‘Shop Small, Shop Local’ Message Is Independent Retailers’ Best Hope for Pandemic Recovery
Published:
5/13/2021
A Sitecore survey shows consumers, most especially the young values-driven shoppers, are looking for a better, more worthy retail alternative to support with their dollars.
Read ‘Shop Small, Shop Local’ Message Is Independent Retailers’ Best Hope for Pandemic Recovery
Delivering a WOW! Customer Experience
Published:
4/22/2021
How can pandemic-crushed specialty retailers that were too slow or ineffective ramping up their e-commerce capabilities come back from the brink?
Read Delivering a WOW! Customer Experience
5 Challenges Every Home Brand Must Overcome To Grow in the U.S. Market
Published:
4/14/2021
Here are the five biggest challenges that every home furnishings brand faces entering or expanding in the U.S. market, whether selling through brick-and-mortar retail, B2C e-commerce or through the design trade.
Read 5 Challenges Every Home Brand Must Overcome To Grow in the U.S. Market
Instead of Talking about ‘Post-Aspirational’ Consumers, Talk of ‘Transcendent’ Luxury
Published:
3/23/2021
The phrase “post-aspirational consumers” is catching on in marketing circles, implying that consumers have evolved beyond aspiration as a motivator for purchase.
Read Instead of Talking about ‘Post-Aspirational’ Consumers, Talk of ‘Transcendent’ Luxury
RH Expands Its Horizons to a Living Ecosystem
Published:
3/9/2021
In a recent shareholders letter, CEO Gary Friedman outlines a vision for the company no less lofty than that of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos in 1994.
Read RH Expands Its Horizons to a Living Ecosystem
Design Is Moving Outdoors: Outdoor Living Projects Are Designers’ Greatest Opportunity in 2021
Published:
3/2/2021
Unity Marketing's Study includes the results of a survey with 200 professional designers, architects and builders to quantify the opportunity in the outdoor living space.
Read Design Is Moving Outdoors: Outdoor Living Projects Are Designers’ Greatest Opportunity in 2021
Introducing the Era of Conscientious Luxury
Published:
2/16/2021
The luxury market is entering a new age of conscientious luxury, as opposed to conspicuous luxury, which has been the driving force in the luxury market for the last 50-plus years.
Read Introducing the Era of Conscientious Luxury
Turning 'House into Home' Is Lowe's Strategy to Take Market Share
Published:
2/1/2021
Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison recently introduced the company’s “Total Home” strategy, recognizing Lowe’s has an even greater post-pandemic opportunity to become a “total home solution”.
Read Turning 'House into Home' Is Lowe's Strategy to Take Market Share
Ikea Cancels Its Catalog, Breaking a Vital Link in the Customer Journey
Published:
12/23/2020
Ending the catalog will save the company a ton of money and allow the company to funnel all resources into digital where it sees its future lies.
Read Ikea Cancels Its Catalog, Breaking a Vital Link in the Customer Journey
Her Name is HENRY!
Published:
11/19/2020
Home furnishings retailers really need to lean in on their most valuable prospect. Her name is HENRY.
Read Her Name is HENRY!
Turning Customers Into Company Representatives
Published:
11/10/2020
How Outer, Shapermint and ChatDesk do it.
Read Turning Customers Into Company Representatives
It’ll Be a ‘Do or Die’ Holiday for Retailers
Published:
10/27/2020
Holiday spending is expected to decline 7% from comparable levels in 2019.
Read It’ll Be a ‘Do or Die’ Holiday for Retailers
Retail Bankruptcies: Next On the Chopping Block
Published:
10/20/2020
Unemployment and financial uncertainty are still holding back many American consumers from spending and there is no stimulus money coming to tied them over.
Read Retail Bankruptcies: Next On the Chopping Block
In a Post-Covid World, Every Retailer Must Find Its 'Essential'
Published:
9/30/2020
The place to start to find your essential is to figure out what your community of customers consider essential about the products you sell.
Read In a Post-Covid World, Every Retailer Must Find Its 'Essential'
How Consumer Values Have Shifted in Covid Pandemic Challenging Brands To Find Their Purpose
Published:
9/27/2020
That need for corporate purpose beyond just making money has only accelerated since the Covid pandemic hit.
Read How Consumer Values Have Shifted in Covid Pandemic Challenging Brands To Find Their Purpose
Macy's Plans for Bloomingdale's: Reclaiming Luxury Leadership
Published:
9/17/2020
For Bloomingdale’s, its prospects are good for picking up some of the customers and luxury business that Barney’s, Neiman Marcus, and Lord & Taylor have left on the table.
Read Macy's Plans for Bloomingdale's: Reclaiming Luxury Leadership
What Jeff Bezos Knows About Consumer Psychology That You Don't
Published:
9/7/2020
Consumer psychology – giving people control, activating positive emotions, reinforcing personal identity and belonging – is the unchangeable foundation on which to build a winning retail business strategy.
Read What Jeff Bezos Knows About Consumer Psychology That You Don't
When a Store Is More Than a Store: Measuring Its True Value
Published:
8/27/2020
Retailers must stop measuring stores as a distribution channel and start measuring them for what they really are: a media channel.
Read When a Store Is More Than a Store: Measuring Its True Value
How Consumer Spending Fared So Far Through 2020: Not Well
Published:
8/14/2020
Here is what people are and aren’t buying now and what it indicates for the rest of the year.
Read How Consumer Spending Fared So Far Through 2020: Not Well
A Reckoning Is Coming For Retail: Get Ready
Published:
8/6/2020
Even post-pandemic, consumers will continue to do more and more from the safety of their home spaces.
Read A Reckoning Is Coming For Retail: Get Ready
Neighborhood Goods Has Invented A New Department Store Model That Actually Works
Published:
7/23/2020
Traditional department stores have been experiencing a slow and painful to watch death for years. The pandemic may be the final nail in their coffin.
Read Neighborhood Goods Has Invented A New Department Store Model That Actually Works
Retail Is Sick: It’s Time for Wellness
Published:
7/8/2020
All retailers, nonessential and otherwise, have been massively disrupted during the nationwide coronavirus shutdowns.
Read Retail Is Sick: It’s Time for Wellness
2020 Has Been Miserable for many retailers. What's likely next?
Published:
7/2/2020
Hoping that the worst is over, retailers are encouraged that business will recover, maybe not in the third quarter, but that it will start to turn around by the fourth.
Read 2020 Has Been Miserable for many retailers. What's likely next?
Luxury in a Post-COVID World
Published:
6/26/2020
The MBB big-three consulting firms – McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain & Company – have all come out with their post-coronavirus predictions for the luxury market.
Read Luxury in a Post-COVID World
Gary Friedman Aims to Make RH More Luxury, But Can His Dream Become Reality?
Published:
6/19/2020
This grand vision for RH is intended to take the brand from its existing $5-$6 billion level in the U.S. to a $20 billion global brand, as he plans to move across borders.
Read Gary Friedman Aims to Make RH More Luxury, But Can His Dream Become Reality?
IKEA Plans To Open Its Own Malls in the U.S.
Published:
6/13/2020
Described as a “major play” in the U.S. market, Reuters reports Ikea is eyeing locations in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago.
Read IKEA Plans To Open Its Own Malls in the U.S.
Unity Marketing Report: The HENRYs After COVID-19
Published:
6/2/2020
35+ page report from Unity Marketing explores what the new-normal, post-coronavirus world will look like from the perspective of the HENRYs and ways that luxury brands can connect with them.
Read Unity Marketing Report: The HENRYs After COVID-19
Coronavirus Will Make Wellbeing the New Luxury Trend of the Future
Published:
5/12/2020
Luxury brands will need to ponder how their consumers’ luxury values and lifestyles will change as a result of the reset they have experienced.
Read Coronavirus Will Make Wellbeing the New Luxury Trend of the Future
Ready, Set, Go: How 2 Main Street Retailers Are Preparing For Reopening After Coronavirus
Published:
5/7/2020
I reached out to several community-based retailers to learn how they have come through this forced pause to their businesses and how they plan to see their way to its end.
Read Ready, Set, Go: How 2 Main Street Retailers Are Preparing For Reopening After Coronavirus
Main Street Survival Guide
Published:
4/29/2020
How an art gallery, jewelry store, home furnishings store, gift shop and florist will survive shutdowns.
Read Main Street Survival Guide
Coronavirus Has Pushed a Growing List of Retailers to the Edge
Published:
4/21/2020
With consumers’ heightened awareness of the danger of being in confined places with strangers, it is highly unlikely they will flock to stores and malls even once they reopen.
Read Coronavirus Has Pushed a Growing List of Retailers to the Edge
Luxury Market Will Take Years to Recover from COVID-19
Published:
4/14/2020
Two of the world’s leading authorities on the luxury market are out with their latest assessments of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the luxury market.
Read Luxury Market Will Take Years to Recover from COVID-19
Future-Proofing Luxury Brands After Coronavirus
Published:
4/6/2020
Since emotions are at the core of luxury consumer spending, the luxury industry is totally dependent upon their customers’ feelings for sales.
Read Future-Proofing Luxury Brands After Coronavirus
How Companies Treat Employees During Coronavirus Will Determine Their Fate After – Don’t Make Whole Foods Mistake
Published:
3/24/2020
The consequences of not communicating emotional empathy to employees and customers at a time of crisis can be huge during and after it abates.
Read How Companies Treat Employees During Coronavirus Will Determine Their Fate After – Don’t Make Whole Foods Mistake
First Comes Panic Buying, But Afterwards, Will Coronavirus Leave Lasting Changes to Consumer Psychology?
Published:
3/17/2020
In retailing, it is easy to observe rapid-fire changes in shoppers’ purchase behavior.
Read First Comes Panic Buying, But Afterwards, Will Coronavirus Leave Lasting Changes to Consumer Psychology?
What Malls Must Do Now That Macy’s and Sephora Are Abandoning Them
Published:
3/4/2020
The fate of many of the nation’s malls hangs in the balance after Macy’s just announced it will close 125 of its stores over the next three years.
Read What Malls Must Do Now That Macy’s and Sephora Are Abandoning Them
What Millennials Are Looking For To Decorate Their Homes
Published:
1/14/2020
As Millennials are finally buying homes, here are 6 emerging home decorating trends.
Read What Millennials Are Looking For To Decorate Their Homes
Holiday 2019 Wasn’t So Jolly For Brick-and-Mortar Retailers and Challenges Will Continue
Published:
1/3/2020
Retailers are still struggling with the challenges of the last decade where consumers’ adopted new shopping behavior, evidenced by the rise of e-commerce.
Read Holiday 2019 Wasn’t So Jolly For Brick-and-Mortar Retailers and Challenges Will Continue
Multi-Sensory Retailing
Published:
1/2/2020
How to make an analog connection with shoppers in an increasingly digital world.
Read Multi-Sensory Retailing
Ethan Allen Turns the Tables and Goes Back To Design That Made It Great
Published:
12/10/2019
Consumers have largely abandoned the furniture brands of their parents and grandparents in favor of brands considered less traditional and turned to retailers that serve up more lifestyle experiences than traditional furniture stores.
Read Ethan Allen Turns the Tables and Goes Back To Design That Made It Great
High-Spending HENRYs Will Pull Out Holiday Retail Sales This Season
Published:
11/30/2019
But there is bad news for brick-and-mortar retailers in this study: The HENRYs will be much more active shopping online than in-store.
Read High-Spending HENRYs Will Pull Out Holiday Retail Sales This Season
Imagine What RH Could Be if It Got Its Digital Act Together?
Published:
9/26/2019
A recent analysis conducted by Gartner L2 of specialty retailers’ digital performance finds that RH (Restoration Hardware) is failing when it comes to its digital effectiveness.
Read Imagine What RH Could Be if It Got Its Digital Act Together?
Luxury Brands Face a Crisis of Meaning
Published:
7/20/2019
The old meanings no longer apply, but many brands have yet to discover consumers’ new meaning in order to make themselves relevant within that context.
Read Luxury Brands Face a Crisis of Meaning
The RealReal Proves Secondhand Luxury Is What Luxury Consumers Want
Published:
7/10/2019
From now through 2021, the secondary luxury market will growth four-times faster than the primary market.
Read The RealReal Proves Secondhand Luxury Is What Luxury Consumers Want
How to Fix the Problem in Department Stores
Published:
7/2/2019
From 2007 to 2018, sales in department stores, excluding discount department stores, declined a whopping 32.4%, dropping from $76.9 billion to $52 billion in 2018.
Read How to Fix the Problem in Department Stores
Luxury Consumers Are Suffering from Burnout
Published:
6/21/2019
But luxury brands keep stoking the fire that caused it.
Read Luxury Consumers Are Suffering from Burnout
Four Demographic Trends Determining Retailers' Future
Published:
5/14/2019
Everybody in retail knows that their success depends on understanding the customer, and understanding the customer starts with understanding their demographics.
Read Four Demographic Trends Determining Retailers' Future
UBS Predicts 75,000 Stores Will Close By 2026
Published:
4/28/2019
Clothing stores will take the biggest hit. What about home furnishings?
Read UBS Predicts 75,000 Stores Will Close By 2026
Sales Psych
Published:
3/23/2019
To compete for the attention of millennial HENRYs, it takes more than great design, discount prices, social media and newspaper ads.
Read Sales Psych
4 Global Luxury Trends Creating Turmoil for Brands
Published:
2/17/2019
Luxury brands will face a complicated balancing act in 2019 and beyond as they are forced to navigate potential disruption coming at them from these macro trends.
Read 4 Global Luxury Trends Creating Turmoil for Brands
Prosperous Year Ahead for Luxury, But Dark Clouds On Horizon
Published:
2/5/2019
Third annual State of Luxury report by Luxury Daily and Unity Marketing reveals state of the luxury market.
Read Prosperous Year Ahead for Luxury, But Dark Clouds On Horizon
6 Global Consumer Trends for 2019 and Brands Out in Front of Them
Published:
1/30/2019
This will be the year that consumers seek to find balance in a world that is rapidly tilting out of control
Read 6 Global Consumer Trends for 2019 and Brands Out in Front of Them
Don't Let the Grinch Steal Your Happy New Year
Published:
12/19/2018
With consumer demand satiated and budgets stretched to the breaking point at the close of this year, retailers will face big challenges in the new year when they have to pay the price for all these retail promotions.
Read Don't Let the Grinch Steal Your Happy New Year
How to Attract Customers to the Store After Small Business Saturday Bombed This Year
Published:
12/4/2018
Small Business Saturday has been on a downward slide, with only about 104 million Americans shopping and dining out this year, down from 108 million last year
Read How to Attract Customers to the Store After Small Business Saturday Bombed This Year
How Foot Locker, Nike and North Face Earn Millennials’ Customer Loyalty
Published:
11/27/2018
Foot Locker, Nike and The North Face are examples of retail brands that have cultivated a culture within their ranks that puts the customer at the center of everything they do.
Read How Foot Locker, Nike and North Face Earn Millennials’ Customer Loyalty
Minneapolis’ Martin Patrick 3 May Be the Hottest Retailer in the Hottest Retail Market
Published:
10/19/2018
Fast Company magazine recently identified five cutting-edge retailers that have figured out how to compete in the age of Amazon and bring shoppers back to the physical store.
Read Minneapolis’ Martin Patrick 3 May Be the Hottest Retailer in the Hottest Retail Market
Urban Outfitters Introduces A New Concept for Anthropoligie Called Devon Yard
Published:
10/19/2018
The future for retailers is about delivering experiences along with product.
Read Urban Outfitters Introduces A New Concept for Anthropoligie Called Devon Yard
Help for Local Retailers to Compete Against Amazon
Published:
10/10/2018
Google partners with startup Pointy to add product information to the Knowledge Panel on desktop displays and on Google Maps when consumers use their smartphones to search for local businesses.
Read Help for Local Retailers to Compete Against Amazon
Retail's Future in Nine Demographic Trends
Published:
9/14/2018
These nine macro-demographic shifts are shaping the destiny, the opportunities and the challenges for retailers.
Read Retail's Future in Nine Demographic Trends
Shoppers Return to the Store: Where They’re Shopping and What’s Trending Now
Published:
9/1/2018
Through July 2018, retail and food service sales have topped 5.5% over last year, according to the Census Department’s Advanced Monthly Retail and Food Services Sales report.
Read Shoppers Return to the Store: Where They’re Shopping and What’s Trending Now
Should a Luxury Brand Take Political Sides? Why It Matters
Published:
8/24/2018
Two new studies out of academia uncover important implications for luxury marketing and branding in today’s politically-divisive environment.
Read Should a Luxury Brand Take Political Sides? Why It Matters
Is Amazon Marketplace the Right Place for You?
Published:
8/10/2018
While Amazon offers customer reach that is unimaginable through any other marketplace, success isn’t easy or guaranteed.
Read Is Amazon Marketplace the Right Place for You?
IKEA Sees the Future & Calls It "Democratic Design"
Published:
7/9/2018
Ikea is spreading the gospel of “democratic design” across the globe through its 300-plus stores in 25 countries and its rapidly growing internet presence.
Read IKEA Sees the Future & Calls It "Democratic Design"
The New Home Furnishings Business
Published:
7/4/2018
A recent study of 350-plus retailers and manufacturers pinpoints growth opportunities for furniture retailers.
Read The New Home Furnishings Business
Key to Success in Marketing to Millionaires?
Published:
6/29/2018
Your marketing program may well be filled with misconceptions, misunderstandings and myths that will derail your plans for growth.
Read Key to Success in Marketing to Millionaires?
Can Walmart’s Mass-to-Class Strategy Work?
Published:
6/22/2018
By raising the corporate consciousness of Walmart, it will position the company in line with the values of the affluent who demand high standards from the companies they do business with.
Read Can Walmart’s Mass-to-Class Strategy Work?
1stdibs Is Designers’ Best Friend, Now It Wants to Be Consumers’ Too
Published:
6/16/2018
Today designers represent only about 40% of its business, with consumers making up the lion’s share.
Read 1stdibs Is Designers’ Best Friend, Now It Wants to Be Consumers’ Too
Luxury Consumers Plan to Pull Back on Spending
Published:
6/1/2018
Is a global disruption to the luxury market coming again?
Read Luxury Consumers Plan to Pull Back on Spending
Wayfair's Way Day Brought Traffic, But Did It Bring Sales?
Published:
5/24/2018
Way Day may have been a success in bringing lookers and buyers to the site, but Wayfair needs to figure out how to get the customers it acquires to buy more often.
Read Wayfair's Way Day Brought Traffic, But Did It Bring Sales?
Expanding Beyond The 4 Ps
Published:
5/15/2018
Lesson from fashion: H&M still thinks product is king; Zara knows it’s experience.
Read Expanding Beyond The 4 Ps
Furniture Marketing Role Model?: Suitsupply
Published:
5/4/2018
Passionate customers and its word-of-mouth and digital-powered marketing strategies has allowed the company to make its stores true destinations that people are excited to search out.
Read Furniture Marketing Role Model?: Suitsupply
High-End Homes Not Flying So High: Disruption in the Luxury Real Estate Market
Published:
4/30/2018
The big, high-priced suburban homes that are clogging the housing inventory will find fewer buyers, as affluent millennials look for new American dream homes that fit their lifestyles.
Read High-End Homes Not Flying So High: Disruption in the Luxury Real Estate Market
Gifting Strategies for Retailers in the Experience Economy
Published:
4/16/2018
Gifting can be a powerful retailing strategy that will build customer loyalty and repeat business.
Read Gifting Strategies for Retailers in the Experience Economy
1stdibs Gives First Look at 2018 Design Trends
Published:
3/30/2018
Tapping the insights from its 40,000 designer members of its 1stdibs Trade Program, it reveals the design trends that its members believe will take center stage this year.
Read 1stdibs Gives First Look at 2018 Design Trends
People, Not Product, Are Retailers’ Secret Weapon: Give the Personal Touch
Published:
3/26/2018
Success at retail today is less about what you sell and more about how you sell it.
Read People, Not Product, Are Retailers’ Secret Weapon: Give the Personal Touch
What To Do When Your Reviews Scream Yelp?
Published:
3/23/2018
Survey of Yelp reviews identifies problem areas for furniture retailers, plus strategies for avoidance/correction.
Read What To Do When Your Reviews Scream Yelp?
Luxury's Online Future Revealed in Five Brands
Published:
3/7/2018
While luxury brands have accepted that they must market online, they have been much slower to accept that they must sell there as well.
Read Luxury's Online Future Revealed in Five Brands
9 Failing Fashion Retailers in Intensive Care
Published:
2/12/2018
While shoppers were busy furnishing and updating their homes, they were far less interested in updating the clothes in their closets.
Read 9 Failing Fashion Retailers in Intensive Care
Amazon’s Customer Loyalty Is Amazing: Time to Become a Third-Party Seller?
Published:
2/2/2018
2018 maybe the year when small businesses reevaluate their position on Amazon. Rather than trying to hold back the tide, it may be time to catch the Amazon wave.
Read Amazon’s Customer Loyalty Is Amazing: Time to Become a Third-Party Seller?
The Secret of Story-Based Retailing
Published:
1/8/2018
Curating stories, where each individual product becomes an element of a bigger story is what merchandisers must do, rather than just finding, buying and shipping out product.
Read The Secret of Story-Based Retailing
Luxury on Amazon? Coty Wins Battle, Amazon Will Win the War
Published:
12/18/2017
A recent ruling by Europe’s top court found that Coty and other luxury brands could prohibit retailers and distributors from selling products on a third-party internet platform such as Amazon and eBay.
Read Luxury on Amazon? Coty Wins Battle, Amazon Will Win the War
Shoppers Will Have Merry Christmas, Retailers Get Coal, Early Results Show
Published:
12/11/2017
One-third of Thanksgiving weekend shoppers participated only online while just under 40% shopped both in-store and online.
Read Shoppers Will Have Merry Christmas, Retailers Get Coal, Early Results Show
Millennial State of Mind is Bringing New Life to Luxury Market
Published:
12/10/2017
The new Bain & Company's Luxury Market in 2017 report sees the luxury market reaching a “new normal” of 4-5% annual growth through 2020.
Read Millennial State of Mind is Bringing New Life to Luxury Market
How HENRYs Will Change The Furniture Business in 2018
Published:
11/29/2017
Retailers need to focus on strategic shifts in what these customers want, not on marketing & messaging tactics.
Read How HENRYs Will Change The Furniture Business in 2018
Holiday Sales Forecasts Are Not Worth the Paper They Are Printed On
Published:
11/20/2017
Retailers need to ignore the forecasts of a strong holiday shopping season ahead and instead focus on what will actually turn those forecasts into a reality in their store.
Read Holiday Sales Forecasts Are Not Worth the Paper They Are Printed On
American 26-Year-Olds Are Now Retailers’ Prime Target: What You Need to Know
Published:
11/14/2017
The 26-year-old millennials on the road to affluence, called HENRYs (High-Earners-Not-Rich-Yet), are the customers whom retailers really need to zoom in on.
Read American 26-Year-Olds Are Now Retailers’ Prime Target: What You Need to Know
Retail Apocalypse: How Bad Is It Really?
Published:
10/18/2017
The overriding question is whether retail can attract enough new customers to spend enough to fill the gap left by down-scaling baby boomers.
Read Retail Apocalypse: How Bad Is It Really?