Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet 5/2/13: Kroger’s Infrared Cameras | Home Depot & Locos Tacos

“Retailers Wage War Against Long Lines” by Julie Jargon at WSJ. “Supermarket giant Kroger Co. is winning the war against lengthy checkout lines with a powerful weapon: infrared cameras long used by the military and law-enforcement to track people. These cameras, which detect body heat, sit at the entrances and above cash registers at most of Kroger’s roughly 2,400 stores. Paired with in-house software that determines the number of lanes that need to be open, the technology has reduced the customer’s average wait time to 26 seconds. That compares with an average of four minutes before Kroger began installing the cameras in 2010.” Read more: https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323798104578453293807869744.html?mod=pls_whats_news_us_business_f

“Walmart declares May 2 its National Day of Savings, Launches Frugal Heroes Challenge” “To kick off the day, Walmart Canada will host the first-ever Frugal Heroes Challenge, where bloggers from coast-to-coast will find cost-effective solutions to every day budget challenges. Canadians are invited to join the Challenge, share their own budgeting tips and follow the action on facebook.com/walmartcanada and on Twitter (#WalmartFrugalHeroes).” Read more: https://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/latest.jsp?resourceid=6763678&access=EH

“CVS Caremark Reports Strong First Quarter Results” “First Quarter Year-over-year Highlights:

* Operating profit increased 21.0% to $1.7 billion

* Retail pharmacy same store prescription volumes increased 2.0%; 4.7% on a 30-day equivalent basis

* Retail pharmacy same store sales declined 2.3% due to new generic introductions; front store same store sales increased 1.4%”

“Sears seeks to lease space in 8 namesake, Kmart stores” by Corilyn Shropshire at Chicago Tribune. “As Sears aims to shore up its finances, the retailer has launched a website dedicated to marketing its real estate holdings. SHCrealty.com lists roughly 58 Chicago area stores available for lease or sale…Spokesman Riefs said the company has no plans to close the operating stores. He said it is looking for additional tenants to share the space with the Kmart or Sears stores that will continue to operate there.” Read more: https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-sears-closings-six-more-chicagoarea-sears-kmart-stores-closing-20130426,0,4695179.story

“Deep Inside Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Taco” by Austin Carr at Fast Company. “Like any serious renovation, Taco Bell’s started with a trip to Home Depot. It was April 2009. To show executives how the companies could fuse the flavor of Doritos with taco shells, the dev teams “basically went out to Home Depot to buy a paint-spray gun, and then sprayed [Doritos] flavoring onto our existing yellow corn tacos,” recalls Creed, with a chuckle. “It was pretty funny watching people from behind glass spraying our tacos with a paint gun. But it was enough for us to know conceptually that we had a big idea.” Read more: https://www.fastcompany.com/3008346/deep-inside-taco-bells-doritos-locos-taco

“NRF Foundation Launches Resource for Industry Research” “This new website will feature analysis and highlights of NRF’s consumer spending surveys, key government indicators that relate to the economy, retail and employment, and other unique datasets surrounding retail companies, purchasing influencers and economic trends.” Read more: https://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&newsId=20130501006563&div=-1245645151

“Walmart Is First Marketer of the Year at AHAA Conference” by Laurel Wentz at Ad Age. “Walmart spent about $60 million on Hispanic marketing alone in both 2011 and 2012. At the ANA conference last October, Mr. Rogers said that 100% of Walmart’s growth in sales is going to come from multicultural customers, leading the company to decide to at least double its spending to reach those customers in 2013.” Read more: https://adage.com/article/hispanic-marketing/walmart-hispanic-group-s-marketer-year/241243/

“Target, Coca-Cola, Warby Parker Execs Get Candid About Courting Next-Generation Consumers” by Jennifer Rooney at Forbes. “Jeff Jones (Target CMO): By around 2020, Millennial spending power will surpass Baby Boomers and Gen X. It’s an important consumer today and will be very important in the future.” Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferrooney/2013/05/01/in-advance-of-pttow-summit-targets-jeff-jones-coca-colas-joe-tripodi-warby-parkers-neil-blumenthal-get-candid-about-courting-next-generation-consumers/

“J.C. Penney ad apologizes to customers” by Mae Anderson at AP. “J.C. Penney is sorry and it wants your business back. That’s the gist of its latest ad, a public “mea culpa” which the mid-priced department-store put on its YouTube and Facebook pages. The ad, titled “It’s no secret,” shows shots of women working, playing with their children and doing other everyday activities. “Recently J.C. Penney changed,” a voiceover states. “Some changes you liked, and some you didn’t. But what matters with mistakes is what we learn. We learned a very simple thing, to listen to you.” Read more: https://www.ajc.com/ap/ap/texas/jc-penney-ad-apologizes-to-customers/nXdM9/

Thanks for reading…

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