Last June, Costco raised its hourly base wage by a buck to $14. Last week, the company jacked base pay up again to $15. Do you think it is important for Costco to remain a step above its competitors in terms of compensation and benefits?
Future 7-Eleven customers could have the option to stop and stay awhile, if a new concept the chain is now piloting catches on. Do you think an in-store café will work at 7-Eleven? How might franchisees respond to new demands for additional services that spiral out of the test stores?
This spring, Sam’s Club will begin piloting an upgrade to its Scan & Go technology that is meant to enable customers to scan purchases even faster while they shop. Will Sam’s computer-vision enhanced Scan & Go technology achieve a successful level of adoption among Sam’s Club members?
In February, Levi’s hired its first chief artificial intelligence officer, ahead of an expected IPO. Do you see the business need for a chief artificial intelligence officer at the c-level for retailers and consumer brands?
Just two months ago, Dollar Tree was being urged to sell or spin off its Family Dollar chain. With the release of Dollar Tree’s fourth quarter results, some see that the business may be turning around. Do you think Dollar Tree has figured out how to get its Family Dollar business turned around?
Four walls and no walls. Bricks to clicks and clicks to bricks. There has been Walmart’s acquisition of Jet.com and Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods. And much, much more. Why is having an omnichannel presence becoming more critical for retailers that started with either physical or digital offerings?
RFG’s annual “Supermarket Experience Study” found four areas where supermarkets are generally falling short of delivering compelling experiences in the store. Where do you see grocers falling most short on the in-store experience?
Amazon.com is closing all 87 of its pop-up stores located in malls, Kohl’s and Whole Foods by the end of next month, according to reports by The Wall Street Journal and CNBC. Do you see Amazon’s decision to end its pop-up program as another indicator that it is committed to becoming a major factor in brick and mortar retailing?
Walmart last week acquired Aspectiva, an Israeli-based startup that uses natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to enable online reviews to be sorted by product attributes. What do you think of Aspectiva’s technology and the appeal of attribute-based product recommendations?
Yesterday’s announcement that Kohl’s has agreed to lease space next to 10 of its stores to Planet Fitness doesn’t require a lot of mental gymnastics to understand. Do you see the Planet Fitness deal as a winning partnership for Kohl’s?
