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Retail Paradox Weekly
Retail News Analysis by RSR Research
August 26, 2008
What Does Twitter Mean for Retail? I Have No Idea
By Nikki Baird, Managing Partner
8/26/2008
Being wildly interested in the impact that social networking is going to have on retail, I have followed developments in Facebook and MySpace, in widgets, in online reviews, and a whole host of other ways that retailers could potentially tap into communities of either outraged or delighted customers. I’ve tried to be a premiere social networker myself, but other than managing a few blog postings (I had a great run for about a week) and signing up for Facebook and MySpace at others’ insistence, I haven’t managed to be much more than a very tiny blip in the social networking graph. I have concluded that I, one, don’t have very many techno-savvy friends, and two, don’t have the required social networking genes. For the record, I didn’t get bulletin boards when they first came out either.
So it is with great trepidation that I embark on... More
No Crystal Ball for this Fourth Quarter
By Brian Kilcourse Managing Partner
8/26/2008
This week, the Conference Board will issue its latest Consumer Confidence Index report. The CCI is a number generated from a sample of 5000 U.S. households, and is a widely accepted indicator of consumers’ mood. To give this some perspective, last December the index hovered near 90; last month (July ’08) the CCI stood at 51.9, up slightly from June (51 – the lowest its been in quite awhile). To say that the outlook is pessimistic might seem somewhat optimistic, and that outlook is translated as “extreme caution” while retailers project to year-end (to find out more about the CCI, see here).
So what has this year... More
Globalization, Localization
By Steve Rowen, Managing Partner
8/26/2008
Prepping for RPW this week, I came across a number of topical stories that fall into the “look how retail is making the world smaller” category. And while it’s likely only circumstance, nearly all of those (this particular week) about US-companies pushing out to rest of the globe are wrought with “bad news,” while those from outside of the states are inspiring. For example, US brands such as Wal-Mart, Build-a-Bear, and Hanesbrands are having a hard time finding footing in India. At the same time, Mexico is taking a proactive move toward enabling more mobile functionality to consumers: Mexican telecommunication providers Telefonica and Iusacell are partnering with major banks to offer mobile payment services.
But one that really jumped out... More
RPW will be absent next week. For our international readers, we will return Tuesday, September 9. For our US-based readers, a happy and safe Labor Day!
Copyright © 2008 RSR Research LLC. RSR is a tradename of Retail Systems Research LLC. All Rights Reserved
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