinavian Designs has chosen to leverage Vision Suite by Jesta I.S. in all of its showrooms across the United States.

Appriss, a leading provider of data analytics solutions in safety, health and retail, recently acquired the retail loss prevention solutions from Verisk, a leading data analytics company serving the insurance industry, energy and specialized markets and financial services.