The idea of "management by walking around" has been around for a while. First brought to prominence in Tom Peters and Robert Waterman’s best-seller In Search of Excellence, the concept is that managers get out of their offices and meet employees in their work areas to get a sense of how
‘Tis the day before T-Day and all through the mall The shoppers are waiting for prices to fall. The signs they are printed and ready to hang In hopes that “Black Thursday” will start with a bang. The family has traveled and all gathered here To spend time with grandma
I love Christmas, but there is one thing I never seem to get right: the office Secret Santa. Every year I draw someone I’ve barely met and fruitlessly dig around for clues – only to find myself hastily wrapping a scented candle/novelty mug at the eleventh hour. Merry Christmas Sandra
Would you build a house without a proper foundation? Most of us wouldn’t dare, but that’s exactly what many retail businesses are doing today. When building a house, if you don’t get the foundation right, paint, wallpaper and fixtures won’t matter much. It’s no different in the retail industry. Success
Imagine that you’re a large retail firm, in need of projecting sales for the next few months. With the right analytical solution, it can literally take just seconds to have a forecast in place. You drag and drop some variables and can figure out exactly which ones are underlying factors
What insights can be gained from the massive amounts of data that allow us to make decisions that deliver the best results? Data vs. information is an ongoing battle. Many people look for more data to make confident decisions. However, what most people seek is insight. Retailers always have tracked
“Within ten to fifteen years, the typical US mall, unless it is completely reinvented, will be a historical anachronism—a sixty-year aberration that no longer meets the publics’ needs, the retailers’ needs, or the community’s needs.” So proclaimed Rick Caruso, founder and CEO of Caruso Affiliated, a retail/commercial real estate development
Are retailers suffering a skills shortage when it comes to analytics? Nikki Baird from Retail Systems Research (RSR Group) offers some intriguing observations about the critical analytical talent shortage facing the retail industry in a recent article, “Where Have All the Data Scientists Gone? SAS Analyst Day Report Out.” Her observations
If the latest raft of retail trading updates are anything to go on, it’s pretty clear who the winners were this Christmas: the consumers. A period of heavy discounting – aimed at bolstering weak sales and protecting elusive customer loyalty – was good news for cash-conscious customers, but left many
I’m not a coupon junkie. In fact, I feel like a coupon victim. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t get an avalanche of offers from: Email. Snail mail (in catalogs, flyers, coupon books, etc.). In-store flyers. Mobile apps. Store checkout. The vast majority get tossed in my garbage
