Stores Weekly

We are pleased to announce that STORES magazine will have a new online home. While we put the finishing touches on the website, please enjoy this selection of some of the top stories from the previous year.

Visit https://www.naylornetwork.com/nrf-nwl/articles/index.asp?aid=427833&issueID=56484 to view the full article online.

The Seattle-based e-commerce giant turned 21 last summer, and it’s safe to say the company is handling its transition into “adulthood” with aplomb. STORES looked at 21 times it changed the dynamics of selling, came up with fundamental new ways of doing business and altered how customer satisfaction is measured. (September 2016)

Visit https://nrf.com/news/21-ways-amazon-changed-the-face-of-retail to view the full article online.

Feeling a day late and a dollar short for the retail innovation party? Retailers small and large, including Warby Parker, Vera Bradley and Kohl’s, have had a banner season of creatively making things work in this increasingly demanding industry. (Januray 2016)

Visit https://nrf.com/news/20-ideas-worth-stealing-2016 to view the full article online.

2017 will be a tipping point for many technologies that have been in startup for two to three years. From virtual reality to artificial intelligence, STORES’ annual look at the year ahead considers the innovative ways retailers can meet the increasing demands of customers who want and demand trust. (December 2016)

Visit https://nrf.com/news/whats-next to view the full article online.

In March, fashion retailer Zara debuted its 16-piece Ungendered collection, whose marketing features both men and women sporting the pieces interchangeably. (June 2016)

Visit https://nrf.com/news/stores-trends-june-2016#unisexapparel to view the full article online.

In a move to save customers time during the always-hectic holiday season, Sam’s Club launched a mobile app that allows members to bypass the checkout lane at any store and track spending throughout their shopping trip. (December 2016)

Visit https://nrf.com/news/stores-trends-december-2016#SamsClub to view the full article online.

Amazon’s newest innovation has people asking if cashier jobs will soon be a thing of the past. Amazon Go, an 1,800-square-foot convenience store, includes technologies such as computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning that enable shoppers to place items in their basket and pay with their Amazon account. (January 2017)

Visit https://nrf.com/news/stores-trends-january-2017 to view the full article online.

NRF has launched a television, print and digital ad campaign to educate Americans on the high consumer cost of the border adjustment tax. While NRF supports tax reform, the BAT is a bad tax policy that would increase costs on everyday necessities like food, gas, clothing and prescription medicines for the average family by as much as $1,700.

Visit https://nrf.com/media/press-releases/national-retail-federation-launches-campaign-highlighting-consumer-cost-of to view the full article online.

A record low number of Americans will spend their tax returns this year while the second-highest number on record will put the money into savings, according to the annual tax return survey released from NRF and Prosper Insights. Rather than using the money for everyday expenses, big-ticket purchases like a TV or splurging on a night out, almost half of consumers plan to save it for later.

Visit https://nrf.com/media/press-releases/nrf-says-consumers-plan-save-their-tax-refunds-later to view the full article online.

A ski shop unlike any other, fourth-generation retailer Lahout’s traces its history back nearly 100 years. What started as an old-fashioned grocery store in the horse-and-buggy era has turned into eight clothing and ski shops across New Hampshire. Go behind the scenes with This is Retail’s latest Small Business Spotlight.

Visit https://nrf.com/news/small-business-spotlight-lahouts-americas-oldest-ski-shop to view the full article online.

Ebates, the pioneer and leader in cash back shopping and subsidiary of global Internet services company Rakuten, announced the acquisition of ShopStyle from PopSugar Inc., a global media and technology company and the No. 1 Millennial lifestyle brand for women.

 

ICON Health & Fitness, world leader of innovation, design and distribution of health and fitness equipment, has selected Broadleaf Commerce as its next-generation e-commerce platform.

 

Upstream, the leading mobile commerce platform in high growth markets, announced the launch of Truesafe and KidzProtect, in partnership with award-winning global security provider Bitdefender. These two powerful mobile utility products are now available to mobile network operators to further enrich the services they offer their customers.

 

Coborn’s, a Midwest retail chain with more than 50 supermarkets and 120 stores, has selected Honeywell’s Solstice N40 (R-448A) refrigerant to achieve energy savings of up to 16 percent, as well as meet environmental regulations.

 

Discount Tire Corporation has signed a multi-year, multi-million-dollar cloud-based service agreement with OneView Commerce. This expands the retailer’s partnership with OneView to now include hosting the cloud-based OneView Digital Store Platform.