Commentary

The Acceleration of Access: From Store to Home to Anywhere

Parrish Hanna talks about the demand for more viable retail channels. Ownership is overrated. Or so the “younger generation” thinks – as they want to own less and experience more. They are okay experiencing it alone, but life is much better if experienced with others and then shared with the world on social media. They…

Beyond the Plexiglass: Three Areas You Need to Address

Retail around the globe have been struggling since stay-at-home orders were put in place in countries on almost every continent earlier this year . Clothing, electronics and furniture stores have been affected the most. Thankfully, May brought a promising rebound with apparel stores seeing the biggest bounce back — 188 percent over April for U.S.…

Preparing to Innovate

Nikunj Jain talks about building teams to challenge the norm. “Brainstorming call today.” Emails with such subject lines are doomsday in the making. Come one, come all is very rarely the path to creative innovation. As I personally noticed while conducting innovation sessions, there is a direct correlation between an increased number of participants to…

Foundations for the Long Term Even During the Short Term

The list of brands pivoting to help during these tumultuous times just keeps growing. We’ve been featuring clients, partners, and colleagues using this time as an opportunity to do something good. In case you missed our first story, read it here. And another one here. People might wonder what could an artificial Christmas tree retailer…

Prepare Your Employees to Innovate

There are many stories of retailers stepping up to the plate to donate money or supplies to hospitals, charities, first responders or other front line workers. We applaud them and makes us proud to be part of this industry. We’ve been featuring clients, partners, and colleagues using this time as an opportunity to do something…

Don’t Miss This Moment

There are a lot of great companies doing great things to help ease the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We think it’s both incredible and admirable. This is a rough time for many retailers right now, especially those in the fashion vertical. But this is also a chance for companies to put their resources to…

A Brand That People Had Never Given Up On

Everybody loves a good comeback story and we’re all hoping to hear a lot of them in the future. Coldwater Creek is a perfect example of a company that had lost its way, but a brand people had never given up on. Today, they’ve redefined their brand and primed to resonate with women who want…

Six Things We Saw From Suppliers at EuroShop

The portfolio of suppliers continues to both broaden and narrow. Consolidation; changing capital investment strategies among retailers with mature economies; and putting pressure on mainstream vendors, while continuing globalization, brought a new broad participation at EuroShop 2020 from select suppliers based in Asia and India. We also saw ideas that have grown out of manufacturing…

Top 8 Themes From EuroShop 2020

“EuroShop’s power lies in the creative exchange that transcends our differences, particularly within the creative spirit that is at the heart of our humanity.”  —KEN NISCH It bills itself as the world’s largest retail trade fair. It’s the show for anybody and everybody in the retail industry. It’s what’s coming. It’s what’s now. It’s EuroShop.…

Innovating with an Eye Towards the Future

Innovating isn’t always about ‘creating new for new sake’. Or ‘technology for technology sake’. In 2019, our EVP and Chief Officer of Strategy, Joanne Healy, was invited by Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, to give a lecture and lead a workshop with graduate engineering students at the School of System Design…