Stores Weekly

For a company that’s all about the data, it could be said that Zulily was getting lost in the numbers. Because of the nature of its shopping experience — creating sudden demand and tempting shoppers to regularly refresh and check back  — Zulily is heavily dependent on interpreting terabytes of data very, very quickly. 

Visit https://stores.org/2018/10/15/data-points/?utm_medium=STORES%20Weekly&utm_source=Email&utm_campaign=STORES%20Oct-Nov%20&utm_content=Zulily to view the full article online.

Weather can be a primary driver of consumer demand and behavior. Now there’s a service spearheaded by IBM that integrates geographically precise weather-related data and analytics with retailers’ point-of-sale and marketing/operating data to offer the potential of delivering operational savings and revenue growth.

Visit https://stores.org/2018/10/16/climate-controlled/?utm_medium=STORES%20Weekly&utm_source=Email&utm_campaign=STORES%20Oct-Nov%20&utm_content=Extreme%20Weather to view the full article online.

NRF is proud to provide our members with the online Retail Buying Guide to search for trusted vendors, products and services in the retail industry. Our guide is a user-friendly forum designed to bring suppliers and purchasers together. You can search by keyword, location, company name or category. Available whenever you need it, the Retail Buying Guide makes it easy to locate products and professional services geared to the retail industry. Click here to visit the online Retail Buying Guide! To advertise, please contact Sarah Allen for more information.

Visit https://www.naylornetwork.com/nrf-nwl/articles/index.asp?aid=527122&issueID=56569 to view the full article online.

Healthier food options continue to pile up. Blue Apron has joined forces with the New York Botanical Garden’s Edible Academy, a garden education facility. The alliance will teach youngsters how to plant, grow, water and harvest edible plants that are then whipped into nutritious meals.

Visit https://stores.org/2018/10/17/a-perfect-side-dish/?utm_medium=STORES%20Weekly&utm_source=Email&utm_campaign=STORES%20Oct-Nov%20&utm_content=Side%20Dish to view the full article online.

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.

Visit https://www.naylornetwork.com/nrf-nwl/articles/index.asp?aid=527123&issueID=56569 to view the full article online.

With a background that includes innovations like the interactive mirrors found at Rebecca Minkoff and Ralph Lauren, Zivelo CEO Healey Cypher is helping create the behind-the-scenes tech that brings the best of the online world into physical retail. On this episode of NRF’s Retail Gets Real podcast, Cypher discusses what retail in the future will look like and how Zivelo is working with retailers today.

Visit https://nrf.com/blog/digital-meets-physical-the-retail-experience-of-the-future?utm_medium=STORES%20Weekly&utm_source=Email&utm_campaign=Retail%20Gets%20Real&utm_content=Ep%2082%20Healey%20Cypher to view the full article online.

American Sale has been in business in the Chicago area for 60 years and has nine locations that sell pools, spas and home recreation items, half of which are imported. Owner Bob Jones describes how tariffs increase costs at every stage of the supply chain and ultimately hurt the consumer. “If all the tariffs are enacted, all of our products are going to be affected,” Jones said.

Visit https://nrf.com/advocacy/policy-agenda/the-impact-of-tariffs-small-business?utm_medium=STORES%20Weekly&utm_source=Email&utm_campaign=Tariffs&utm_content=Bob%20Jones to view the full article online.

Brands already know change is coming. Now they have to know how to imagine it — and that’s where the challenge lies, according to radical Ventures CEO Pascal Finette, a globally renowned futurist who spoke at NRF’s Shop.org conference in Las Vegas last month. “You don’t have to be a futurist. All you need to know is how to read the signals,” Finette told the crowd.

Visit https://nrf.com/blog/3-forces-driving-disruption-beyond-retail?utm_medium=STORES%20Weekly&utm_source=Email&utm_campaign=ShopOrg&utm_content=3forcesofdisruption to view the full article online.

Tommy Hilfiger, which is owned by PVH Corp., announced that actress Zendaya, who recently starred in the blockbusters "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and "The Greatest Showman," will be the new global Tommy Hilfiger women’s ambassador and will appear in the brand’s global integrated campaign beginning in Spring 2019.

 

Walmart.com and Advance Auto Parts, a leading automotive aftermarket parts provider in North America, announced a comprehensive, strategic partnership that will create an automotive specialty store on Walmart.com. Expected to begin rolling out in the first half of 2019, the new omnichannel shopping experience will provide customers with access to Advance’s extensive portfolio of aftermarket automotive parts, accessories and maintenance items.

 

Amazon is now an official retail partner for “Shark Tank.” The new Amazon Launchpad Shark Tank Collection, available at www.amazon.com/launchpad/sharktank, highlights products seen on “Shark Tank,” including the Hatch Baby, Third Wave Water and Stasher, among others.

 

Macy's and Marxent have partnered on the largest virtual reality rollout in retail history, with approximately 70 Macy's VR installations in stores nationwide. The companies expect to add another 20 locations by January 2019. In partnership with Marxent, Macy's is enabling customers to discover products and make informed buying decisions using the Macy's VR furniture experience.

 

Albertsons Companies, one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States, has launched its online marketplace powered by the Mirakl Marketplace Platform.

The Chicago Bulls and Zenni Optical have agreed to a five-year partnership that makes the leading online eyewear company the first-ever jersey patch sponsor and the Official Eyewear Partner of the Bulls. The deal includes various marketing elements, community initiatives, digital assets and in-arena signage and activations.

 

Fashion technology house BeProduct has successfully implemented its collaborative Product Lifecycle Management platform at UNTUCKit.

Poq, a leading SaaS platform that empowers retailers to quickly create highly effective native apps, announced its newest customer Tobi, an international fast fashion retail brand serving consumers in more than 100 countries. Tobi is partnering with Poq to relaunch their mobile app before the 2018 holiday season.

 

Rothy's, a popular online women's footwear brand based in San Francisco, has partnered with Sunnyvale-Calif., cross-border ecommerce provider BorderX Lab to enter the direct-to-consumer market in China.

 

U.S. tech giant IBM has officially launched its blockchain-based food tracking network, Food Trust, after 18 months of testing. In addition, IBM reported that Carrefour is joining its ecosystem. The France-based company that operates more than 12,000 stores in 33 countries will first test blockchain in its own stores.

 

Fast-casual concept Tropical Smoothie Cafe has selected Appetize for its cloud-based POS, self-serve and mobile product lines.

 

American sandwich chain Subway has partnered with four major online delivery platforms to offer food from across 9,000 restaurants in the United States. As part of the deal, DoorDash, Grubhub, Postmates and Uber Eats will deliver sandwiches, wraps and salads to customers from Subway restaurants.

 

Burger King restaurants are partnering with DoorDash and Activision to provide fans with the ultimate package for the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (“Call of Duty”) game launch. From October 12 through November 12, Call of Duty fans will have the ability to purchase one of the Call of Duty BK meals from participating Burger King restaurants through the DoorDash app.

 

Boomerang Commerce, the machine-learning technology company that powers intelligent commerce, announced Goodbaby, a leading parenting products company, has selected CommerceIQ, an end-to-end platform for consumer brand manufacturers to maximize ecommerce growth.