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Canadian footwear merchant leverages tradition against larger competitors

What’s a mid-size retailer to do in the shadow of titans seeking to gobble up all the ecommerce shopping dollars they can? Montreal-based Browns Shoes, a third-generation family-owned fashion footwear merchant founded in 1940, is in the middle tier of retail chains — intent on remaining competitive against the likes of Amazon and others and relevant to customers expecting robust shopping and service experiences, no matter the store location or device.

New business metrics give Pearle Vision a clearer view of its relationship with the market

The Pearle Vision eye care chain was founded in 1961 in Savannah, Ga., and began expanding nationally in the 1970s. Somewhere along the line Pearle’s image of itself, and the way it was perceived by the market, became unclear, partly because of a heavy emphasis on promotional pricing. Doug Zarkin, vice president and chief marketing officer, joined the company in 2012 with a mandate to turn things around.

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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

An up-to-the-minute peek at data

A lot can happen in a minute. Domo’s Data Never Sleeps 7.0 infographic, the seventh-annual peek into the “volume, velocity and variety of data generated and distributed over the internet,” proved once again that data creation won’t slow down any time soon.

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.

NRF News

Ministry of Supply brings science to fashion

Ministry of Supply is redesigning the work wardrobe, blending high-tech performance materials, extensive research and experimentation. On this episode of NRF’s Retail Gets Real podcast, CEO and co-founder Aman Advani talks about what happens when engineering meets fashion and what the future of retail looks like.

Meet the visionary tech driving retail innovation in 2020

Now in its fourth year, the Innovation Lab at NRF 2020 Vision: Retail’s Big Show in New York City will feature a group of 50 companies developing the most cutting-edge technology to help retailers meet the needs of consumers, including the latest advances in artificial intelligence, augmented reality, machine learning, facial recognition, data analytics, robotics and more. Meet the companies taking part.

Your Stores Deserve Champions!

With a mobile-first user experience, Capango eliminates the need for resumes by capturing data points about the Seeker—such as location, availability, interests, and skill sets—in just a few taps. By automatically matching Seekers with jobs based on tags selected when creating a job posting, Capango helps employers get one step closer to finding the perfect hire.

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Small businesses, consumers pay the price for tariffs, senator says

Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) recently visited Carlton’s, a men’s and women’s apparel store in Rehoboth Beach, Del., and spoke with small business owner Trey Kraus, who said his suppliers have already raised their prices in anticipation of tariffs. “Tariffs, despite what some people might say, are not paid by the Chinese, they’re paid by American consumers,” Coons says in this NRF video.

Retail Deals

Intralogistics innovator Dematic has announced the commercial availability of its micro-fulfillment solution designed to help retailers across industries address increased consumer demand for rapid online order fulfillment in a small footprint.

Flip Fit recently launched with $3.75 million in seed funding, unveiling the first social media application that enables users to receive a “fitting room in their living room” of items they specifically requested to try after seeing those items on friends and influencers they follow.

Customers of Stage Stores now have the option to pick up Amazon orders at their local Gordmans off-price and Stage department stores.

Increasing Conversion with Localized Marketing

While everyone acknowledges in-store conversion is key to success, how best to optimize localized retail operations to drive customer engagement and conversion is less straightforward. As consumer behavior and preferences evolve, brick and mortar stores must be one step ahead in evolving with them, adjusting store specific strategies and execution accordingly. By leveraging technology to personalize products and messaging, retailers can have targeted conversations with customers that drive conversion.

Starbucks Coffee Company has announced the latest expansion of Starbucks® Delivers to five new U.S. markets — Atlanta, Denver, Phoenix, Philadelphia and New Jersey — as well as further expansion in the New York Metro area.

Zenni, the online eyewear industry leader, is collaborating with actress, writer and producer Rashida Jones on its new “Eyewear for Every You” ad campaign.

Zutano, a leading designer of infant and juvenile clothing and accessories, has acquired Morgan & Milo, a brand best known for its fashionable and exceptionally comfortable toddler shoes.

Happy Returns has introduced new pricing tiers and additional functionality for its online return and exchange service, which will equip retailers with a fully branded, customizable online flow that retains revenue by maximizing exchanges and gives shoppers ease and flexibility in initiating returns.