Physical Retail: The Secret to Omnichannel Success
Who says summer break isn’t meant for learning? Here’s how one lesson went down: A college kid bought his girlfriend a birthday present online. They then broke up before her birthday. The kid, used to only receiving gifts, had no
Returning to Physical Retail: A Second Chance at Connecting with Shoppers
In our June blog “Retail Personalities: How 5 Brands Excel at Expressing Theirs,” we wrote about the passionate and sometimes cult-like love that consumers have for some of their favorite retailers and brands and how these physical retail businesses have
Brick-and-Mortar Retail: The New Playbook for In-Store Experiences
The past year was more than rough for physical retail. It was devastating. Adding the effects of the Covid-19 induced shutdowns and restrictions to the steady, decades-long erosion of middle-class income resulted in 30 major retailers filing for bankruptcy. While
March Madness Shopping: Bringing Fun and Exploration to the Customer Experience
As we come up on the NCAA’s March Madness schedule, we should take a minute to remember how the college basketball tourneys played out in March 2020. In what seems like a lifetime ago, teams and fans readied for college
QR Code Marketing: Why This Touchless Trend Feels Right
If February 2020 feels like a decade ago, you’re not alone. Last year was one of the most challenging—and felt like one of the longest—ever faced. And to think, it started out relatively normal, with casual debates about Prince Harry
2021 Trends to Watch and Why
What have we learned in 2020? I suppose the most critical thing we all learned from 2020 (aside from baking a mean soda bread from scratch or becoming experts at Zoom calls) is that nothing stays the same. Finding our
Old-School Marketing Techniques for Today’s Covid-19 Weary Shoppers
“At present we are in a period of massive disruption and it is not clear how shopping patterns will evolve…” —Neil Saunders, GlobalData Retail Managing Director While life certainly has been different over the past seven months thanks to Covid-19,
Counter Displays: 7 Design Principles
The objective of any POS display is to win the hearts and minds of customers by way of effective branding while selling more product. Successful point-of-purchase display design is the result of a careful decision-making process that combines marketing strategy,
Customer Loyalty Programs: The Most Effective Tool in Your Marketing Arsenal
If your wallet has ever looked anything like mine, chances are that at one point in time it was loaded with stacks of customer loyalty cards. In those early days of customer loyalty programs, it was on the customer to
Discovery and Disruption: Supermarkets Can Break the Routine with DTC
The Routine is Real No matter how nice a grocery store is, at some point the “been there, done that” monotony of shopping trips can be pretty uninspiring…especially when you realize you’ve been contemplating salad dressing for more than five
Pickup & Home Delivery: Marketing Opportunities in the Bag
The coronavirus pandemic has had a substantial effect on retail. But it’s also provided retailers with unconventional marketing opportunities. Consider that delivery and pickup options have grown as consumers have sought safer and more convenient methods of collecting their purchases.
Retail with a Purpose: CS Hudson and Medallion Retail Team Up for Good
The holiday season may be over, but the glow remains for us as we think about the incredible experience of creating a pop-up for good—a pop-up that helped a community of children in need through the CS Hudson initiative, CS
Fashion Inclusivity for Every Body
This post was adapted from our article published in Fashion Mannuscript on October 2nd, 2019 A couple of decades ago, labels like “big & tall” and “plus-sized” marginalized consumers with different sizing needs from the rest of the retail market.
A Toy Story: In Retail, New Tech Toys Craft an AR Narrative
Tech toys. For good and for bad, generations of kids are growing up more plugged in than ever. In fact, 84% of children aged 3-7 and 96% between ages 8-12 have access to their own internet-connected devices. In tandem with more
How Mass Merch is Rivaling Fast Fashion Retail Competitors
Up until a few years ago, mass merch retailers like Walmart weren’t synonymous with fashion retail. Their private label clothing brands were never the focus—but fast forward to 2019, where Walmart collections are selling out before hitting the shelves and
It’s Raining Menswear
Since the dawn of time (or at least since the start of mass-market retail), womenswear has been the dominant force in the apparel market. Dresses, shoes, blouses, handbags—you name it; driving sales in these apparel categories was the ultimate goal
Beauty Is in the Eye of the Omnichannel Retailer
For the beauty industry, 2018 was a perfect 10. Brands both big (including L’Oreal and Olay) and small reported meteoric sales growth, continuing the trend from 2017. Newer names like Fenty Beauty, Kylie Cosmetics and Glossier captured headlines and caught fire on
Inclusivity Is the New Wave of Retail – Here’s How to Implement
Diversity and inclusion have become buzzwords in retail – and across industries. But in retail, it’s about more than just cultivating a diverse boardroom or an inclusive work environment. It’s about showing the consumer where you stand through your products
The Intersection of Media and Merchandise: The “As Seen on TV” Pop-Up Strategy
Media has always been intertwined with retail. Media and merchandise. From the full-page ads in print newspapers and magazines to the product placements on daily news shows, the consumer has always been shown advertisements in conjunction with media. But the
The Importance of Transparent and Sustainable Fashion
Plastic has had a bad year. People are saying ‘no’ to plastic straws to save sea turtles. Government officials are passing laws to ban plastic shopping bags. And reusable water bottle sales are soaring. So what does this have to