Tag Archives: retailers

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ContactPigeon expands in Cyprus and sponsors the 14th e-Commerce Conference

NICOSIA, Cyprus, 2022-Sep-28 — /EPR Network/ — ContactPigeon, one of the leading omnichannel customer engagement platforms for retailers in Europe and the USA, expands its operations in Cyprus. By building up a special team of professionals that will be based in the neighboring country, ContactPigeon will be providing its customer engagement services to its cross-industry clients that are operating there. With this expansion, the Greek startup aims to consolidate its reach to the thriving Cyprus market. 

Furthermore, ContactPigeon becomes an official sponsor for the 14th e-Commerce Conference that took place in Nicosia, Cyprus on the 20th of September 2022.

“After attending a very successful conference in Bulgaria, our Pigeons are kicking off autumn with some new adventures. Having several clients in the fast-developing market of Cyprus, we have first-hand knowledge about the impact of eCommerce in the neighboring country, but we have also seen the challenges that retailers face daily. Therefore, by investing in the development of the Cypriot market, we wish to effectively assist businesses that want to evolve and exceed from the competition. We are very excited about this new journey!,” said George Mirotsos, CEO and co-founder of ContactPigeon.

The E-Commerce Conference by IMH is a benchmark for the e-commerce industry in Cyprus. With industry experts as keynote speakers and leading businesses as sponsors and participants, the conference presents the upcoming, international trends in the e-commerce sector as well as case studies that provide attendees with valuable knowledge and insights. The 14th E-Commerce Conference is addressed to entrepreneurs, Commercial Managers, Marketing & Communication and advertising professionals, Digital Managers, and also those who are interested to start operating in the e-Commerce sector.

This year, the participants had the opportunity to meet with ContactPigeon members at its booth and learn about the company’s activities and the benefits of its omnichannel customer engagement platform.

About ContactPigeon

ContactPigeon empowers marketing leaders and business owners with the only omnichannel customer engagement platform built for retailers. The platform is designed to deliver perfectly timed and personalized messages for each customer, regardless of whether the point of contact is offline or online. The company has been awarded numerous industry awards and distinctions since 2015 and is also a member of the Pledge 1% corporate philanthropy movement. Its client base consists of hundreds of retailers in Europe and the USA such as Fujitsu, Tommy Hilfiger, GAP, and L’OREAL.

Contacts

Anna Fotopoulou
Content Marketing Coordinator
+30 211 8006178
marketing@contactpigeon.com
www.contactpigeon.com

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NCR to help retailers reimagine consumer engagement across physical and digital channels at EuroCIS 2018

NCR demonstrates how its innovations help converge physical and digital channels to meet the demands of both retailers and shoppers in an evolving industry

ATLANTA, 2018-Feb-22 — /EPR Retail News/ — NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR), a global leader in omni-channel solutions, helps retailers reimagine consumer engagement across physical and digital channels at this years’ EuroCIS. In hall 10, booth A04, NCR will showcase solutions that are improving engagement and creating enhanced experiences using a wide variety of technologies such as personalization, payment solutions and artificial intelligence in self-checkout environments. NCR’s digital services help retailers turn data into insights and identify areas to improve in-store efficiency and customer experience. At EuroCIS, NCR shows how it helps retailers combine all the technical and operational disciplines that they need to address their specific challenges.

The retail landscape is characterized by fierce competition, with customers constantly seeking the best deal. At EuroCIS, NCR will showcase how its relationship management solutions can combine the latest technologies with tailored promotions and campaigns to drive customer engagement across platforms and store formats to attract and retain customers. The NCR solutions feature an advanced promotion engine, segmentation builder and analytics capabilities to enable retailers to manage complex omni-channel promotions and to deliver offers via mobile, kiosk, or web. With personalized interactions, retailers can make better use of their customer data and drive measurable results.

Flexible payment options are an important part of a customer journey. While many retailers are capable of accepting e-commerce and in-store payments, they typically use separate systems for payments online and in-store. With WinEPTS, NCR is demonstrating a proven hardware independent payment solution that is omni-channel and omni-commerce ready, combining the online and in-store payments on one cloud based platform. In addition to any card, mobile or online payments, it can handle third party voucher payments as well as food vouchers and can create tax-free vouchers for eligible foreign customers.

As retailers are evolving their stores to suit changing customer demand, self-checkout technology is gaining traction across Europe. By including artificial intelligence in its newest self-checkout model, NCR is improving the ease of use and the security of the technology. The image scanner recognizes fresh produce items based on certain attributes such as colour, shape and size and automatically suggests matching items from the retailer’s assortment, eliminating the need to navigate through the complete menu. The same technology also helps prevent item switching as the system recognizes if the attributes of the item don’t match the selected produce.

“With every consumer expecting a different experience when they shop, retailers have unique demands and requirements for their specific digital transformation,” said Tom Chittenden, vice president and general manager of retail solutions at NCR Corporation. “We are helping retailers to rethink their business in fresh new ways and create solutions that address changing consumer behaviors and desires.”

At EuroCIS 2018, visitors to the NCR booth can experience how NCR satisfies the buy-anywhere, fulfill-anywhere demands of today and learn how its omni-channel solutions improve every consumer touchpoint along the shopping journey.

About NCR Corporation
NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) is a leader in omni-channel solutions, turning everyday interactions with businesses into exceptional experiences. With its software, hardware, and portfolio of services, NCR enables nearly 700 million transactions daily across financial, retail, hospitality, travel, telecom and technology industries. NCR solutions run the everyday transactions that make your life easier. NCR is headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., with about 30,000 employees and does business in 180 countries. NCR is a trademark of NCR Corporation in the United States and other countries. NCR encourages investors to visit its website which is updated regularly with financial and other important information about NCR.

Website: www.ncr.com
Twitter: @NCRCorporation
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ncrcorp
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ncr-corporation
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/ncrcorporation

News Media Contacts:
Ortrud Wenzel
NCR Public Relations
+49 821 405 8191
ortrud.wenzel@ncr.com

Source: NCR Corporation

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RetailNext empowers retailers with a variety of expanded smart store solutions

RetailNext empowers retailers with a variety of expanded smart store solutions

Complete 360-Degree Solution Empowers Retailers to Better Respond to Industry’s Shopper-Led Disruption

NEW YORK, 2018-Jan-17 — /EPR Retail News/ — Today (Jan. 14, 2018 ), RetailNext Inc., the worldwide expert and market leader in IoT smart store retail analytics for optimizing shopper experiences, announced a variety of expanded capabilities and functionalities, including a world’s first retail edge sensor with onboard deep learning artificial intelligence and the industry’s widest field of view, enhanced retail analytics software benefits, and the further development of a complete partner ecosystem to solve for retail brands’ biggest challenges and opportunities. RetailNext is highlighting its comprehensive suite of solutions and partner ecosystem at NRF 2018, Retail’s Big Show & EXPO, presented by the National Retail Federation in New York City, today, January 14, through January 16.

“Long established as the industry’s de facto standard in retail analytics solutions, RetailNext is proud to further advance its smart store solutions built to empower retailers to be better, more shopper-responsive retailers,” said Alexei Agratchev, co-founder and chief executive officer of RetailNext. “RetailNext’s suite of SaaS solutions, its groundbreaking Aurora sensor, its proven retail expertise and its powerful portfolio of technology partners position the company to extend its market leadership position.”

Expanded software capabilities eliminates guesswork

New for 2018, RetailNext has introduced new performance dashboards and other software enhancements into its SaaS platform, empowering retailers to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of store management with predictive and actionable insights. The new Performance Dashboard allows for easy comparison of in-store performance against any past period, including day, week and month, and permits real-time tracking toward the achievement of current performance goals.

“In this shopper-led retail revolution, it’s important for stores to respond nimbly to the needs of shoppers and deliver the exceptional shopping experience every customer deserves,” said Bridget Johns, head of customer experience and marketing at RetailNext. “Being able to benchmark your current position against both your own goals and the performance of peers within your organization and industry provides an understanding of the opportunities available to improve store performance.”

RetailNext’s Performance Dashboard utilizes an artificial intelligence platform that incorporates multiple data sources, including historical shopper traffic trends and relevant weather data, to forecast upcoming store traffic and other key performance metrics. Doing so allows store management to properly align staffing levels to peak shopping periods and corresponding store key performance indicators, all the while maintaining efficient inventory levels and optimizing in-store promotions.

Moreover, the RetailNext analytics platform condenses actionable insights to deliver automated, prescriptive remedies tailored specifically to improve a store’s business processes, visual merchandising, shopper satisfaction and more.

“RetailNext has expanded upon its platform capabilities to provide prescriptive recommendations based on each store’s current and real-time data, as well as its projected and forecasted opportunities,” added Johns, “freeing up the time of store managers and associates to get out of the back office and onto the selling and service floor where they can make a real difference.”

Aurora v2 sensor – industry’s widest field of view and a world’s first with onboard AI

Unveiled at The Big Show, the Aurora v2 all-in-one sensor provides the industry’s widest field of view and floor coverage, reducing stores’ hardware footprints and deployment costs, and minimizing the impact to stores’ aesthetic design. Like its predecessor introduced in 2016, Aurora v2 features simple plug-and-play installation, requiring no on-site, in-store servers. All retail analytics, including deep learning, occurs onboard the device, at the edge, and data is transmitted in real-time to the RetailNext cloud, enabling brands to collect and share powerful insights across every store across the enterprise.

“The wide field of view of the Aurora v2 sensor affords retailers an economically viable method to have complete floor coverage of a store,” said Arun Nair, co-founder and chief technology officer of RetailNext, “and, in turn, makes shopper full path analyses and other advanced analytics projects more feasible. It’s precisely those projects that enable retailers to develop a deeper understanding of in-store shopping behaviors and allows them to produce differentiated in-store shopping experiences.”

Aurora v2 is the first edge device to incorporate deep learning-based artificial intelligence onboard, in the device, empowering retailers to receive store-specific insights in an affordable manner. With RetailNext’s advanced human activity recognition software, retailers can benefit from Aurora’s deep learning capabilities to measure shopper and sales associate behaviors, including picking up of products, trying products on, taking or moving products or anything else a retailer would like to determine.

“The more retailers know about what’s happening in store, the better,” continued Nair, “and Aurora v2’s deep learning abilities allow retailers to do just that, automatically and at scale, over time, freeing up valuable resources to be allocated to shopper service and care.”

Partner ecosystem expands in breadth and depth

At retail’s Big Show, RetailNext is highlighting its continually growing, vibrant ecosystem of strategic and technology partnerships, as well as IT system integrators, with demonstrations incorporating customers UNTUCKit, Bose, Cos Bar, Allbirds, b8ta and Lolli and Pops.

Integrating store operations with merchandising, RetailNext showcases how retailers ensure the right product is at the right place at the right time, and features Acuitas Digital – an alliance with BT, Intel, SATO Global Solutions, Nexgen Packaging and Valmarc Corporation – and its solutions for improving inventory visibility and management by measuring product and shopper movement on a single platform.

Additionally, RetailNext is previewing a new partnership with Facebook, with a beta initiative available to select retailers that provides aggregated and anonymized shopper demographic and behavioral data, empowering brands to better design more engaging in-store shopping experiences. Whether at the geographic-level, store-level or throughout an entire chain, retailers can better understand key demographic and behavioral attributes about store visitors as a complement to the in-store shopping behaviors captured through the RetailNext platform with every shopping journey.

“Without question, shoppers have ushered in a new era in retailing, and their collective expectations for easy, convenient, fun and friction-free shopping experiences rise year after year,” emphasized Johns. “IoT technologies and smart store solutions from RetailNext and its partners are solving for retail stores’ most pressing opportunities, proving the shopper-centered smart store is a today thing, not a tomorrow thing.”

Professional solutions see strategies through to execution

Long recognized as a retail industry thought leader, RetailNext is leveraging its own in-house retailing expertise with the talent, solutions and capabilities of its partner ecosystem to develop a full suite of professional consulting services.

“Strategic consultation is natural expansion of our existing advanced analytics practice,” continued Johns, “where we couple RetailNext’s extensive knowledge of retail and the in-store technology landscape with the right technology partners to complete custom engagements and studies. RetailNext’s additional professional services solutions will feature deep, consultative engagements utilizing the most appropriate partners in its 360-degree ecosystem to help retailing brands define and ultimately execute upon go-forward strategies.”

About RetailNext

The first retail vertical IoT platform to bring e-commerce style shopper analytics to brick-and-mortar stores, brands and malls, RetailNext is a pioneer in focusing entirely on optimizing the shopper experience. Through its centralized SaaS platform, RetailNext automatically collects and analyzes shopper behavior data, providing retailers with insight to improve the shopper experience real time.

Nearly 400 retailers in over 75 countries have adopted RetailNext’s analytics software and retail expertise to better understand the shopper journey in order to increase same-store sales, reduce theft and eliminate unnecessary costs. RetailNext is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. Learn more at www.retailnext.net.

###

Media Contact:

Ray Hartjen

RetailNext, Inc.

(925) 895-5441

ray.hartjen@retailnext.net

SOURCE: RetailNext, Inc.

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BRP report: Customer-led demand is driving retailers to transform their business to be more customer-centric

According to the 2017 Merchandise Planning Survey, Retailers are Focused on Transforming their Entire Merchandising Process from End-to-end

Boston, MA, 2017-Dec-06 — /EPR Retail News/ — According to a new report from BRP, retailers must accommodate customers who “pre-shop” for merchandise online before they ever enter a store, want one-day or even same-day delivery, and expect “more” from their shopping experience – more personalization, a larger assortment, a more fulfilling experience and non-stop entertainment. Customer-led demand is driving retailers to transform their business to be more customer-centric.

“Customers use technology daily to enable and control their shopping journey,” said Gene Bornac, senior vice president at BRP. “Now it is up to retailers to play catch up with their organization, processes and technology to deliver the right products for the right price in the right place.”

For retailers, it is imperative to take a customer-centric viewpoint. To innovate the customer experience, they must transform their disparate systems, processes and organization into one cohesive environment with the ability to offer customers a seamless shopping environment across any channel and the capability to deliver merchandise immediately – wherever it is needed. It is time to prepare for the future of retail – it is here – whether we are ready or not.

Within this challenging environment, BRP conducted its 2017 Merchandise Planning Benchmark Survey to explore the current state of retail planning and to identify and understand retailers’ priorities as they strive to meet the needs and demands of today’s consumers.

To prepare for today’s new retail model, retailers need to:

Align the organization

  • 58% of retailers currently have an integrated planning organization across channels

Integrate planning processes        

  • 64% of retailers have integrated their business planning processes across channels

Implement the right technology

  • 33% of retailers have implemented new omni-channel demand planning systems within the last two years

Prioritize customer insight

  • 42% of retailers incorporate real-time customer feedback into their in-season planning

Take action

  • 19% of retailers must overcome IT/business resource constraints to advance their planning activities

To download the complete 2017 Merchandise Planning Survey, visit: https://brpconsulting.com/2017-merchandise-planning-survey/.

The 2017 Merchandise Planning Survey platinum sponsor is TXT Retail and the gold sponsors are Enspire Commerce, JustEnough, Logility, NCR, and Retalon.

About BRP

BRP is an innovative retail management consulting firm dedicated to providing superior service and enduring value to our clients. BRP combines its consultants’ deep retail business knowledge and cross-functional capabilities to deliver superior design and implementation of strategy, technology, and process solutions. The firm’s unique combination of industry focus, knowledge-based approach, and rapid, end-to-end solution deployment helps clients to achieve their business potential. BRP’s consulting services include:

Strategy | Business Intelligence | Business Process Optimization | Point of Sale (POS) Mobile POS | Payment Security | E-Commerce | Store Systems and Operations | CRM Unified Commerce | Customer Experience | Order Management | Networks Merchandise Management | Supply Chain | Private Equity

For more information on BRP, visit http://www.brpconsulting.com.

Source: BRP

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Springboard Retail and BigCommerce to provide a robust end-to-end omni-channel system for high volume brands and retailers

Leading Cloud retail management platform and ecommerce platform providers join forces to enable brands and retailers to offer a seamless omni-channel experience to their customers across the retail enterprise.

Boston, MA, 2017-Nov-16 — /EPR Retail News/ — Springboard Retail, the leading cloud POS and retail management platform helping retailers drive sales and margins, and BigCommerce, the premier ecommerce platform for fast-growing and established brands, announce the launch of their partnership with the goal of providing a robust end-to-end omni-channel system for high volume brands and retailers. The partnership provides a tight integration allowing for seamless operation of physical and digital storefronts with a single source of truth for customer, product, and sales data across the enterprise.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with BigCommerce,” said Gordon Russell, Springboard Retail CEO and co-founder, “bringing this integration to market aligns with Springboard’s mission to make commerce more rewarding for retailers and more enjoyable for their customers. Together with BigCommerce, we will simultaneously improve customer experience while driving sales and increasing margins for our mutual clients.”

“Many BigCommerce merchants already rely on Springboard to manage their physical storefronts, and through this integration they can now bridge the divide between online and brick-and-mortar,” said Nate Stewart, group product manager for BigCommerce. “This partnership helps retailers eliminate countless hours spent manually syncing inventory and orders across channels so that merchants can instead focus on growing their businesses.”

Highlights:

  • Combining the Springboard Retail POS/retail management platform with the BigCommerce ecommerce platform gives high volume brands and retailers a true fully integrated end-to-end solution to drive sales and margins across the omni-channel retail enterprise in real time.
  • Springboard Retail and BigCommerce unite the physical and digital retail environments to increase productivity and unlock profits for their customers.

About Springboard Retail:

Springboard Retail is a robust, purpose built, cloud POS and retail management platform designed for retailers, by retailers. It’s built for multi-store, multi-channel retailers who in today’s competitive environment need to offer a true omni-channel experience to every customer no matter where or how they shop.

Using Springboard’s Mobile POS to reclaim valuable square footage and influence buying behavior at the point of decision, Springboard’s customers process over $400M annually at retail across North America. Springboard Retail drives sales and margins by placing actionable real-time data in the hands of every person who needs it across the retail enterprise – from the C-suite to the store floor. With full inventory management, unparalleled custom reporting, powerful tax and promotion engines, open REST API, and portability across platforms and devices, Springboard Retail is easy-to-use, quick-to-start and revered by its users for making their jobs easier.

For all media inquiries please contact:

Petra Geiger
857-400-7859
marketing@springboardretail.com

Source: Springboard Retail

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Trace One Network Will Fuel Efficiency for Success

BOSTON, 2017-Oct-27 — /EPR Retail News/ — To help retailers and suppliers succeed in a highly competitive industry, private label collaboration experts Trace One today launched the Trace One Network. This global retail business network promotes efficient, accurate communication so companies create innovative products, boost agility and delight consumers. To drive critical mass adoption of the network, Trace One will leverage its global network of 20,000 retail companies – the largest private label community in the world.

Amid this period of retail reinvention, Trace One Network focuses on enhancing communication by creating a single online hub for retail partners to serve shoppers better. Market trends disrupting grocery private label include the rise of grocery e-commerce, hard discounters and direct-to consumer rivals. Addressing these factors means companies must collaborate, as competition now takes place between supply chains – not just individual companies.

“Collaboration helps retail companies differentiate themselves from the competition and win with private label by adapting to consumers’ expectations of speed, agility and responsiveness,” says Trace One CEO, Christophe Vanackere. Trace One Network saves retail professionals time and effort by helping them gather relevant market knowledge, build relationships, and share company and product data using one integrated solution. The network will continuously evolve and add valuable functionality to serve retail users’ needs over the long term.

Retail companies benefit from Trace One Network, as retailers and suppliers can identify reliable trading partners, source and promote private label products, and stay informed of industry trends. This online collaboration network will help retail companies improve their speed to market, cost management, and mitigate key business risks.

“Given today’s retail disruption, Trace One Network is exactly what retail trading partners need to deliver a superior customer experience. We can no longer afford to work in silos,” says Shaun Bossons, CRO, of Trace One. “The network represents an evolution of Trace One’s proven strengths in connecting global retail supply chain partners for efficient collaboration, while addressing companies’ need for business efficiency, differentiation and confidence in their private label brands.”

About Trace One

Founded in 2001, Trace One powers the world’s largest collaborative network for private label development with more than 20,000 companies in 100 countries developing over $300B in products annually. Our globally proven platform enables our customers to develop and manage private label products, ensure conformity to industry and government legislation and drive consumer trust.

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Visa Commits to Strategic Investment in Klarna; Companies Plan Partnership Deal

NEW YORK and COPENHAGEN, Denmark, 2017-Jun-29 — /EPR Retail News/ — Visa (NYSE:V) and Klarna announced they have reached an agreement for Visa to invest in Klarna, and intend to develop a future strategic partnership. Klarna is one of Europe’s fastest growing online payments companies, serving 60 million consumers and 70,000 retailers.

The equity investment and planned partnership demonstrate Visa and Klarna’s shared vision to accelerate online and mobile commerce for the benefit of consumers and merchants across Europe. The announcement was made at Money 20/20 being held in Copenhagen through June 28.

Visa’s planned investment is part of a global strategy to open up the Visa ecosystem and support a broad range of new partners who are helping to redefine and enhance the purchase experience for millions of consumers globally. Klarna develops products that address changing consumer preferences, giving them the flexibility and seamless experience they expect when shopping.

“Klarna has demonstrated an expertise in consumer credit and online purchasing and together, we share a vision for how today’s online and mobile commerce experiences can be as simple as they are in the real world,” said Jim McCarthy, executive vice president, innovation and strategic partnerships, Visa Inc. “Visa is committed to partnering with a new generation of partners and payment providers to bring secure, online commerce to many more consumers in Europe. We look forward to working more closely with Klarna to accomplish this.”

“The Visa and Klarna partnership is a natural fit. We both understand consumer credit and the value of consumer centricity in developing innovative payment solutions,” said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, chief executive officer and co-founder of Klarna.

“Klarna continually strives to offer the most advanced choice of payment solutions for our merchants and give consumers the smoothest buying experiences.  Partnering with Visa will give us the opportunity to strengthen our global presence and product portfolio by leveraging our combined assets. We are excited about the possibilities of what we can do together.”

According to Forrester, Europe is expected to see double-digit growth in online sales in the coming years.  By 2021, the growth in the number of connected devices and improvements in mobile connectivity will drive online sales to reach 12 percent of the region’s total retail sales.  Additionally, online retail sales are expected to grow at an average rate of 12 percent per year over the next five years in Western Europe.

 

About Visa

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world’s most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead with prepaid or pay later with credit products. For more information, visit our website (www.visaeurope.com), the Visa Vision blog (vision.visaeurope.com), and @VisaInEurope

 

About Klarna
Klarna is one of Europe’s leading payments providers that aims to make the payment process simple, smooth and safe for customers and its merchant partners. Klarna works together with 70,000 merchants to offer payment solutions to more than 60 million users in Europe and North America. Klarna, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, has 1,500 employees and is active in 18 countries. The company was founded in 2005 was recently named as one of the top disrupter companies in the world by CNBC.

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NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay: retailers would work “tirelessly” to achieve tax reform without shifting the burden to consumers

WASHINGTON, 2017-Jun-22 — /EPR Retail News/ — National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay said in an interview today (June 21, 2017) on Fox Business Network’s Varney & Co. that retailers would work “tirelessly” to achieve tax reform that lowers rates without shifting the burden to consumers.

Regarding House Speaker Paul Ryan’s speech on tax reform the day before, Shay said, “The Speaker made very clear that there is more than one way to get this done….I think that is encouraging. That is a sign that he and Chairman Brady and others are being responsive to the concerns they have heard and the recognition the politics of this, it just doesn’t make sense to do tax reform by imposing a $1700 tax on American families.”

To watch the full interview, click here.

The United States has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world and NRF has led the retail industry in advocating for comprehensive tax reform that would broaden the tax base and lower the rate. Retail benefits from few of the tax breaks that lower tax bills for other industries, and most retail companies pay at or close to the full 35 percent rate.

TRANSCRIPT
Fox Business Network
Varney & Co. – Matt Shay Interview
June 21, 2017
http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/5478892341001/?#sp=show-clips

STUART VARNEY: House Speaker Paul Ryan outlined his tax reform plan yesterday. He barely mentioned the so-called border adjustment tax. National Retail Federation CEO Matt Shay is here with us now. Alright, Matt, take a victory lap because you killed it. You killed the border tax.

NRF PRESIDENT AND CEO MATTHEW SHAY: Nice to be with you, Stuart. Glad to be here today. I think that the speech Speaker Ryan gave yesterday and the outline that he provided to that audience was something that would resonate very well with our members, would be very popular with the retail industry. He said a lot of things with which we agree and that makes the point, that we have been in agreement with the Speaker on the need for tax reform for a long time and we have one disagreement over one element and the fact he didn’t mention that element yesterday is encouraging to all of us.

VARNEY: Your disagreement is purely about the border adjustment tax and that is the way of paying for this tax reform. If you take away the border adjustment tax would you be okay with substituting a consumption tax like a gas tax?

SHAY: I think a consumption tax and a gas tax would be received very differently depending on which industries you are talking about because they will have different impacts. But I think the point here is that the Speaker made very clear that there is more than one way to get this done and the fact that he acknowledged there’s a way to do tax reform, and said, for reference, we have a proposal here in the House but there are many ways to get this done, I think that is encouraging. That is a sign that he and Chairman Brady and others are being responsive to the concerns they have heard and the recognition the politics of this, it just doesn’t make sense to do tax reform by imposing a $1700 tax on American families.

VARNEY: I came on strong at the beginning of the interview trying to press you, and say, ‘look, it’s dead.’ You killed it, you did it. I think I am right, whether you killed it or not doesn’t matter. I think it is dead and you are not going to give me an argument.

SHAY: We have heard the Senate – sort of up and down the line – from Republican members of the Senate express a lot of discomfort with this. There is not any enthusiasm in the Senate for this to go anywhere. You heard Secretary Steve Mnuchin at Treasury, you’ve heard Gary Cohen at the White House make public statements about their displeasure with this particular approach, so I think this is a positive development. I think there is a long way to go, as Speaker Ryan pointed out, and it is not going to be over until we get there. And we need to get there and I think we should be very clear on this. We will be just as vocal in support of a plan that doesn’t contain the border adjustment tax as we have been vocal about one that does. We are big champions for reform. We pay the highest rate of any industry in the country, we want to get this done and we will be out there tirelessly working to get tax reform across the finish line.

VARNEY: Okay, Matt, we’ll delay your victory lap for a couple days but after that you really have to come back to take a victory lap because you really did kill it.

SHAY: Victory is when we get tax reform done because it’s good for the American people and good for this country and that will be a victory for all of us.

About NRF
NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy.

Contact:
Robin Roberts
press@nrf.com
(855) NRF-Press

Source: NRF

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NRF’s David French: The border tax proposal would cause the tax burden on retailers to skyrocket

WASHINGTON, 2017-May-24 — /EPR Retail News/ — Retailers would “have no choice” but to pass the higher costs on to consumers if Congress passes a proposed $1 trillion border adjustment tax as part of tax reform, the National Retail Federation said today (May 23, 2017).

“The border tax proposal would cause the tax burden on retailers to skyrocket,” NRF Senior Vice President for Government Relations David French wrote in a statement submitted to the House Ways and Means Committee. “Under this proposal, many retailers will have a tax burden that is larger than their profits. …Obviously, they will have no choice but to pass the tax cost forward to their customers. …Small businesses may be particularly vulnerable to the impact of the border tax on prices.”

The committee is holding a hearing this morning on the border adjustment proposal, which is part of the “Better Way” tax reform plan proposed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas.

“The retail industry has been a strong proponent of income tax reform,” French said. “We believe that income tax reform that lowers the rates and broadens the tax base can provide economic growth for the economy as a whole and can be good for the American consumer. We do not believe that a new tax system that shifts the burden of taxation to the consumer is good for our industry, which is the nation’s largest employer, or good for the American consumer.”

The United States has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world and NRF has led the retail industry in advocating for comprehensive tax reform that would broaden the tax base and lower the corporate tax rate. Retail benefits from few of the tax breaks that lower tax bills for other industries, and pays at or close to the full 35 percent statutory rate.

Among other provisions, the Ryan-Brady plan would create a 20 percent tax on imported goods by ending retailers’ ability to deduct the cost of merchandise that they import. That means retailers would be taxed at nearly the full selling price of imported merchandise rather than just their profit, amounting to $1 trillion in extra costs over the first 10 years.

The border adjustment tax would have significant implications for retailers and other industries that import goods into the United States, including automobiles, technology, food and fuel. Analysis by NRF and many of its member companies indicates that the proposed tax would drive up costs, erode profits and exceed any benefits from a lower rate. It would require price increases of 15 percent or more to retain profitability, effectively creating a new tax paid by consumers.

The BAT would also put at risk millions of retail-supported jobs. A BAT could cause retailers to see tax bills three to five times the amount of their profits, threatening to drive some merchants out of business. The small retailers that make up 98 percent of the retail industry and provide 40 percent of its jobs would be at the biggest risk.

NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy.

Contact:

Robin Roberts
press@nrf.com
(855) NRF-Press

Source: NRF

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Diebold Nixdorf and Kony partner to offer white label mobile application solutions for financial institutions and retailers

Company also acquires minority equity stake in Kony, joining forces with leading mobile applications provider to drive innovative, consumer-centric experiences

NORTH CANTON, Ohio, 2017-May-23 — /EPR Retail News/ — Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE: DBD), the global leader in connected commerce, today (May 22, 2017) announced a strategic partnership with Kony, Inc., the leading enterprise mobility and application company, to offer white label mobile application solutions for financial institutions and retailers. The next generation mobile application suite—DN Mobile—will enable a unified and highly personalized experience by leveraging cross-platform data and integrating multiple channels to drive connected commerce.

Digital trends are impacting every touchpoint and this partnership aims to help banks and retailers on their digital transformation journey by putting the consumer at the center of the experience. To address key mobility trends around consumer loyalty and differentiated digital experiences, this partnership will focus on the following core areas:

  • Move to the next generation of mobile applications: DN Mobile will have a pre-packaged option, as well as a build-your-own toolkit to empower financial institutions and retailers to innovate quickly and better engage with their customers.
  • Engage the API economy: An open services-oriented application platform will facilitate new types of collaborations with payment providers, merchants and FinTechs.
  • Transcend legacy channel silos: Integrated software product lines will enable connected commerce across self-service, POS, branch and digital channels.

“This partnership marks a transformative moment for the industries we serve.  We are extending our leadership in systems of engagement all the way from the branch and store through to cloud connected mobile applications for the consumer,” said Alan Kerr, senior vice president, software, Diebold Nixdorf. “This extended reach into mobile applications will blend channels together in innovative new ways and propel our vision of connected commerce into the marketplace. We couldn’t be more pleased to be partnering with Kony, the market leader, on this exciting journey.”

Kony is recognized as a top leader by Gartner and Forrester, and is the largest mobility provider focused purely on cross-platform, cloud-based enterprise solutions. Kony serves more than 250 million mobile app users worldwide every day and manages more than 3.4 billion user sessions annually.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Diebold Nixdorf,” said Thomas E. Hogan, chairman and chief executive officer, Kony, Inc. “Diebold Nixdorf’s vision and commitment to connected commerce, combined with their domain expertise in banking and retail, make them the perfect partner for Kony. Our joint vision is clear: to deliver the industry’s most innovative digital solutions. Together, we will disrupt and lead the market. ”

In conjunction with the partnership, Diebold Nixdorf is investing in a minority equity stake in Kony and will have a seat on its board of directors. Financial terms of the investment are not being disclosed.

About Kony, Inc.

Kony is the fastest growing, cloud-based enterprise application and mobility solutions company, and a recognized industry leader among mobile application development platform (MADP) providers. Kony helps organizations of all sizes drive business ingenuity by rapidly transforming ideas into innovative and secure omni-channel applications. Built on the industry’s leading digital platform, Kony provides the most innovative and secure omni-channel applications, with exceptional user experience and app design. Kony’s cross-platform, low-code solution also empowers organizations to develop and manage their own apps to better engage with their customers, partners and employees. By seamlessly leveraging and connecting apps to all types of data sources and information, Kony also enables organizations to transform their business processes and gain valuable insight.  Kony was named the first place winner in CTIA’s MobITs Awards in the Mobile Applications, Development & Platforms category and included on the Inc. 500|5000 list of fastest growing private companies in America.

About Diebold Nixdorf

Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated (NYSE: DBD) is a world leader in enabling connected commerce for millions of consumers each day across the financial and retail industries. Its software-defined solutions bridge the physical and digital worlds of cash and consumer transactions conveniently, securely and efficiently. As an innovation partner for nearly all of the world’s top 100 financial institutions and a majority of the top 25 global retailers, Diebold Nixdorf delivers unparalleled services and technology that are essential to evolve in an ‘always on’ and changing consumer landscape.

Diebold Nixdorf has a presence in more than 130 countries with approximately 24,000 employees worldwide. The organization maintains corporate offices in North Canton, Ohio, USA and Paderborn, Germany. Shares are traded on the New York and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges under the symbol ‘DBD’. Visit www.DieboldNixdorf.com for more information.

Media Relations:
Mike Jacobsen
APR
+1-330-490-3796
michael.jacobsen@dieboldnixdorf.com

Investor Relations:
Steve Virostek
+1-330-490-6319
steve.virostek@dieboldnixdorf.com

SOURCE: Diebold Nixdorf

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BRP report: Retailers plan to use Innovative Technologies to Improve Customer Service

BRP report: Retailers plan to use Innovative Technologies to Improve Customer Service

 

According to the 2017 Customer Experience/Unified Commerce Survey, Savvy Retailers are Planning to use Innovative Technologies to Improve Customer Service

Boston, MA, 2017-May-23 — /EPR Retail News/ — According to a new report from BRP, 55% of retailers are focused on optimizing the customer experience to increase customer loyalty by improving the mobile shopping experience and creating a unified experience across all channels.

“The customer experience in a unified commerce world is much more complex than it is in a pure play e-commerce or brick-and-mortar retail environment and we are seeing retailers map out the entire customer journey to design the optimal customer experience,” said Perry Kramer, vice president and practice lead at BRP. “This complexity expands exponentially as the proliferation of social media, the Internet of Things, (IoT), artificial intelligence and machine learning influence the retail world and more specifically, the customer journey.”

Stores must now encompass both worlds – the sensory experience generally available in the physical world, such as touching and feeling merchandise and personally interacting with a knowledgeable associate – whether simply human or a combination of AI and human characteristics – married with the unique and personalized shopping experience common in the digital world. The physical and digital worlds are forever intertwined as we look to the future.

BRP conducted the 2017 Customer Experience/Unified Commerce Benchmark Survey to understand retailers’ customer experience priorities today and for the future, and how the evolution of unified commerce helps provide retailers with the right people, processes and technology to enable retailers to enhance the customer experience.

The key customer experience capabilities are:

Educate – One of the areas of greatest improvement is the offering of social media as a research option for customers to learn more about the brand and products. Overall utilization is up from 73% of retailers utilizing it last year to 92% this year, however, many retailers indicate that their current social media offerings need improvement.

Engage – Most retailers have plans to implement new technologies to identify customers via their smartphones, mobile applications and other emerging technologies. Within three years, 59% of retailers plan to use Wi-Fi and 63% plan to use mobile apps to identify customers in their stores.

Execute – 67% of retailers are offering a consistent product assortment across channels; however, many retailers are still struggling with manual processes as 43% indicate the processes need improvement.

Enhance – Retailers realize the importance of utilizing customer insights gathered from social media as 89% of retailers are now using social media comments as a critical customer satisfaction measurement, up from 59% last year.

Enablers – Enhanced networks are a critical requirement for a unified commerce environment and 76% of retailers plan to enhance or replace their network within the next three years.

To download the complete 2017 Customer Experience/Unified Commerce Benchmark Survey, visit: https://brpconsulting.com/2017-unified-commerce-survey/.

The 2017 Customer Experience/ Unified Commerce Benchmark Survey platinum sponsor is Aptos and the gold sponsors are Cayan, ECRS, Experian Data Quality, Fujitsu, Manhattan Associates, Mi9 Retail, NCR, Netsuite, PCMS, Radial, Tyco Retail Solutions.

About BRP

BRP is an innovative retail management consulting firm dedicated to providing superior service and enduring value to our clients. BRP combines its consultants’ deep retail business knowledge and cross-functional capabilities to deliver superior design and implementation of strategy, technology, and process solutions. The firm’s unique combination of industry focus, knowledge-based approach, and rapid, end-to-end solution deployment helps clients to achieve their business potential. BRP’s consulting services include:

Strategy | Business Intelligence | Business Process Optimization | Point of Sale (POS)
Mobile POS | Payment Security | E-Commerce | Store Systems and Operations | CRM
Unified Commerce | Customer Experience | Order Management | Networks
Merchandise Management | Supply Chain | Private Equity

For more information on BRP, visit http://www.brpconsulting.com.

Contact:

David Naumann
916-673-7757
mailto: dnaumann@brpconsulting.com

Source: BRP

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House Action To Repeal Obamacare Welcomed By Retailers

WASHINGTON, 2017-May-08 — /EPR Retail News/ — The National Retail Federation today (May 4, 2017) applauded the House for passing the American Health Care Act, legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act.

“Nothing in health care is ever easy or simple, but the House has shown its commitment to closing the book on Obamacare,” NRF Senior Vice President for Government Relations David French said.  “The American Health Care Act is not perfect, but if we are going to get to a health care system that works without mandates and stifling regulation, the process has to start somewhere. This bill is an important milestone on that journey.”

On Wednesday, NRF sent a letter to House leadership urging lawmakers to take advantage of a “real opportunity” to repeal the ACA rather than continue to debate details of the bill and risk failing to move forward.

Like its predecessor, the revised version of the American Health Care Act passed by the House today would use budget reconciliation procedures to repeal key parts of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. That means the legislation could be passed by the Senate with only 51 votes rather than the 60 normally required to overcome an expected filibuster, but also limits the repeal to provisions of the ACA that have a revenue impact. NRF nonetheless believes that the bill would achieve substantial change.

An earlier version of the bill was scheduled for a vote in March but action was delayed because conservative House members wanted a more complete repeal of the ACA.

Among other actions supported by NRF, the legislation would effectively repeal the ACA’s employer mandate that businesses provide health insurance to full-time workers. While budget reconciliation does not allow the mandate to be repealed outright, the bill would reduce the penalties for non-compliance to zero.

The legislation would also delay the so-called Cadillac Tax on high-value health plans until 2026, and would repeal its health insurance tax, medical device tax and pharmaceutical tax permanently. It would also increase flexibility for health savings accounts and would take a substantial first step toward Medicaid reform.

NRF opposed passage of Obamacare and has sought its repeal, while working with Congress to mitigate the impact of its most onerous provisions. Rather than lowering costs, the controversial law emphasizes mandates that have driven up health insurance expenses for both employers and employees.

NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy.

Contact:
Robin Roberts
press@nrf.com
(855) NRF-Press

Source: NRF

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Retailers Agree Proposed Comprehensive Tax Reform Could Help Economy Grow

WASHINGTON, 2017-Apr-29 — /EPR Retail News/ — The National Retail Federation today (April 26, 2017) welcomed the proposal on comprehensive tax reform released by President Trump.

“Retailers commend the president for his leadership on much-needed comprehensive tax reform,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “What matters most is that we enact pro-growth tax policy for both individuals and businesses. This puts money back in the pockets of hard working Americans, helping to grow businesses and industries in the communities where consumers live and work.”

“The United States has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, and retailers pay the highest effective tax rate of any industry,” Shay said. “Lowering the rate for businesses would significantly improve U.S. companies’ ability to compete in a global marketplace and will drive more investment to the United States.”

“The devil is in the details, but we are optimistic that when tax reform crosses the finish line it won’t include a border adjustment tax or any other scheme that shifts the financial burden to consumers,” Shay said. “Taxing imports would not only raise prices for consumers, it would ultimately cost American jobs and shutter American businesses. We look forward to continued conversations with the administration and Congress to make pro-growth tax reform a reality.”

NRF has led the retail industry in supporting comprehensive tax reform that would broaden the tax base and lower the corporate tax rate. Retail benefits from few of the tax breaks that lower tax bills for other industries, and pays the highest effective corporate tax rate of any sector of the U.S. economy – at or close to the maximum 35 percent.

NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy.

Contact:
Robin Roberts
press@nrf.com
(855) NRF-Press

Source: NRF

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Retailers Urge Congress To Help Save Consumers Billions With Swipe Fee Reform

WASHINGTON, 2017-Apr-29 — /EPR Retail News/ — The National Retail Federation and retailers from across the country went to Capitol Hill today (April 26, 2017) as Congress held a hearing on legislation that would repeal debit card swipe fee reform, telling lawmakers that reform has saved merchants and consumers more than $40 billion and should be protected.

“Debit card reform has been a remarkable success,” NRF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan said. “It has saved retailers and their customers billions of dollars and it has brought the beginnings of transparency and competition to a market where swipe fees were price-fixed and all banks linked arms to charge the same high fees. If reform is repealed, the big banks will go back to those practices, and nothing will stop them from setting these fees as high as they like and driving up prices paid by consumers in the process.”

“This has been settled law for the better part of a decade,” Duncan said. “We should be looking at the future of payments rather than trying to re-legislate this important consumer protection and vital step forward for fair market competition.”

The House Financial Services Committee is holding a hearing this morning on the Financial Choice Act, legislation sponsored by Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, that would repeal debit swipe fee reform as part of a larger rollback of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

No retailers were invited to testify at the hearing despite the issue’s impact on the industry. But dozens of retailers are in Washington today for a fly-in organized by NRF and other retail groups to lobby against repeal and many attended the session. In addition, NRF submitted a statement for the record and is running digital ads and circulating petitions addressing consumer benefits, competition and retailers’ concerns that urge Congress to preserve debit card reform.

This morning, Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., the namesake sponsor of debit swipe fee reform in the Senate, and Representative Peter Welch, D-Vt., the measure’s chief backer in the House, spoke before retailers over breakfast.

Debit reform was enacted as part of Dodd-Frank in response to the card industry’s practice of price-fixing the debit card “swipe” fees banks charge merchants to process transactions. The fees previously averaged 1-2 percent of the purchase amount, and virtually all banks that issue cards charged the same.

Under reform regulations that took effect in October 2011, large banks are limited to 22 cents per transaction, down from about 45 cents in the past. The limit saved retailers about $8.5 billion in the first year alone, with close to $6 billion of the savings passed along to consumers, according to a study by economist Robert Shapiro. Banks that set the fees competitively and independently are exempt from the limit, but virtually none have done so. Banks with under $10 billion in assets are also exempt.

The savings has been particularly important to small retailers, who say the fees are among their highest expenses.

A survey conducted for NRF last year found that 89 percent of consumers said the limit should remain in place. In addition, 84 percent said swipe fees should be set on a competitive basis rather than letting card companies set price-fixed fees.

NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy. NRF.com

Contact:
J. Craig Shearman
(202) 626-8134
press@nrf.com
(855) NRF-Press

Source: NRF

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Australian Retailers Association: Retailers conducting business in Australia should pay their tax just like Australian retailers currently do

Wellington Parade, East Melbourne, 2017-Apr-24 — /EPR Retail News/ — The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) strongly supports the Government in closing the Low Value Threshold (LVT) loophole for the purchase of offshore tangible goods under $1000.

Russell Zimmerman, Executive Director of the ARA said they have been working with the Federal and State Governments to reduce the low value threshold and provide a level playing field for Australian retailers.

“This is a tax equity issue and internationally-based retailers should pay their fair share of tax,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“Retailers conducting business in Australia should pay their tax just like Australian retailers currently do.”

The ARA has said this GST has been a long time coming, expressing thanks to then Assistant Treasure Bill Shorten for his commencement of the process in 2011.

“Multiple jurisdictions are already introducing similar laws as this is a global tax issue,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“This new legislation will create a fairer tax system for Australian retailers by creating a level playing field against international competitors.”

This new model may not be perfect but the ARA believes that the proposed system is the best model at this point.

“Freight companies and credit card businesses should not be responsible for collecting this tax, the onus should fall on internationally-based businesses to collect it” Mr Zimmerman said.

“Australian retailers already collect this tax in Australia, therefore it is unnecessary to complicate this process and allow international retailers to continue to exploit this legislative loophole.”

“We already know that overseas retailers selling online have the capability of charging taxes as required by Australian law,” Mr Zimmerman said.

The ARA will be appearing as witnesses at the Senate Economics Legislation hearings this Friday 21 April to reiterate the importance of this GST.

“We strongly support this proposed GST model and will continue to work with the Government to resolve any implementation issues,” Mr Zimmerman said.

Mr Zimmerman will be available at 12 noon outside the Flinders Room at Mantra Hotel, 222 Russell Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

For interview opportunities with ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman call the ARA Media Line on 0439 612 556, or email media@retail.org.au

About the Australian Retailers Association:

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the retail industry’s peak representative body representing Australia’s $310 billion sector, which employs more than 1.2 million people. The ARA works to ensure retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 7,500 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information, visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

Contact:

1300 368 041

Source:  Australian Retailers Association (ARA)

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BRP report: Consumers want personalized experience and retailers are focused on improving their personalized services

40% of Retailers Indicate that Personalization is a Top Digitial Priority

Boston, MA, 2017-Apr-03 — /EPR Retail News/ — According to a new special report from Boston Retail Partners (BRP), personalization has gone well beyond simple marketing to demographic groups, customer segments or even personas. It is more than simply greeting a customer by name when they walk in the store and it goes beyond merely offering product recommendations on your website. Personalization is not just a trend – it is a critical way for retailers to differentiate their brand to compete against companies like Amazon, according to the BRP SPECIAL REPORT: Personalizing the Customer Experience.

“Consumers’ constant ability to shop and easily research products and prices has made it imperative for retailers – especially those with brick and mortar locations – to find creative ways to entice customers into the store,” said Jeff Neville, vice president, BRP. “The best and most powerful way to do this is through personalization.”

Personalization encapsulates all the details that make your customer’s shopping experience unique to her. It involves knowing your customer and understanding her past purchases and current interests, but it also encompasses how the experience itself meets the customer’s needs for a personalized product or service.

Consumers want a personalized experience and retailers are focused on improving their personalized services. While 40% of retailers indicate they are focused on personalization as a top digital priority, many are not currently offering the personalized services consumers expect. The good news is that retailers have big plans to improve these services over the next few years.

This Special Report provides insight into BRP’s 2016 Digital Commerce Survey, highlighting personalization and the potential methods available for today’s retailers to deliver the optimal customer experience. The three major areas of personalization covered in this report include: personalized in-store experience, curated shopping and personalized products.

To download the complete BRP SPECIAL REPORT: Personalizing the Customer Experience, visit: https://bostonretailpartners.com/2017-brp-special-report-personalization

The Special Report sponsors are NetSuite (platinum), EarthLink (gold), Manhattan Associates (gold), Orckestra (gold) Radial (gold) and Salesforce Commerce Cloud (gold).

About BRP

BRP is an innovative and independent retail management consulting firm dedicated to providing superior service and enduring value to our clients. BRP combines its consultants’ deep retail business knowledge and cross-functional capabilities to deliver superior design and implementation of strategy, technology, and process solutions. The firm’s unique combination of industry focus, knowledge-based approach, and rapid, end-to-end solution deployment helps clients to achieve their business potential. BRP’s consulting services include:

Strategy | Business Intelligence | Business Process Optimization | Point of Sale (POS)
Mobile POS | Payment Security | E-Commerce | Store Systems and Operations | CRM
Unified Commerce | Customer Experience & Engagement | Order Management
Merchandise Management | Supply Chain | Information Technology | Private Equity

For more information on BRP, visit www.bostonretailpartners.com.

Contact:

David Naumann
916-673-7757

Source: BRP

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Boston Retail Partners: retailers recognize the importance of enhanced data and analytics

Retailers realize the importance but struggle to successfully understand and utilize analytics

Boston, MA , 2017-Mar-24 — /EPR Retail News/ — According to a new special report from Boston Retail Partners (BRP), retailers recognize the importance of enhanced data and analytics with 44% indicating improved analytics is a top priority. However, the ability to leverage analytics to improve business performance lags intent due to a lack of organizational alignment and inconsistent processes according to the BRP SPECIAL REPORT: The Fine Art of Analytics.

“It is becoming essential for retailers to broaden their analytical capabilities to effectively address strategic business decisions,” said Gene Bornac, vice president, BRP. “Analytics provide advanced visibility into sales performance by channel, by assortment, and further by item, which helps guide more accurate planning and allocation decisions.”

Implementation of a successful unified commerce analytics approach requires organizational alignment across all business segments. Without organizational alignment, it is difficult to maximize the benefits that big data can bring to omni-channel performance.

However, as organizations increasingly integrate their systems, omni-channel opportunities to gather and utilize data in interesting ways to make smarter merchandising decisions. Real-time analytics are a key part of identifying and understanding the customer across channels and creating the right assortment available at the right time for that customer. By prioritizing an investment in a systems architecture that handles collection and utilization of data universally across the organization, retailers can best position themselves for profitability and key differentiation to their customers.

This Special Report provides insight into BRP’s 2016 Merchandise Planning Survey, highlights the challenges facing leading retailers today relating to data and analytics, and offers next steps for retailers to make the most of the data that exists across their organization.

To download the complete BRP SPECIAL REPORT: The Fine Art of Analytics, visit: https://bostonretailpartners.com/2017-brp-special-report-analytics/

The Special Report sponsors are Logility (platinum), ANT USA (gold), JustEnough (gold), TXT Retail (gold) and Island Pacific (silver).

About Boston Retail Partners

Boston Retail Partners (BRP) is an innovative and independent retail management consulting firm dedicated to providing superior service and enduring value to our clients. BRP combines its consultants’ deep retail business knowledge and cross-functional capabilities to deliver superior design and implementation of strategy, technology, and process solutions. The firm’s unique combination of industry focus, knowledge-based approach, and rapid, end-to-end solution deployment helps clients to achieve their business potential. BRP’s consulting services include:

For more information on BRP, visit www.bostonretailpartners.com.

Media Inquiries:

David Naumann
916-673-7757

Source: BRP

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Fashion needs customers – customers want to be impressed

MUNICH, Germany, 2017-Mar-13 — /EPR Retail News/ — To survive in the fiercely competitive fashion market, retailers must be able to impress their customers. Customer loyalty has evolved along with technological advancements, products and their prices can be compared at any time, and only businesses who stand out will be able to secure sales and retain their customers.

However, modern technologies have not only shaped what’s now being demanded of fashion companies, but, when implemented properly, can strengthen customer relations. attune provides retailers with the technological foundation and real-time insights to facilitate a personalised and seamless shopping experience across all channels.

Nowadays, being able to differentiate between different types of shoppers is no longer enough. To engage with modern shoppers, data such as shopping history, location, behavioural patterns and style must be collected and leveraged at every possible touchpoint.

“The right offer or promotion at the right time will not only generate more sales, but will also help retain customers,” says Gerald Reiser, Regional Director, Europe of attune.

attune knows how to motivate customers to buy: “Upsell by offering a matching bag to go with the jacket that was recently purchased. Weeks before a sale, bargain hunters are sent a discount voucher for 20-30% off certain products, allowing for a higher margin before the markdowns begin. Customers who live further away receive offers to shop online. And vice versa, targeted promotions drive local customers to the store, increasing footfall and allowing shop assistants to make the sale.”

A prerequisite for a successful customer retention strategy is an efficient, integrated IT infrastructure that delivers real-time data, enabling fashion retailers to engage with each customer individually and increase their purchase frequency.

attune’s integrated solution offering to strengthen customer loyalty:

> SAP Fashion Management
> SAP Customer Activity Repository
> SAP Hybris Commerce

Get in touch at bahtiyar.can@attuneconsulting.com or visit www.attuneconsulting.com to schedule a demo of an integrated landscape consisting of the above solutions.

 

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Retailers Urge Congress to Support Association Health Plans for Small Businesses

WASHINGTON, 2017-Mar-07 — /EPR Retail News/ — The National Retail Federation today (March 1, 2017) urged Congress to support legislation that would allow small businesses to join together through association health plans to provide greater access to affordable health care for their employees.

“Small businesses compete every day with large employers for both customers and employees,” Retailers Association of Massachusetts President Jon Hurst said. “Employees of small businesses deserve the same marketplace rights to obtain comparable coverage at comparable rates as those that work for big business and big government.”

“Association health plans are an important answer,” Hurst said. “Not only do they offer the potential to band with additional small employers in their local state through bona fide trade or professional associations, but it also offers potential to band together with other employer groups in other states … to maintain common benefits across state lines.”

Hurst testified on behalf of NRF this morning before the House Education and Workforce Committee during a hearing on the Small Business Health Fairness Act, an association health plan bill cosponsored by Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Mich.

The Retailers Association of Massachusetts has run an association health plan since 2012 that serves more than 5,000 workers at 287 small businesses. Operating under a Massachusetts law that authorized the plans at the state level, the association has been able to “directly impact the cost of coverage” for participating companies, and has been able to offer additional benefits such as hospital care plans, dental plans and wellness programs, Hurst said.

NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy.

Contact:
Treacy Reynolds
press@nrf.com
(855) NRF-Press

Source: NRF

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Generation Z Seeks Enhanced Digital Shopping Experience from Retailers

Generation Z Seeks Enhanced Digital Shopping Experience from Retailers

 

Young consumers seek voice-activated ordering, curated subscriptions and automatic-replenishment shopping models

NEW YORK, 2017-Mar-06 — /EPR Retail News/ — Retailers looking to capture share of wallet and brand loyalty from the next generation of consumers – Gen Z – will need to step up their focus on new ways of engagement.  This group is looking for enhanced digital tools such as the ability to purchase directly via visual social platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, according to new global consumer research from Accenture.

The research, based on a survey of nearly 10,000 consumers across 13 countries, examines the attitudes and expectations of millennial and Gen Z consumers along the path to purchase. The survey revealed some distinct shopping habits and preferences among Gen Z consumers, which make it imperative for retailers to further rethink and redesign their digital shopping capabilities and methods.

Social media is set to become a major direct shopping channel for Gen Z with more than two-thirds (69 percent) of them interested in purchasing via social media directly.  In addition, more than four in 10 Gen Z’s (44 percent) cite social media as a popular source for product inspiration, and more than one-third (37 percent) have increased their use of social media for purchase decision-making in the last year.

“Social media has emerged as a real disruptor in targeting Gen Z shoppers, who are true digital natives,” said Jill Standish, senior managing director of Accenture’s Retail industry practice. “To succeed in this increasingly digital world, retailers must understand Gen Z’s’ expectations, influencer circles and behaviors – especially their social-media habits and how they differ from those of millennials.  If they are spending their time on social platforms, this is where they want to be buying their products.”

At the same time, however, the findings show that retailers cannot afford to neglect the physical store, since 60 percent of Gen Z shoppers still prefer to purchase in-store, and nearly half (46 percent) will still check in store to get more information before making an online purchase. In the U.S., over three-quarters (77 percent) of Gen Z respondents said that brick-and-mortar stores is their preferred shopping channel.

The research also revealed that Gen Z shoppers are interested in new shopping methods. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of Gen Z shoppers are interested in curated subscription-type offering for fashion, and 71 percent are interested in automatic-replenishment programs, with an overwhelming majority willing to shift more than half their purchases to a retailer offering this service. Additionally, 38 percent of Gen Z’s are willing to try voice-activated ordering, while 25 percent of them said they can’t wait to use it and 10 percent of them said they are already using it.

“The ability to provide reliable and accurate product delivery and a great consumer experience requires retailers to enhance their capabilities in digitization, innovation and harnessing consumer data. Gleaning insights successfully can increase the lifetime value of each customer,” Standish said. “The fact that Gen Z shoppers are open to new shopping methods is a real opportunity for retailers to secure new consumer data and get closer to this generation.”

Other key findings regarding Gen Z shoppers:

They are all about visuals – videos and pictures. YouTube is the most-regularly used social media platform, cited by 84 percent of Gen Z respondents, while Facebook is still the most-popular social platform for both younger (21-27 years old) and older (28-37 years old) millennials. Two-thirds (66 percent) of Gen Z shoppers regularly use Instagram, compared with only 40 percent of millennials, and Gen Z shoppers are more than twice as likely as millennials to use Snapchat (54 percent versus 38 percent for younger and 22 percent for older millennials).

They regularly turn to their ‘influencer’ circles. Gen Z consumers are more likely than both younger and older millennials to purchase an item due to: what their family thinks; recommendations from watching YouTube videos; what their friends think; and comments on social media. In addition, when shopping online Gen Z’s are usually more likely than both younger and older millennials to: chat with an online sales assistant; check in store for more information; ask friends’ opinions via social media, text or phone; and ask family members’ opinions via social media, text or phone.

They haven’t formed strong brand loyalty. Only 16 percent of Gen Z’s shop at a single store for clothing/fashion (compared with 26 percent of older millennials); only 19 percent shop at a single store for health and beauty items (compared with 34 percent of older millennials); and fewer than 38 percent shop at a single place for groceries (compared with 55 percent of older millennials). In the United States, brand loyalty among Gen Z is even weaker, with only five percent of U.S. Gen Z’s shopping at a single place for clothing.

They are impulsive buyers and willing to pay for speedy delivery. Gen Z shoppers are more likely than millennials to make a purchase because: they just wanted to buy something; they randomly saw something they liked; or it was recommended by a friend or family member. In addition, Gen Z’s crave speedy delivery more than millennials do and are willing to pay for it. In fact, more than half (58 percent) of Gen Z respondents said they would pay more than $5 for one-hour deliveries.

“Gen Z is the next big consumer market and purchasing powerhouse,” said Standish. “Retailers need to invest in the digital tools that will enable them to speak to Gen Z through visuals, collaborate with them across multiple channels and devices, and make them feel part of their brand. Offering services such as crowd-sourcing, customization and hyper-personalization are a must-have capability for reaching a generation that is shaping and commanding today’s digital retail landscape.”

View research infographic here.

Methodology
Accenture surveyed 9,750 respondents from 13 countries across six continents who have shopped both online and in stores within the three months prior to the survey, which was conducted in October and November 2016. Survey respondents were selected and vetted by ESOMAR, which adhered to strict international guidelines for market research. To be included in the survey, respondents must have shopped both online and in stores in [at least] one of the following retail categories: apparel, consumer electronics, groceries, home goods, and health and beauty. All shoppers also confirmed that they access the internet and use their smartphones regularly.

Respondents came from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom. Respondents belonged to one of three age groups; Gen Z (18 to 20 years), young millennials (21 to 27 years) and older millennials (28 to 37 years) and each of these three age groups accounted for approximately one-third of all respondents.

Note: The Gen Z sample included only consumers between the ages of 18 and 20 because we are not allowed to survey minors.

About Accenture
Accenture (NYSE: ACN) is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 394,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Contact:

Aleks Vujanic
Accenture
+ 44 7500 974 814
aleks.vujanic@accenture.com

Source: Accenture

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The California Grocers Association supports Assembly Bill 1326 that will provide grocers and retailers with relief from theft

Sacramento, CA, 2017-Feb-23 — /EPR Retail News/ — The California Grocers Association announced their co-sponsorship and full-fledged support for Assembly Bill 1326, by Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove). The measure, co-authored by Assemblymembers Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona) and Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima), will aggregate the dollar value of certain property crimes, such as shoplifting and check fraud, with a felony being charged if a suspect’s total dollar value from such crimes surpasses $950 in a 12-month period.

This much-needed legislation will provide grocers and other retailers with relief from alarming increases in theft since 2014 when changes in state law more than doubled the felony threshold for many property crimes from $450 to $950.“California’s grocers have seen a steady increase of criminals shoplifting higher amounts of goods at higher rates,” said Ron Fong, President and CEO of the California Grocers Association, adding that shoplifters and organized crime rings now commit multiple thefts, day-after-day, but below the $950 felony threshold.“This is bad for grocers who suffer high losses, bad for employees who are put in harm’s way due to the increased aggressive nature of these thefts, and bad for shoppers who ultimately pay the consequences at the register,” he said.

Many CGA retail members have seen double-digit, and in some cases triple-digit percentage increases in losses from shoplifting and organized retail crime rings over the past five years, with a notable spike beginning after 2014.

“We look forward to collaborating with Assemblymember Cooper to pass this sensible piece of legislation,” Fong said. “We urge the California Legislature to help grocers, their employees, and consumers turn back this alarming crime growth by passing AB 1326.”

If AB 1326 is passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, it then must be approved by voters at the next general election before its provisions can go into effect.

Additional co-sponsors of AB 1326 include the California Police Chiefs Association, and Crime Victims United California.

Contact:

Tel: (916) 448-3545
Fax: (916) 448-2793

Source: CGA

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Mall Owners Look for Sales Data Capture at POS to Bridge Rental Loss

Chennai, India, 2017-Feb-16 — /EPR Retail News/ —  As commercial real estate growth remains sober in cities across India leading to high vacancy levels in Malls, space owners these days adopt new strategy to bring tenants to cover rental revenue loss.

Bhaskar Venkatraman, Founder and Director of JusTransact.com

As per the new trend, retailers agree to pay less monthly rental but part a percentage of their monthly sales revenue to shop owners. However, in the absence of a reliable real time sales data capture system, retailers show tweaked sales data to pay low rent to owners causing huge loss to the later.

But with the availability of new POS software to capture real time sales data from shops, mall owners sitting at remote place can relax. Not only this! They can use these data to find seasonal footfalls, popular stores, popular merchandise,  peak time sales, customers’ shopping pattern and behaviour, and host of other vital business information.

As the concept is new and picking up in India, several POS software vendors offer reliable, transparent and sustainable Concessionaire Sales Data Capture solution to Indian retail sector. POS vendors also offer such services in international and domestic airports and shopping centres across India which can give real time sales to owners and cut revenue loss due to suppression of real sales data.

Airports and shopping malls require innovative technology to track sales from commercial tenants in real time and POS software such as Pathfinder’s POS PATROL offers exactly the same with additional benefits to both retailers and space owners in terms providing visibility of real time retail operations, customers’ preferences and analytical data on various parameters which can be used to improve sales.

The commercial structures are empowered to automate data capture processes through consistent and dependable system and the requisite data can be accessed online and interpreted for future usages. Sales Data Capture solution has revolutionized airports and shopping centres by offering Retail Intelligence services which has helped brands and space owners alike to improve operational efficiency, reduce cycle time, fast realization of revenue, high cash flow and improved non-aviation revenues.

POS Patrol, for example, has so far wired over 9500 retail outlets spread across 60 shopping centres and four international airports where every sale is accounted for consistent data flow and auditing.

Commenting on the trend, Bhaskar Venkatraman, Founder and CEO of JusTransact.com, a leading e-commerce portal dealing with Point of Sale technology products and solution in India, said: “Capturing real time sales data at Point Of Sales (POS) counters is the best possible way to track sales and avoid tenant-owner conflicts over rental issue. The sales data capture offers Retail Intelligence Services which is beneficial for both retailers and space owners.”

Benefits for retailers

Sales data captured can help airports and shopping malls to develop a good tenant mix, which brings more footfalls and revenue.

The sales and other information can be used to understand the Retail Dynamics of array of stores spread across vast area in just one stroke, which otherwise will be time consuming, difficult to manage, involves huge man power, and also error-prone in collecting sales data.

The data on retail operations can be utilized by stores to improve insights on sales revenues and performance.

How it works

Take for example a shopping mall having more than 100 retail outlets. All these shops are provided with POS solution for billing, staff and inventory management tool. At the same time, a software tool is embedded with each POS system which sends every sales detail to the server of the mall owners. As these days, rents are paid on the basis of revenues generated per month, sales data capture software restrains retailers from concealing the actual sales figures to pay low rent to shop owners.

The same system also works for airports where Concessionaire Sales Data Capture system is used to wire all the retailers inside the airport premises to capture real-time sales data.

 

Media Contact:

K Ramanaathan

ram@justransact.com

+91 9384612789

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Retailers to focus on mobile phone initiatives to enhance customer experience in 2017

WASHINGTON, 2017-Feb-03 — /EPR Retail News/ — Amid a seismic shift in how U.S. consumers shop, retailers are vying for time on their customers’ screens across all their devices — before, during and after a purchase. That is according to The State of Retailing Online 2017: Key Metrics, Business Objectives and Mobile report, released today (January 31, 2017) by the National Retail Federation’s Shop.org division and Forrester.

Forrester forecasted that in 2016 direct online sales totaled 11.6 percent of total U.S. retail sales ($394 billion), but digital touchpoints actually impacted an estimated 49 percent of total U.S. retail sales.

In response, this year retailers are focusing on several key areas to enhance customer experiences across all touchpoints, growing their business for the long term. For example, 54 percent of retailers note that mobile is one of their top initiatives in 2017, as are marketing (46 percent), site merchandising (42 percent) and omnichannel efforts (22 percent).

“Smartphones are driving retail sales more than ever, and retailers have found that even modest investments in mobile initiatives can result in huge returns,” NRF Vice President for Digital Retail Artemis Berry said. “This is no longer a new way to reach customers, but it has certainly become a highly effective method and one that boosts the level of customer engagement across the brand.”

Among retailers surveyed, smartphones, on average, made up 30 percent of online sales and 47 percent of online traffic, and sales made on smartphones were up an average of 65 percent year-over-year.

The study found that most retailers are foregoing flashy emerging technology such as virtual and augmented reality, and instead are investing in customer experience. Forty-five percent of retailers surveyed said mobile initiatives transformed their overall digital customer experience, and customer service topped the list of new initiatives retailers will invest in over the next year, with features like live chat offering them an opportunity to connect with their customers.

“Today’s customers are empowered with information and technology,” Forrester Vice President and Research Director Fiona Swerdlow said. “To grow, retailers know they have to operate with a customer-obsessed mindset to deliver the experiences that consumers now expect at every touchpoint. It’s about having all aspects of the business — stores, mobile, merchandising, customer service, fulfillment and more — work together to deliver total value to your customers wherever they are, at any time.”

Contact:

Ana Serafin Smith
(202) 626-8189
press@nrf.com
(855) NRF-Press

Source: NRF

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Benchmark enables retailers to compare their in-store merchandising practices to those of their peers

In-depth, quantitative analysis of retail organizations reveals the common merchandising practices of high-performing retailers

BOSTON, 2017-Jan-17 — /EPR Retail New/ — One Door, the leading provider of cloud-based merchandising execution software for retail, today announced the establishment of the first-ever Merchandising Execution Maturity Benchmark. Based on research guided by One Door, the Benchmark enables retailers to compare their in-store merchandising practices to those of their peers.

“To attract new and repeat customers retailers must improve in-store experience, including introducing products and promotions more quickly, delivering localized experiences, and ensuring that products are easy to discover and buy,” said E.Y. Snowden, CEO of One Door. “As retailers look to improve their merchandising processes to achieve this, our Merchandising Execution Maturity Benchmark provides a first of its kind tool for identifying their alignment to industry best-practices.”

To create the Benchmark, One Door surveyed the in-store merchandising execution of 250 retailers across multiple industry segments and geographies. From these results, One Door was able to identify 5 levels of merchandising execution maturity, with the majority (53%) of responding organizations executing at a Level 3 maturity, 21% at Level 4, and only 6% at Level 5 (highest).

One Door research revealed interesting common themes among Level 4 and 5 respondents, including:

  • Merchandisable store space is captured digitally, frequently updated, and centrally maintained;
  • Merchandising strategies and product assortments are highly localized with placement decisions driven by data;
  • Stores can order merchandising materials and submit feedback to headquarters directly through digital applications;
  • Headquarters sends merchandising directives more frequently;
  • Merchandising directives are assigned to a specific person or group within the store and task compliance is tracked as a key performance indicator;
  • Employees are confident in their knowledge of merchandising policies and processes, earning bonuses as incentives for successful merchandising

The full survey report can be found here: http://info.onedoor.com/MX-Survey-Brief.html

Retailers are invited to take the assessment and determine their Benchmark level by visiting: http://merchandisingmatters.com. Participating retailers will be given their assessment and comparison to the surveyed group averages upon completion.

About One Door

One Door is the leading provider of cloud-based merchandising software, optimizing merchandising execution at each store for the world’s leading brands. One Door is privately held, based in Boston, and led by an experienced team of retail and technology visionaries.

Merchandising Cloud is the only application that combines product and promotional merchandising with store information, providing each store with a unique, unified, and interactive merchandising plan.

SOURCE: One Door

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35,000 retailers and more than two dozen industry leaders to gather for NRF’s 106th annual Retail’s BIG Show

Washington, 2017-Jan-11 — /EPR Retail News/ — More than two dozen industry leaders will be featured keynote speakers as close to 35,000 retailers from around the world convene in New York City beginning this weekend for the National Retail Federation’s 106th annual Retail’s BIG Show.

“The level of expertise and insider insights that industry leaders and brand executives will bring to this conference will make this year the most impactful in the show’s history,” NRF Senior Vice President for Research and Strategic Initiatives Ellen Davis said. “Each one of these visionaries and pioneers was handpicked to challenge, inspire and encourage attendees to redefine their brand, explore opportunities, enhance customer experience both in-store and online and constantly embrace change.”

The three-day conference opens on Sunday, when Macy’s Chairman and CEO Terry J. Lundgren, HSNi CEO and NRF Foundation Chair Mindy Grossman, Ashley Stewart Executive Chairman and CEO James Rhee and Walmart U.S. President and CEO Greg Foran will participate in a session titled “Building Tomorrow’s Workforce: How Retailers Are Attracting and Retaining Talent.” The session will discuss how retail employment has grown by half a million jobs since 2012 and is expected to grow by nearly another 1 million by 2022.

Also on Sunday, Deloitte LP Wholesale and Distribution Leader Rod Sides will moderate a session titled “From Data to Delight: An Insight-Driven Revolution of the In-Store Experience.” Sides will be joined by GameStop International Executive Vice President and President Mike Mauler and The Vitamin Shoppe CEO and Chief Health Enthusiast Colin Watts, who will share statistics that matter in measuring and shaping the most impactful experiences with their customers.

At lunch on Sunday, retired Navy captain and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly will address his record-breaking year in space and how he captivated the world while laying the groundwork for the future of space travel and exploration in a session titled “The Sky is Not the Limit: Lessons From a Year in Space.”

Shoes of Prey co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Jodie Fox and Indochino CEO Drew Green will close out Sunday with a session titled “Tailoring The 21st Century Customer Experience,” where they will discuss the future of customization, personalization and perfecting the customer experience.

On Monday, NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay will open the show by discussing The State of NRF and the Retail Industry. His remarks will be followed by A Fireside Chat with Sir Richard Branson, featuring the Virgin Group founder along with Kip Tindell, co-founder and chairman of The Container Store and chairman of NRF.

Later on Monday, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich and Carrie Ask, executive vice president and president of global retail at Levi Strauss & Co., will speak at a session titled “Driving Retail Transformation: How Data and Smart, Connected Technology Deliver Amazing Customer Experiences.” Krzanich and Ask will outline how the industry is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, and how that transformation translates to exciting new experiences for retailers and consumers alike.

Wrapping up Monday, Union Square Hospitality Group Founder and CEO Danny Meyer, Gunther T. Bright, American Express Company executive vice president and general manager for merchant services-U.S., and Phil Wahba, Fortune magazine senior retailer writer, will speak in a session titled “Setting the Table with Danny Meyer – How Focusing on Hospitality Creates Deep Customer Connections.” The session will focus on the success of Meyer’s restaurant brands from fine dining destination Gramercy Tavern to burger joint Shake Shack.

On Tuesday, the show’s final day, Macy’s Lundgren will return to the stage with Federal Reserve Bank of New York CEO William Dudley in a session titled “Evolving Consumer Behavior: A View from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.” Dudley will discuss how consumer behavior has evolved over the last 10 years with a focus on how consumer spending has been financed.

Also on Tuesday, this year’s Retail’s BIG Fast Track session will be hosted by XRC Labs founder and Managing Director Pano Anthos and Executive Director Leslie Cohen. The session will feature Joe Beninato, founder and CEO of Banter, Strypes CEO Alexa Fleischman, Perseus Mirrors co-founder and CEO Erik Skantze and ShopShops founder and CEO Liyia Wu. The program will explore how the speakers see the retail industry shifting beyond traditional approaches to everything from customer engagement and personalization to global markets and customer connectivity.

The last keynote session of the show, “Winning Today’s Socially Aware Customer,” will feature IKEA U.S. President Lars Petersson, 500 Startups Entrepreneur in Residence and Venture Partner Tristan Pollock and The Honest Company founder and Chief Purpose Officer Christopher Gavigan. This session will discuss building trust through brand authenticity and fostering genuine consumer relationships paired with a relentless focus on product excellence.

Members of the news media and accredited retail analysts can click here to register online for show, call 855-NRF-PRESS or email eventpress@nrf.com.

About NRF
NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs — 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy.

Contact:

Ana Serafin Smith
(202) 626-8189
press@nrf.com
(855) NRF-Press

Source: NRF

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WEBCOLLAGE ANNOUNCES MONTAGE AND OPENS ITS PLATFORM TO GLOBAL PARTNERS

Rich product content publishing platform integrates exciting new content options to enhance its offering to leading global manufacturers and retailers

NEW YORK, 2016-Dec-16 — /EPR Retail News/ — Webcollage, the rich product content publishing platform used by the world’s leading brands and retailers, has today announced Montage – a community of carefully selected Webcollage partners that will combine the brand-approved rich product content that shoppers demand, with a new generation of content that is now an integral part of the path-to-purchase.

Webcollage CEO John Federman says of today’s shopper: “There is no doubt that enhanced content — including images, videos, interactive tours, comparison charts, 360 views and other key product attributes – has created a more engaging experience for shoppers. It’s been measured to increase sales anywhere from 12-36%. But, now, shoppers have even more kinds of content that have been shown to drive conversion rates. User Generated Content (UGC) in the form of photos, videos and reviews from users and influencers are increasingly relied upon. So, it only makes sense for our new initiative, Montage, to respond.”

Montage will provide brands and retailers with access to an ecosystem of best in class technology companies, creative agencies and content service providers. This ecosystem can provide new and exciting content options including video, images, user generated content and reviews, that enhance the rich product detail pages already being syndicated by the Webcollage® syndication platform.

Webcollage CEO John Federman goes further to speak to the benefits of the initiative, “Montage is a win-win for partners, brands and retailers. Our Montage partners can access the Webcollage® syndication platform and global retailer network, which is trusted by more than 1,000 brands and 600+ retailers worldwide; our manufacturer brands can syndicate other types of content at scale with no incremental development required; and our retail partners can add some of the most exciting new content technologies out there to their existing rich product content to further increase conversions and boost sales.”

Webcollage, has already teamed up with software vendors (ISVs) including Reevoo, Olapic and Gen Video.

Reevoo CEO Jonathan Callcut says: ” “Reevoo is very excited about partnering with Webcollage. They have a great platform, and through them we’ll have access to over 600 global retail partners. We know user-generated content in all its forms is conversion gold dust – so anything we can do to help brands to squeeze even more value out of what they’re already collecting is good news. And because the content is already there and ready to go, we should start seeing some good results really quickly.”

“Visual user-generated content has changed the way people shop online because it provides valuable, real-world context and creates a more meaningful brand experience,” said Pau Sabria, co-founder of Olapic. “Leveraging Webcollage’s syndication capabilities is a great way for brands to showcase their top customer photos consistently across multiple retail sites and influence the customer’s path to purchase.”

gen.video President, Jessica Thorpe says: “Working with social media influencers to create compelling branded video content is a top tactic for most marketers because of the proven impact influencers have to build trust, drive traffic and impact sales. Our partnership with Webcollage is a great way for gen.video to help brands and retailers tap into the power of influencer marketing and engage shoppers with the right video content, to inform and inspire their shopping journey. The turnkey nature of the Webcollage platform makes it very easy for authentic, engaging influencer video to be made available to shoppers to drive higher sales conversions.”

Webcollage established the industry standard for publishing rich product information to retailer websites. More than 1,000 manufacturers use the Webcollage platform to syndicate rich product content to a network of global retailer partners that includes more than 600 ecommerce websites, including Walmart.com.

ENDS

For editors

For more information about Montage visit http://www.webcollage.com/montage/

For partners: Bringing large scale distribution opportunities to ISV’s across the globe. For technology companies, independent software vendors, creative agencies and content service providers, Montage creates an opportunity to quickly, significantly boost distribution and grow their business.

  • Expand distribution: Webcollage’s strong client relationships connect partners with new distribution opportunities. Brands and retailers are always looking for new ways to energize their product pages.
  • Streamline and connect: Webcollage’s network of top brands and retailers is already in place. There’s no need for partners to negotiate or manage relationships. Montage is powered by the Webcollage® syndication platform and global retailer network, trusted by more than 1,000 brands and 600+ retailers worldwide.
    • Maximize reach at the right moment: Content gets in front of shoppers while they shop.
    • Easy integration: The content distribution mechanism is already in place. It’s a simple feed-based approach — an API-based partnership where Webcollage does all the engineering.
    • Scalable & automated: The Webcollage platform is architected for growth and innovation.
  • Quick time to market: Get live on more sites, fast!
  • Deepen relationships: Agencies and service providers enjoy a greater level of integration with retailer sites.

For retailers: Bringing exciting new content options to help retailers sell more. Knowledge is power, and it also sells products. Montage gives retailers the chance to add excitement to the shopper journey with a combination of the brand-approved rich product content that converts, and new content of their choice from Webcollage’s network of partners, including:

  • User-generated content and digital assets
  • Influencer content
  • Shopper reviews *

*Shoppers trust a personal recommendation above anything else.

Nielson, 2015

This powerful combination is seamlessly delivered within existing content packages to product detail pages on a retailer’s site – creating a shopper experience that’s richer, more relevant and more compelling than ever before.

For manufacturers: Montage helps manufacturers rich content become even richer. Montage combines the brand-approved rich content that shoppers demand with a new generation of content: video, images, reviews and more, curated or created by our partners. This content is made even more compelling because it is displayed at the top of the product detail page.

  • User-generated content and digital assets *
  • Influencer content*
  • Shopper reviews

*Nielsen research shows that 92% of shoppers trust recommendations made by friends and family, and 70% of people trust online reviews and recommendations.

About Webcollage

Webcollage is the leading cloud-based content management platform for managing rich product information, and syndication across retail sites globally. Webcollage provides brands with the tools they need to deliver consistent content — from rich product detail pages, comparison charts, images galleries, interactive tours and product selectors – to power online sales conversions and improve the customer experience. Webcollage’s® syndication platform and global retailer network is trusted by more than 1,000 brands and 600+ retailers worldwide. Webcollage is headquartered in New York City with offices in Ann Arbor, Cleveland, New York City, Silicon Valley, Rotterdam, Warsaw and Tel Aviv. For more information, visit www.webcollage.com.

Twitter: @webcollage

Facebook.com/webcollage
LinkedIn.com/webcollage

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RBM Technologies is now One Door and launches new web presence, new brand assets, and a brand awareness campaign

One Door

BOSTON, 2016-Dec-06 — /EPR Retail News/ — RBM Technologies, the leading provider of cloud-based merchandising execution software for retail, announced that it is changing its name to One Door. Today’s announcement caps a three year transformation of the Company including new capitalization, a new leadership team, a global sales and support organization, and re-architecture of their unique Software-as-a-Service application. Effective today, the Company is launching a new web presence, new brand assets, and a brand awareness campaign.

“Our new name ‘One Door’ speaks to the soul of a company that has harnessed  technology to simplify how stores deliver a consistently superior customer experience,” said E.Y. Snowden, CEO of One Door. “One Door’s application brings together merchandising, marketing, supply chain, and store teams across thousands of retail doors. We localize product and promotional merchandise for each unique store, delivering store-specific, interactive merchandising plans to mobile devices in the hands of retail associates. The result is that large retailers can manage merchandising in multiple diverse locations as though they were just one door.”

In a world where customers can choose from many retail channels, delivering an immersive in-store experience demands merchandising excellence. One Door’s Merchandising Cloud application is the only application that combines product and promotional visual merchandising with a precise digital model of each store, enabling large retailers to localize merchandising execution across thousands of locations. With Merchandising Cloud, retailers can:

  • Capture and manage each store’s unique attributes;
  • Build new merchandising campaigns to place product and promotional content;
  • Communicate between HQ and stores with a collaborative 2-way platform;
  • Execute in-store using an interactive, visual presentation of each store’s unique environment; and
  • Analyze status of merchandising completion and success of each SKU, fixture, store and campaign.

One Door’s customers take advantage of these unique capabilities to accelerate product and promotional campaigns, localize merchandising for each store, and let store teams spend more time with customers. The result is higher sales conversion, lower cost, and faster response to market trends.

The One Door brand will be promoted to drive awareness of the Company’s sales and support capabilities around the globe. A brand awareness campaign, including new digital assets and merchandising execution thought leadership, will launch in advance of the National Retail Federation’s Big Show in January of 2017.

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Retailers: state anti-surcharge laws are not consumer-protection legislation

Arlington , VA, 2016-Nov-23 — /EPR Retail News/ — Today (11/22/2016) the Retail Litigation Center (RLC) joined by the Retail Council of New York State, Florida Retail Federation and the Food Marketing Institute filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Expressions Hair Designs vs. Schneiderman. The case takes up the issue of whether state no-surcharge laws unconstitutionally restrict retailers from encouraging customers to use cash or credit cards with lower processing fees.

“Due to lack of competition among card brands, the costs associated with credit card acceptance have skyrocketed so that consumers and retailers now pay billions of dollars in fees to the card companies,” said RLC president Deborah White. “The Supreme Court should recognize that the First Amendment allows retailers to truthfully inform their customers about these costs and let customers decide what is best for their convenience and budget.”

Credit card “swipe fees” add an average of around three percentage points on each sale. For many merchants, swipe fees are among their highest costs of doing business. Without any competition among credit card brands, the brief argues that laws that restrict merchants from communicating the cost of acceptance to customers which “impermissibly impinge” on merchants’ right to speak.

According to the brief:

Simply put, state anti-surcharge laws are not consumer-protection legislation.  They are, instead, anticompetitive, anti-consumer provisions that simply tend to increase card-company profits at the expense of merchants and their customers downstream.  Indeed, laws that prohibit steering consumers away from expensive payment methods are special-interest legislation at its very worst—a giveaway to the card companies that protects an already highly concentrated and highly profitable industry from even the most basic levels of healthy competition.

The full amicus brief can be found here.

RILA is the trade association of the world’s largest and most innovative retail companies. RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs and more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities and distribution centers domestically and abroad.

Contact:

Brian Dodge
Executive Vice President, Communications and Strategic Initiatives
Phone: 703-600-2017
Email: brian.dodge@rila.org

Source: RILA

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EHI Retail Institute study: Retailers seek to further expand their digital services on the sales and presentation areas

Düsseldorf, Germany, 2016-Oct-27 — /EPR Retail News/ — Retailers seek to further expand their digital services on the sales and presentation areas. This is the conclusion arrived at by the study “Der Store im Omnichannel-Zeitalter” (The Store in the Omnichannel Age) for which the EHI Retail Institute polled the general managers of relevant retail companies in the German-speaking region as well as the heads of construction and interior design departments, shop fitters and architects’ and planners’ offices. In general, the attitude is “pro digital” but by now all the aforementioned actors are also aware of the many challenges. “Over the past few years some product launches proved technical gimmicks that ultimately neither paid off nor were accepted by end users the way we expected,” says Angela Kreutz, Head of Communication at Stuttgart architecture and design office Blocher Blocher Partners, summarising the experience gained by the sector. In view of EuroShop she forecasts: “We expect digital solutions that are maybe not as flamboyant as before, but efficient instead and that seamlessly connect the PoS with the digital world in line with the omni-channel concept.” So now we have left infancy behind things really get going.

Elements as an Integral Part of the Store

It has since become clear that the digital dimension must not be seen as an “add on” but should be regarded as an integral, if not organic part of any retail strategies and store design from the outset. “Digital Touchpoints will increasingly be developed from silo solutions towards immersive experiences for shoppers. Earlier concepts often failed to be successful because they were ‘conceived of separately’ and did not naturally blend in with the customer journey,” says the Swiss company Vitra, whose store design division (previously Vizona and Visplay) has also been operating under the Vitra brand since 2016. Jörg Becker, Creative Director at the communications agency Blocher Blocher View, shares this view: “When you think you can simply include a couple of screens in the finished store design – then your project is doomed to fail from the outset. We therefore support our customers with all elements from the tailor-made communication strategy across all channels to the actual connection of the stores with the online world because consumers have long combined online and offline in their shopping behaviour. With Blocher Blocher Partner – the planning office focused on experience-driven retail projects – we have further in-house experts for this three-dimensional approach.” So the key is to communicate and act in a cross-division and competence way from the beginning – and there is no   better point of departure for planning like this than EuroShop, where specialists of all those relevant disciplines meet at the same time in the same place.

The physical installation of digital devices has long ceased to constitute a hurdle for shop fitters. It is true that the furniture must be equipped with power supplies and data cables and be as flexible as possible but this is easily mastered by many market players these days. The decisive point is: the overall concept comprising furniture, hardware, software and content must be right. Vitra also regards its “holistic approach to solutions a big advantage” and refers to the Vitra & Camper Pop-up project. Implemented in Weil am Rhein in 2015, this project, which received the EuroShop Retail Design Award in 2016, fused online and offline shopping. “Without giving too much away, we will take ideas of this project to the next level at EuroShop,” announces Vitra.

The protagonists here are increasingly attuning to the new requirements, in part also through alliances and cooperations. Austrian company Umdasch Shopfitting, which incidentally was also among the exhibitors of the first EuroShop held 50 years ago, took over the technology specialist MMIT Retail some time ago and established its “viBIZ-Digital Shopfitting” division. This move is to push the seamless integration of digital elements and their development. The innovations introduced so far include the electronic price labelling system “ESL.inclusive by umdasch”, the “viPOS-Wall” (a virtual Point-of-Sale), various digital signage solutions such as the head-up display and store traffic analysis, to name but a few.

Wanted: Flexible Solutions for Many Years to Come

“New modern ideas for addressing shoppers at the PoS that surprise customers require background processes. If the latter fail you easily lose control and innovations prove a flop,” says Jürgen Berens von Rautenfeld, Board Chairman at Online Software AG, and goes on to say: “This is why solutions are needed that lure shoppers into the stores, boost sales and can be managed efficiently in terms of staffing at the same time. Which is why the extremely easy handling of our software PRESTIGE enterprise is so important to us. It is designed for managing in-store communication on a wide variety of output media in many outlets. The modules are well thought-out down to the minutest detail and built to grow with the company.” For Vitra and Ansorg, the subsidiaries specialised in lighting solutions, it is also a known fact that “retailers seek flexible and long-lasting solutions that can be adapted to changing requirements and that allow them to get started initially with quick little steps and manageable budgets.”

Digital terminal devices already today open up numerous possibilities for sales support and customer communication. Berens von Rautenfeld sums up the trends as follows: “Personalised offers and location-based services that are perfectly geared to the respective customers are gaining in importance and will definitely feature prominently at EuroShop. And web portals and PoS will also be linked more closely. Retailers do not necessarily need their own webshop. The information, images and videos available on their company website can also be leveraged at the PoS – given the right technology – and contribute to a consistent appearance. Furthermore, the access to detailed product data such as origin, production and composition is massively gaining in importance. This information should be readily accessible any time for both sales staff and shoppers that are eager to know – be it via mobile terminal devices, steles, check-outs and scale monitors or digital shelves.”

Once Neglected now in Focus: Changing Cubicles

There is no scarcity of potential applications for digital elements. Just lately fashion retailers’ changing cubicles proved real “playgrounds”. Maybe also because they have been neglected for a long time and are often times too small, too scruffy and too poorly lit in shoppers’ opinion. Now light and multi-media installations as well as interactive digital tools turn cubicles into novel service rooms. Trying on garments at last becomes an enjoyable experience. Corresponding technical innovations were already presented at the last EuroShop. Be it Arclite, Cedes or Philips – many of the lighting suppliers active in the fashion industry exhibited special cubicle lighting solutions, some which are multi-media enabled. Osram, for instance, combined its dynamic LED illumination with a smart media system made by its subsidiary Traxon Technologies as part of the “Debut” project. At offices, restaurants or at the beach real ambient scenarios were filmed in the run-up to the project to measure the light conditions. These scenarios were then projected in a trial installation in the changing rooms of a fashion store in the USA – complete with matching music and birdsong. Depending on the garment selected – an evening outfit, business suit or bikini – shoppers can select the desired virtual environment and watch themselves in exactly the right light.

The latest EuroCIS in spring 2016 saw this trend continue. Here various digital elements for the changing room area were also among the highlights. By means of a stationary RFID reader or barcode scanner installed inside the cubicle the smart cubicle solutions identify the garments to be tried on. Touch-screen monitors display the other sizes and colours available. Even matching coordinates are proposed including information on availability or whether they can be ordered from another outlet or online. “alexa ePOS” is the name of a product of this kind made by Salt Solutions while Bütema has dubbed it the “Interactive Fitting Room”. Both vendors will also exhibit at EuroShop and visitors can already anticipate the further developments and new themes that lie ahead here.

EuroShop 2017 is open for trade visitors from Sunday, 5 March 2017, to Thursday, 9 March 2017, daily from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm. 1-day tickets cost EUR 70.- (EUR 50.- purchased online beforehand (e-Ticket)),  2-day tickets cost EUR 90.- (EUR 70.- purchased online beforehand) and season tickets are EUR 150.- (EUR 130.- purchased online beforehand). Admission tickets include a free return trip to EuroShop on public transport marked VRR (Verkehrsverbund-Rhein-Ruhr).

EuroShop Basics:

In 1966 EuroShop was organised for the first time by Messe Düsseldorf and is held every three years. The EHI Retail Institute acts as the event’s conceptual sponsor. The last EuroShop in 2014 registered 2,229 exhibitors from 56 countries on over 116,000 m² of net exhibition space and 109,496 trade visitors, 63% of whom came from abroad.

For further information go to www.euroshop.de.

Press Contact:
Dr. Cornelia Jokisch, Tanja Karl
Tel.: +49 (0)211/4560-998/-999
Fax: +49 (0)211/4560-8548
Email: JokischC@messe-duesseldorf.de
KarlT@messe-duesseldorf.de

Source: EuroShop

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British Land brought together retailers and the local community to celebrate Teesside’s 25th birthday

British Land brought together retailers and the local community to celebrate Teesside's 25th birthday
British Land brought together retailers and the local community to celebrate Teesside’s 25th birthday

 

London, 2016-Oct-27 — /EPR Retail News/ — Teesside, Stockton celebrated its 25th birthday at the weekend with events that brought together retailers, consumers, the centre team and the local community.

Since opening in October 1991, Teesside has welcomed more than 150 million shoppers through its doors and made an important contribution to the Tees Valley as a driver of regeneration, jobs, training, economic success and caring for the local community.

A £30m complete transformation of the scheme is underway and includes the introduction of new, double-height bespoke glazed shopfronts, a new management suite with improved customer facilities, the creation of smaller units and high quality public realm. Facade improvement works have already been completed on 15 units this year with more planned for 2017.

New retailers introduced to the scheme as a result of the refurbishment so far include Paperchase, Moss Bros, Charles Clinkard, Holland & Barrett, Nando’s and EE. Both River Island and Next have upsized to 16,700 sq ft overall and 55,000 sq ft overall respectively. The combination of all of the above has resulted in increases in dwell time, frequency, retail conversion and catering spend and an innovative new food concept will be launched next month.

The centre contributes £50 million each year to the Tees Valley economy and 6% of all business rates collected by Stockton and Middlesbrough Councils, worth £8.7 million a year, come from Teesside. The centre supports 1 job in every 100 with up to 2,400 jobs at the centre. 80% of people who work at Teesside live in Stockton and Middlesbrough and there are currently 30 apprentices at the centre learning while they earn.

Teesside also supports the local community with £234,000 contributed over the last five years which has benefitted local people, charities and community groups.  Over the past five years almost 1,300 school children have chosen free books and taken part in fun, educational literacy events at Teesside as part of British Land’s long term sponsorship of the National Literacy Trust’s Young Readers Programme.

Teesside is ranked the number two UK retail park by Javelin and the number four UK super park by CACI and is one of the best trading schemes in the country for many retailers.

Charles Maudsley, Head of Retail & Leisure for British Land, said: “We are extremely proud to have been at the heart of the Tees Valley community since 1991. We continue to invest in Teesside in response to the changing ways people live their lives to ensure it remains an outstanding place for modern consumer lifestyles for the next 25 years.”

Teesside comprises 475,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space and is home to more than 50 retail and leisure brands including Marks & Spencer, Next, H&M and River Island.

Notes to Editors
We are one of Europe’s largest publicly listed real estate companies. We own, manage, develop and finance a portfolio of high quality commercial property, focused on retail locations around the UK and London offices. We have total assets in the UK, owned or managed, of £20.0 billion (of which British Land share is £14.6 billion) as valued at 31 March 2016. Our properties are home to over 1,200 different organisations ranging from international brands to local start-ups. Our objective is to deliver long term and sustainable total returns to our shareholders and we do this by focusing on Places People Prefer. People have a choice where they work, shop and live and we aim to create outstanding places which make a positive difference to people’s everyday lives. Our customer orientation enables us to develop a deep understanding of the people who use our places. We employ a lean team of experts, who have the skills to translate this understanding into creating the right places, and we have an efficient capital structure which is able to finance these places effectively.

Retail assets account for 50% of our portfolio which is well matched to the different ways people shop today. We are focused on being the destination of choice for retailers and their customers by being the best provider of spaces and services. Comprising over 20 million sq ft of retail space across multi-lets, superstores, department stores and leisure assets, the retail portfolio is modern, flexible and adaptable to a wide range of formats.

Our Office and Residential portfolio, which accounts for 48% of our portfolio, is focused on London. We have an attractive mix of high quality buildings in well managed environments and a pipeline of development projects which will add significantly to our portfolio. Increasingly, our Offices are in mixed-use environments which include retail and residential elements. Our 7.5 million sq ft of high quality office space includes Regent’s Place and Paddington Central in the West End and Broadgate, the premier City office campus (50% share).

The remaining 2% of our portfolio is at Canada Water where we have a 46 acre redevelopment opportunity in our medium term pipeline. Our industry-leading sustainability strategy is a powerful tool to deliver lasting value for all our stakeholders. By supporting communities, improving environments and growing economies, we create Places People Prefer and enhance long term returns.

In April 2016 British Land received the 2016 Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development as part of Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday honours. The Award is the UK’s highest accolade for business success and is given to companies which bring major economic, social and environmental benefits through their own business success.  It was awarded to British Land for continuous achievement in all these areas over the last five years.

Further details can be found on the British Land website at www.britishland.com.

Investor Relations:
Jonathan Rae
British Land
020 7467 2938

Media Relation:
Pip Wood
British Land
020 7467 2838

Jackie Janssen
British Land
020 7467 3449

Emma Hammond
FTI Consulting
020 3727 1227

Gordon Simpson
Finsbury Group
020 7251 3801

Source: British Land

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