Tipsheet: JCP Tests Greeters | Amazon Kills $299 Groc Deliv Fee | Nordstrom’s ‘Reserve & Try In Store’
Holiday Sales Forecasts About as Real as Santa by Shelly Banjo at Bloomberg. “Fewer than half of U.S. retail chains saw sales increase in the second quarter from a year earlier, the lowest percentage since the end of the recession in 2009. The downbeat results are at odds with some overwhelmingly rosy predictions for the upcoming holiday season…” Read more
JCPenney has started stationing greeters at the entrances of stores by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “Penney’s greeters are already full-time employees who are being redeployed to front-of-the-store duty for just two hours of their shift, according to one employee who is serving in such a capacity. The use of greeters is said to be a test and is being deployed just in the Northeast region, the employees said.” Read more
Amazon finally just proved it’s very serious about grocery delivery by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “How? The steep $299 up-front fee is gone…instituted a single, more reasonable pricing model for the Amazon Fresh service: A monthly fee of $14.99, only available to existing Prime members.” Read more
Macy’s closing more stores than rivals by Andy Brownfield at Cincinnati Business Courier. “According to a new report by RBC Capital Markets, Macy’s will have closed 186 locations once it completes the closure of 100 stores early next year. That’s second only to Sears.” Read more
Private equity firm fires two longtime Rue21 execs by Josh Iosman at NY Post. “They called [Senior VP] Kim Reynolds after dinner and said, ‘Don’t come in tomorrow.’ ” Reynolds had run the chain’s 1,194 stores in 48 states, with most every decision coming through her. “She was the person in the trenches,” the source said, adding that after she was given the boot over the phone, “Kim’s door was padlocked. I don’t think they were allowed back to their offices.” Read more
Group XP’s Experience Index: Top 30 Global Brands (Pampers #1, Amazon #16, Under Armour #29) by Kristina Monllos at Adweek. See top 30 list
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New Nordstrom feature ‘Reserve & Try In Store’ lets customers select items online, try them on in person by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “In the store, the customer visits a new department called Order Pickup, developed for the purpose of online orders and reservations. Here they will find their name on the door of a pre-set fitting room, and inside are the items selected on Reserve & Try. Users can select up to 10 things and they’re held until the store closes the next day.” Read more
Amazon’s secretive drive-up grocery store takes shape in Seattle neighborhood by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “Workers were busy Saturday morning at Amazon’s future drive-up grocery store in Seattle…Wood paneling is being installed on multiple sides of the renovated building, and workers are constructing the frame of what appears to be a large awning to cover the future spaces where customers will park to pick up orders they’ve made online.” See the construction pics
Macy’s plans to launch an e-commerce site in China in 2017 by Frank Tong at Internet Retailer. “Selling online via Alibaba’s Tmall Global, Macys’ says it has attracted 300,000 fans.” Read more
How people are using the Amazon Echo: New study reveals surprising patterns by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “…the numbers show that Amazon still has some work to do if it wants the Echo to fuel its broader e-commerce business. More than 45 percent of respondents used the Echo to add an item to a shopping list, but just 10 percent used that feature repeatedly.” Read more
How to Build a Multi-Million Dollar Fashion Empire With a Scarf by Kim Bhasin at Bloomberg. “The 27-year-old designer, who started her business four years ago, finds herself behind the controls of a budding, very profitable scarf empire… Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman are selling her scarves. Her biggest markets are in the U.K. and Japan, but through those retailers, Beecham now has her sights on the U.S.” Read more
Europe to Push New Security Rules Amid IoT Mess at Krebs on Security. Read more
Amazon’s hiring hunger transforming Seattle economy by Angel Gonzalez at Seattle Times. “Washington’s Employment Security Department says that between May and August, Amazon.com posted 11,042 job openings online in King County, double the number from the same period last year. The runner-up was the University of Washington, with 2,757. Microsoft had 1,611.” Read more
Denim is gaining on yoga pants, and athleisure needs to ‘watch out’ by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “…search data from Google Trends shows that interest in denim is picking up. Meanwhile, fewer shoppers are on the hunt for yoga pants…”We believe that the athleisure trend is plateauing, and we expect more conservative growth going forward,” he said.” See the chart / Read more
Buffalo Wild Wings served a fried chicken head to an NFL player by Sarah Whitten at CNBC. See the pic / Read more
Tipsheet Extra Stories
Samsung needs to face reality: The Galaxy Note 7 is done for.
Target charges about 15% more than Walmart for groceries
The World’s Highest-Paid TV Show Hosts: Dr. Phil Leads With $88 Million
Nike adds 6th building to expansion, commits to ambitious renewable plan
Science, safety and sales: The hockey helmet marketing problem
Apple Watch banned from UK cabinet meetings over Russian hacking fears
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