Eric Bright

Will JCPenney's loyalty and rewards program be the key to its turnaround? It's mind-boggling how many brands and retailers do NOT have a loyalty program. Without a loyalty program, customers are just individual transactions, and there's no way to connect the same person from marketing to physical store to e-commerce. First-party data is gold and shoppers have shown they are willing to share information in exchange for personalization and promotions. What keeps retailers and brands from rolling out a loyalty program? #ecommerce #loyaltyprograms #firstpartydata

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I recently sat down with our ECRM & RangeMe partner Wayne Bennett and discussed how Walmart develops suppliers. We covered everything from recruiting events to resources for onboarding to how we want suppliers to grow alongside us. Check out our conversation below 👇.   #WalmartSourcing #SupplierDevelopment

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Target reported a rather soft first quarter, with declines in sales and revenue that reflect overall shopping habits. Although the retailer didn’t open the year with a bang, it is setting up for growth later in the year through new initiatives and, hopefully, in a more conducive selling environment. #retailsales #target

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Looking for some visual merchandising tips? Here are some thoughts on the virtues of mass merchandising from the Specialty Shop Retailing blog. #independentretailers #shoplocal #visualmerchandising #retailing #smallbusiness

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I enjoyed speaking with Larry Getlen about the trend for retailers opening smaller stores. It’s not just large department stores opening smaller format stores, but that is certainly popular. Also, available locations close to both suburban and urban consumers are tight, especially in more high-traffic lifestyle centers. There are numerous advantages and opportunities for retailers in smaller stores to more effectively manage the assortment, inventory, staffing, and last but certainly not least, the consumer experience. #retail #stores

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Hello Retail Friends, convenience retailers face unique challenges. Small footprints and limited storage space require highly accurate and scalable supply chain planning – especially when charged with supporting aggressive growth targets. We’re proud to announce that OXXO, the largest convenience retail chain in the Americas, recently chose RELEX to optimize forecasting and replenishment as they focus on international growth.    https://lnkd.in/ebaedkfH   #supplychainplanning #supplychainoptimization #supplychain OXXO Internacional Enhances Retail Operations with RELEX Solutions for Forecasting and Replenishment | RELEX Solutions Focused on international growth, OXXO adopts RELEX AI-driven forecasting and replenishment solutions for smarter supply chain and inventory management.

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If you're curious about why cost vs. retail is important, how shrink can be hidden, or why investigators need to dig into the numbers, you won't want to miss this episode of LPM's Inside Scoop Podcast!

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Hello Retail friends, “Phantom inventory” sounds like a scary term – and for good reason. It refers to goods that appear available in inventory systems but are physically missing from the shelves. The result? Lost sales, frustrated customers, and distorted demand forecasts. The good news is there is a better way, by using predictive inventory. This is a technology that leverages machine learning to identify inventory inaccuracies, improving the accuracy of automatic replenishment. It also helps retailers identify inventory gaps and their impacts on the business. It’s a powerful way to leverage modern AI and machine learning in the retail supply chain. We’ve got an entire webinar coming up about this - in the meantime read all about it, and sign up for the webinar, here: #machinelearning #ai #retail #futureofretail

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Seeing the remarkable success that live shopping has generated in China, U.S. retailers are eager to build out their own live shopping capacities to entice younger shoppers and deepen customer engagement. Although the live shopping category is expected to grow to $68 billion in the U.S. in just two years, translating the awareness that livestreams generate into conversions remains a challenge. In fact, in 2023, less than 15 percent of U.S. adults had made a purchase from a livestream shopping event. #liveshopping #retailinnovation

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Today’s results from Kohl's are dismal. They show a company that remains in freefall at a time when most other retailers are at least maintaining their elevation. A 5.3% decline in overall sales, underpinned by a 4.4% decline in comparables, is way worse than the market which, across the categories Kohl’s sells, grew by 2.9% over the quarter. This is the third year in which first quarter sales have declined. And, compared to the same period in 2019, sales are down by a sharp 16.8%. In cash terms, this means Kohl’s has lost $643 million in revenue. Unfortunately, the problems on the sales line are now filtering through to the bottom line where last year’s modest profit of $14 million has been replaced with a $27 million loss. Kohl’s management team says a lot of the right things around merchandising and the essentials of retail. However, not much has changed on the shop floor, which is one of the reason why Kohl's continues to lose customers on top of the 1.5 million it lost over the past five years. Thanks to The Wall Street Journal for including my comments in the article linked in the comments.... #retail #retailnews #departmentstores #trading #KSS

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Retail’s Bench Strength Is Dwindling, Here’s How To Build It Back https://hubs.ly/Q02tPVL60

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Good read for points to consider. I would add a few more. On data, capture the right level of detail that allows observable corrections to improve the scorecards. Get agreement from all stakeholders on the measurement and the details behind the measurement. I remember a previous role where it took several months for accounting and merchandising to agree on the inputs for the margin calculation. Do not underestimate the need for change management. You create a scorecard to ensure success. It will flush issues that require change in the retailer and supplier networks. Leaders must be expect and support those changes. Some of those changes will be uncomfortable and may strike close to home.

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With the 8.1% sales decline accelerating over the last quarter and with losses growing on the bottom line, JCPenney has started its new fiscal year on a sour note. Unfortunately, the market has been soft which has not helped revenue, but as it is only part way through its reinvention program JC Penney also isn’t firmly on the front foot. Lower credit income is also unhelpful, with revenues here down by 20.5 over last year.   The changes JCP has been making to some stores and to assortments seem to be delivering, with refurbished shops performing better and some categories like womenswear producing stronger numbers. Sadly, these things are not yet sufficiently developed or widespread enough to offset staleness in the balance of the business. Basically, there is still a lot of work to do to put JCP on a more stable footing.   Fortunately for JCPenney, it is well financed and has a strong financial partner in its owners. As such, management won’t lose too much sleep over being in the red. However, the company needs to produce some better results across the remainder of this fiscal to prove its strategy is working. It was great to chat with Daphne Howland of Retail Dive about the latest Q1 numbers - link to article in the comments. #retail #retailnews #departmentstores #trading #apparel

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As a lifelong retail merchant, I'm going to potentially have a stroke if the retail media continues to report sequential month-over-month results as an indicator of anything. Year-over-year results are indicative of true performance, with the caveat of a shift in a key seasonal event like...I don't know, perhaps Easter...that will impact the natural trends in consumer purchase behavior. In good news, inflation appears to continue to be cooling...good news unless you are trying to convince your buyer that a price increase you took previously should not now be reversed. Good luck with that, by the way... #retailmerchandising #retailsales #inflation

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I always enjoy chatting with Avalara and BigCommerce about the do’s and don’ts of good e-commerce because, as I say in this video, the one thing NO merchant ever wants to think about is sales tax. #retail #ecommerce #onlineahopping

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In this new Wisdom With, I get a chance to garner valuable insights from James Jackson who leads strategic development efforts for the Category Management Association and his thoughts on better retailer and buyer engagement. 💡 Understand your Category Manager/Buyer ↗ Retailer Category Managers are charged with meeting P&L objectives and not YOUR specific brand goals. ↗ Each individual brand (and item) must clearly serve a purpose and contribute to achieving his/her objectives. ↗ Learn their how they like to receive information and tailor accordingly. Avoid off-the-shelf presentations that lack any customization for the specific customer in mind. Canned pitches have a low success rate. 💡 You Must Be Compelling ➡ Weave great insights and your product offering into a clear solution that helps address their specific category or business objectives. Compelling stories should have: 👉 A recognizable conflict (example: “50% of shoppers in this category are struggling to find an x product to relieve this symptom”) 💪 A “hero” (your brand) 👊 A believable and profitable resolution (example: “By solving the conflict, it would bring an incremental $1M in margin to the category”) 💡 Help Drive Execution ↗ Your Customer is buried with data, multiple projects, and is continuously putting out a fire. ↗ Your goal shouldn’t stop at getting distribution, it should be to STAY in distribution. 💡 Assist your Category by making effective implementation easy. ↗ Recommend the POG changes and do the work in advance ↗ Target a smart cluster of stores to launch for higher likelihood of success ↗ Create a strong promotional plan to drive immediate proof of performance ↗ Offer sales/broker support to get things rolling #wisdomwith #betterperformance #retail #merchandising #data #storytelling

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