Wal-Mart and the iPhone: A New Way to Checkout

Wal-Mart is by far the best-selling retailer in the world. But this is not just because of its low prices and wide merchandise assortment. The firm is also extremely creative and innovative in its efforts to be cost efficient and to improve the consumer’s shopping experience.
The latest example of Wal-Mart’s innovatiness is its testing of a mobile app that will enable shoppers to checkout in the store by using their iPhones!
As Jessica Wohl reports for Reuters: “Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is testing a system that would allow shoppers to scan items using their iPhones and then pay at a self-checkout counter, a move that could trim checkout times and slash costs for retailers. If the ‘Scan & Go’ test by the world’s largest retailer is successful, it has the potential to change the way people shop and pay, making the process more personal and potentially faster.”
Click the photo for Wohl’s full story.

 

 

Posted in Part 5: Managing a Retail Business, Part 8: Putting It All Together, Technology in Retailing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Retailers Adopt Fast-Changing Online Prices

From the Wall Street Journal: “It used to be only airfares that changed every minute. But now, prices of everything from clothing to toilet paper are fluctuating dramatically online. Julia Angwin explains on The News Hub.”
Click on the image to access a WSJ video on this subject.

 

 

Posted in Online Retailing, Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing, Technology in Retailing, Video Clips (non-career) | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Express and Social Media

Express is a specialty apparel and accessories retail chain that mostly targets its merchandise at 20- to 30-year-old female and male shoppers. As such, the firm has been a leader in the use of social media — even offering its products for sale at Facebook.
As reported by Chief Marketer: “Express typically contacts customers by mail once per month, and by E-mail three times per week (or more, depending on the season). But social is the place they can talk to the customer each and every day. This blurs the lines of communication, as does mobile.”
Click the image to learn more about Express and social media from Chief Marketer.

 

 

Posted in Online Retailing, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer, Part 8: Putting It All Together, Social Media and Retailing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment