|
|
Retail Paradox Weekly
Retail News Analysis by RSR Research
June 23, 2009
DUE TO A CLERICAL ERROR, THE LINK PREVIOUSLY SENT OUT FOR OUR 2009 MERCHANDISING SURVEY WAS INCORRECT. WE KNOW MANY OF YOU TOOK THIS SURVEY, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THE DATA WAS LOST. PLEASE ACCEPT OUR APOLOGIES AND CONSIDER TAKING THIS SURVEY AGAIN. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.
Crosstalk on the Business Value of IT: Giving Oracle Retail its 'Props'
By Paula Rosenblum, Managing Partner
6/23/2009
It may seem hard to believe today, but it wasn’t all that long ago that it was rare to see the words “business value” and “retail information technology” in the same sentence, especially when discussing annual or quarterly results. In fact, the very first time I remember hearing those phrases on an Earnings Call was 2002. On that call, the CEO of Long’s Drug attributed gross margin improvements to the company’s Demandtec implementation (Extra credit question: Who was the CIO who drove that implementation? Answer at the end of this article).
The Long’s story notwithstanding, executives at Oracle Retail... More
Is it Time to Tax Internet Sales? Get Your Vote In!
By Brian Kilcourse, Managing Partner
6/23/2009
On Sunday June 7, the San Francisco Chronicle published an editorial to say that it’s high time to tax retail sales on the internet. What gave rise to this opinion is the fact that California is “broke, busted, and disgusted,” and needs money. And so (no surprise!) a state legislator has floated a bill in the state to emulate New York’s law that requires sales tax to be collected on purchases sent to a NY address. The NY law also states that for the tax to apply, the seller has to have at least one affiliate in NY, and that’s the “loophole” that has enabled most companies to avoid taxing their customers, by shutting down their NY-based affiliate marketing programs.
Undaunted by any fear of this tactic, California State Assembly person Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, has introduced... More
Retail's Cult of Personality: What Happens when Brands and Individuals Get Married?
By Nikki Baird, Managing Partner
6/23/2009
At the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibit (IRCE) last week, the most interesting part of Patrick Byrne's keynote presentation wasn’t what he was “slated” to talk about. If the name isn't leaping off the screen at you, Byrne is the CEO of Overstock.com and a personal crusader for ending or severely restricting short-selling practices. His advertised topic, "How to Thrive in a Volatile Market,” was completed quickly. Apart from advising a vast room full of executives and middle managers to fire their upper and middle management first (over front-line employees) when times get tough - the painful flinch that rolled through the room on that one was palpable - the overall advice was timely and pragmatic.
Where things got interesting was when... More
Copyright © 2009 RSR Research LLC. RSR is a tradename of Retail Systems Research LLC. All Rights Reserved
|
|
