Retailers and the Minimum Wage

Posted on February 7, 2014 by bermanevansretail
There has been a lot of discussion and debate recently about the impact of a raise in the federal minimum wage (to perhaps as much as $10.10 per hour, compared to the current $7.25) on retailers — both large and small. And in 2014, 13 states are raising their minimum wage rate, as shown in the following USA Today chart. [Click on it for a larger view.]

 

So, what do a cross-section of retailers feel about raising the hourly minimum wage? To answer this question, Retail Owners Institute recently conducted a short online survey of retailers. Although the results may not be fully representative of retailers’ thinking, they are interesting.
Here are a few highlights of the results from the ROI survey:
  • 60 percent of the respondents do not want to see a rise in the minimum wage.
  • More than one-half of the respondents pay at least some of their employees less than $10.10 per hour.
  • Many of the respondents are concerned that raising the minimum wage will cause employees who already make more than the minimum wage to expect higher earnings for themselves.
Click the image to read more study results.

 

 

Posted in Careers in Retailing, Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 5: Managing a Retail Business | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Tips for Offering a Better Customer Experience

Posted on February 6, 2014 by bermanevansretail
After all of the recent data breach and deliveries problems that have been in the news, it’s time to get back to focusing on how to optimize the retail customer experience — and to recapturing customer trust.
As Jeannie Walters, CEO at 360Connext, observes for Multichannel Merchant: 
“There are few industries that have undergone such transformation lately as retail. What used to be a simple idea of selling goods to consumers in stores is now a multichannel experience including store, mobile devices, online marketplaces, and more. The customer experience is one of constant change. And customers are expecting retailers to keep up, regardless of the channel.”
So, what can retailers (and other firms, as well) do to provide a better shopping experience for there customers? Walters offers 5 tips:
  1. Frustration-free shopping is a must. — “Creating frictionless ease for customers is the true target. Customers are willing to seek out and pay more for these types of experiences.”
  2. Personalization must be used as much as possible. — “Understanding the ways shoppers use their mobile devices and helping them in those key moments is a big step forward.”
  3. The in-store experience must not be viewed as standalone. — “Retailers of all sizes should start getting creative about ways to help shoppers feel connected in more than one space.”
  4. Retailers must react to complaints made on social media. — “That means the internal workings of the retailer need to be dynamic, flexible, and pretty darn flat.”
  5. Retailers should limit their big launches. — “People don’t care about big, splashy advertising campaigns that announce a new logo. They care about how they are treated.”
Click the image to read more.

 

Posted in Part 1: Overview/Planning, Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 5: Managing a Retail Business, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer, Social Media and Retailing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

CVS to Stop Selling Tobacco Products

Posted on February 5, 2014 by bermanevansretail
American society continues to evolve with regard to how various issues are handled — whether it be the minimum wage (an issue that is quite important to many retailers and to their employees) or the restrictions placed on the sale of certain items.
For decades, retailers have grappled with how to approach the merchandising of tobacco products: Should these products be sold at all? If yes, where should they be displayed? If yes, what policy for IDing tobacco shoppers should be in effect? How actively should no smoking laws be enforced? And the list goes on. 
Now, CVS/Caremark — one of the world’s largest drugstore chains — has decided that it will join many other retailers and stop selling tobacco products as of October 2014. What do YOU think about this?
Consider these observations by Stephanie Strom, writing for the New York Times:
“CVS/Caremark’s move was yet another sign of its metamorphosis into becoming more of a health care provider than a largely retail business, with its stores offering more mini clinics and health advice to aid customers visiting its pharmacies. While the company’s decision will cost it an estimated $2 billion in sales from tobacco buyers, that is a mere dent in its overall sales of $123 billion in 2012.”
As Larry Merlo, CEO of CVS said: “We have about 26,000 pharmacists and nurse practitioners helping patients manage chronic problems like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart disease, all of which are linked to smoking. We came to the decision that cigarettes and providing health care just don’t go together in the same setting.”
Click the image to read more.

Photo by Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

 

Posted in Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment