# data[].attributes.body
http://www.businessinsider.com/sears-workers-reveal-bad-workplace-2016-6

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/business/economy/paid-sick-leave-government-contractors.html?ref=economy

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.wsj.com/articles/nikes-run-facing-an-uphill-climb-1466809364

# data[].attributes.body
http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/29/news/wells-fargo-servicemembers-cars/

# data[].attributes.body
http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/26/investing/wells-fargo-fake-accounts-before-2011/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Wells Fargo's fake accounts have been around a long time.

Almost a dozen Wells Fargo workers told CNNMoney that the shocking tactic -- where employees opened unauthorized accounts to meet unrealistic sales goals -- has been around much longer than the bank has acknowledged.

"These practices were going on way before 2011," said Susan Fischer, a former Wells Fargo branch manager, who worked at the bank for five years, starting in 2004.

Americans were stunned to learn earlier this month that Wells Fargo employees had opened as many as two million fake accounts since 2011, and that 5,300 people had been fired as part of the scam since then.

The Justice Department launched an investigation two weeks ago. Two Congressional hearings have been called. CEO John Stumpf was skewered in the Senate last week and the House hearing is scheduled for this Thursday.

Related: Fired Wells Fargo workers fight back with lawsuit

Fischer said she remembers her district manager instructing her in 2007 to make the employees reporting to her open unauthorized accounts. It was about a year after she moved from Wisconsin to Arizona to manage a Wells Fargo branch.

"My district manager told me, 'Do whatever you need to do,'" Fischer said.

But Fischer ran into trouble when she refused take part in fraudulent activity. Superiors said she wasn't hitting her goals. Soon, Fischer got so stressed from her work environment that she had to take a medical leave of absence and wasn't allowed to return.

"It took a huge chunk of my life and my income," said Fischer.

Why is the former Wells Fargo branch boss speaking up now? "If someone doesn't stand up, this is going to continue," she said.

Related: I called the Wells Fargo ethics line and was fired

Fischer's account matches those of other employees, who spoke to CNNMoney, where the bank made employees' lives difficult when they couldn't meet sales targets, whether via legitimate or illegal tactics.

It's not clear exactly how far back the fake account trouble goes, nor how widespread it was prior to 2011.

However, a confidential Wells Fargo sales quality manual that was last updated in August 2007 suggests the bank's compliance team was aware of issues even then.

The document, used in a 2011 legal case against the bank, stressed that employees must obtain a customer's "express consent and agreement" -- those words were underlined and in bold -- for each and every line of credit opened.

The manual further reminds employees that customers must "request issuance of a Business ATM/Check Card" and that "check cards should not be mailed to store addresses or held at a store location." Wells Fargo also warned that splitting a customer deposit into multiple accounts to boost incentive metrics is a "sales integrity violation."

Wells Fargo itself seems to have tacitly acknowledged that fake accounts may have been a big problem earlier than the 2011. Earlier this week, while under fire at the Senate hearing, the Wells Fargo CEO said the bank would expand its review to include 2009 and 2010.

Wells Fargo declined to comment on why only those two years will be included, nor about the allegations former employees made to CNNMoney.

When Denny Russo started working in April 2010 at a Wells Fargo in Petaluma, California, he found that accounts were already being opened without authorization. "The sales machine was well under way then," the former teller said.

Russo said Wells Fargo's senior executives are lying when they claim they were unaware of this problem.

"The part that really upsets me the most is these directives absolutely came from upper management," he said.

Related: 'Wells Fargo isn't the only one'

Emilie Ward, another Wells Fargo teller in Chaska, Minnesota, told CNNMoney that "100% this began long before 2011."

Ward joined Wells Fargo in 2008 and said customers often had no idea about accounts being opened.

"They would set up debit cards people didn't know about and have them mailed to the bank," she said.

Another former teller, Rebecca Lewis, said she saw unauthorized accounts -- especially credit cards -- opened when she was hired in March 2009 in Idaho. Her attempts to flag the issue by calling the ethics hotline backfired, echoing allegations other former workers who say they were retaliated against.

"Wells Fargo has been a hazard to the public for a long time," Lewis said.

CNNMoney (New York) First published September 26, 2016: 10:24 AM ET

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Wells Fargo workers: Fake accounts began years ago

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Wells Fargo's fake accounts -- the shocking tactics that were revealed this month -- have been around much longer than the bank has acknowledged, former employees are telling CNNMoney. "These practice were going on way before 2011," said Susan Fischer, a former Wells Fargo branch manager who started working at the bank in Wisconsin in 2004.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/282407

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fresh-and-easy-closing-20151021-story.html

# data[].attributes.body
http://time.com/4506808/wells-fargo-class-action-suit/

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/business/index.html

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.cracked.com/video_20208_the-xx-stupidest-lies-from-first-presidential-debate.html

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Hollywood Can Lose Billions & Still Make Terrible Movies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The 14 Stupidest Lies From The First Presidential Debate

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://goo.gl/ITTCPW What's with all the sniffling? CLICK HERE for more ROM.COM SEASON 3 - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... CLICK HERE for more ROM.COM SEASON 2 - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The decision to raise or lower prices is a tough one, with many ramifications for your business. But the decision whether or not to change prices is not as important as the decision about how to accomplish the change. To put it another way, two companies who change prices on the same products by the same amount may get widely different results depending on how they implement the new policy.

Raising and lowering prices effectively involves careful attention to timing. It requires knowing how to affect your customers' perception of the value inherent in what you are selling. It forces you to study and accurately predict reactions from your competitors.

Deciding How Much to Change Prices

Sometimes businesses announce major price hikes, even doubling their previous rates. One theory is that a single large price hike will get the pain over with. Businesses may also announce large price hikes when they've experienced major increases in the price of a key ingredient or cost component. A company that is being overwhelmed by sales volume from an unexpectedly popular product may jack up prices to reduce demand to a manageable level.

However, most price hikes are done in stages on the theory that customers will be accustomed to higher prices over time and be willing to tolerate them as they become more loyal. A series of smaller hikes may not even be noticed by customers who would be seriously put off by a single large one.

If you have more than one product, consider raising prices on some items while leaving the others the same, or even lowering them. Some customers are sensitive to the slightest price hikes for a particular item while mostly ignoring other increases. Automobile dealers use this fact to their advantage by cutting prices on cars as low as possible and attempting to make much of their profit on accessories like fancy paint jobs, about which customers are less price-sensitive.

Picking the Right Time

If you decide to raise or lower prices, you must pick the right time. If you're lowering prices, choose a time when the change will have the most impact; if you're raising prices, choose a time when you'll encounter the least resistance. Your business's seasonality, growth stage and sales cycle affect your choice.

Many retailers, for example, raise prices seasonally, usually in the fall when Christmas is near and rushed shoppers pay less heed to prices. A brand-new store early in its growth stage might delay a price hike, however, in a bid to gain market share. Meanwhile, a computer store catering to businesses is likely to ignore the holidays and time prices changes to coincide with new model introductions, which are more important to its sales cycle.

It may be tempting to put off raising prices until after a busy season ends. After all, higher volume may make up for lower per-unit revenues. Gouging should never be a part of your price-raising strategy. But the time to raise prices is when your product or service is in demand.

Changing Value and Price

Prices don't exist in a vacuum. Like the earth under your feet, a price is supported by the value the customer perceives in the product or service to which the price is attached. Thinking about price and value in this way makes it clear that this is at least a two-dimensional problem. That is, you can change the pricing and leave the value alone, or you can change the value and leave the pricing alone. You can also change both value and pricing or leave them both alone. Any one of these changes can be tailored to have the same impact on your bottom line, at least on an individual unit basis, but they may have vastly different effects as perceived by customers.

An example of changing the price without changing the value is when a grocery store holds a sale on a popular consumer item. A case of Coca-Cola is a well-recognized commodity; shoppers have a firm idea of what a dozen cans of Coke are worth. If a retailer charges less than that amount, shoppers will be attracted. Charge more and shoppers will be repelled, all other things being equal.

Many businesses change value without changing price. For instance, cans of ground coffee have slowly shrunk from 1 pound to around 13 ounces. This has allowed coffee makers to maintain the perception of holding prices steady or even reducing them, while they are in reality increasing the per-ounce charge for ground coffee. Shoppers who notice such shenanigans may resent them. But if a competitor makes a value change, many companies feel they have to follow suit or be perceived as high in cost.

You can complicate the picture by changing both value and price simultaneously. For instance, a grocer could raise prices on Cokes but include a free insulated can holder with every purchase of two or more cases. Changing value and price simultaneously may confuse customers, so it's a good idea to figure out which element is most important-the value of the can holder or the extra prices on Cokes, to continue the example-and stress that in promoting the offering to the marketplace.

Many businesses get the best long-term results from increasing price and value. Others find that they can cut their own costs while increasing value and thereby offer an almost irresistible proposition to customers-a powerful recipe for growth, indeed. But the key lesson about value and price is that these elements can be adjusted to move demand and increase sales without changing what it actually costs you to make a product. Careful attention to what happens when you move pricing and value points can show you the way to pain-free, profitable growth.

Excerpted from Growing Your Business

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. The decision to raise or lower prices is a tough one, with many ramifications for your business. But the decision whether or not to change prices is not as important as the decision about how to accomplish the change.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/280047

# data[].attributes.body
Francisco

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Costco Wholesale Corp. ( COST) has been around for almost 40 years and has transformed the way Americans do their grocery shopping. Today, the warehouse store is one of the largest retailers in the world with 663 stores across the globe. Why is Costco so successful? What differentiates the company from its competitors and why is its profit so small compared to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ( WMT)?

Memberships

Costco's business model is called a subscription business model - customers who want to shop at the store must buy a membership (currently $55 in the U.S.) with the promise of lower prices to make up for the initial upfront cost. Costco wasn't the first company to implement this business model - newspapers, gyms and telecommunication companies also earn their money from subscriptions.

Costco is different in that a customer isn't subscribing for goods, but rather, for a service. The service that Costco provides is its ability to use economies of scale to bulk buy a large amount of goods at low prices and then to pass these savings onto its customers.

Because a service is intangible, there needs to be a certain level of confidence or perception that the service being subscribed to is worth the cost. With Costco's 91% renewal rates in American and Canada and 87% renewal rates internationally, it's clear that customers consider the price-cutting service well worth the membership cost. (For more, see: Costco Just Extended Its Advantage Even Further.)

Consistently Low Prices

Costco members know that the warehouse store has consistently lower prices when compared to traditional grocery stores. While other stores may have occasionally lower prices on their loss leaders, Costco has permanently capped its margins to ensure that members can justify paying for a membership.

What are capped margins? A capped margin is a maximum price mark-up that an item has. Costco doesn't publish its margin caps but, by looking through the company's 2014 financial statements, we can see that for the past five years, their margins have held steady at about 10.6%. This means that for every $100 that Costco spends to buy its products, it's selling them, on average, for $110.60.

The word average is important in that explanation. Costco has its own brand, Kirkland Signature, that does surprisingly well for a store brand. This label, obviously, earns a higher profit as there are less middlemen involved and Costco can charge a higher mark-up to account for its lower cost of obtaining the products. The 10.6% average mark-up therefore, includes the higher margins on Kirkland Signature brands meaning that a name brand product will sell for an even smaller margin than the 10.6% average. This is how Costco maintains its low prices: it makes virtually no money by selling name brand products. (See also 3 Reasons Costco Is a Great Company.)

Loss Leaders

Regular grocery stores will do this as their loss leader strategy: send out a weekly flyer with an amazing sale splashed across the front page - something like $1 per pound of blueberries - to entice shoppers to visit and, while they're there, to buy other items with higher margins. This is why, around Thanksgiving, turkey falls to ridiculously cheap prices at every grocery store - because the stores have just doubled the prices of potatoes and cranberry sauce.

Costco doesn't send out weekly flyers, however; instead, they use word of mouth advertising and keep the same loss leaders week after week. The biggest Costco loss leaders in America right now are rotisserie chicken, the hot dog & soda combo and gas. A Bloomberg article has calculated that Costco earns only $14 million in profit a year on its sale of 70 million chickens.

These chickens, placed deep into the store along with the cheap fruits and vegetables, mean that customers have to walk through lots of merchandise to pick one up - and hopefully along the way they'll grab some other products to make their trip to Costco worthwhile.

High Wages

Costco is well-known for paying its employees high wages. In America, a Costco worker earns, on average, about $21 per hour and receives health benefits, ample vacation time and a 401(k) match. As illogical as it sounds, Costco's high employee wages are part of its cost-savings plan. With employees earning a decent wage, they are more productive and less likely to quit.

Employee turnover is a huge cost of business. Between being short-staffed and the associated costs of finding and training new employees, it can cost a company between 40-150% of an employee's annual salary to replace him. By removing some of the incentives a person would have to quit their job, Costco is able to reduce employee turnover and save money.

Few SKUs

Costco has a policy of carrying a lower number of products than traditional grocery stores. The benefit of having fewer SKUs (stock keeping units) is twofold. First, having fewer products to order, track and display means cost savings for Costco. Their warehouses stores' space is limited and is packed to the ceiling with goods. A larger product selection would result in larger warehouse stores and more man hours required in order to organize, ship and negotiate prices for the products.

The second reason that Costco limits its SKUs is to increase its purchasing power. By having a limited retail space, suppliers must bid for Costco shelf space to get their products sold. This competition drives down the price and, since the supplier knows that the competition between brands will be almost nonexistent, the suppliers are willing to give Costco a better price to be the only ketchup or toothpaste brand in the store. This lower price ultimately brings in more consumers looking to purchase the products for less money than they would spend at a traditional store. (See also, How Much Does a Costco Store Sell Each Year?)

The Bottom Line

Investors and analysts looking to Costco look at a company that doesn't make a lot of profit but sells products like wildfire. How many retailers make the majority of their profit by selling the right to shop? How many retailers cap their margins to a bit over 10%, in addition to consistent loss leaders that drive customers into the store? How many retailers pay their staff, on average, over $40 000 per year, plus benefits? Costco has found it in its best interest to do all of this and, with the stock price and the number of stores worldwide continuing to increase, it's clear that investors and consumers love Costco and its unique business model.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Costco's Business Model Is Smarter Than You Think

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Costco Wholesale Corp. ( COST) has been around for almost 40 years and has transformed the way Americans do their grocery shopping. Today, the warehouse store is one of the largest retailers in the world with 663 stores across the globe. Why is Costco so successful?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Retail

14 min read

This article originally published May 23, 2016.
With a world of products available for virtual perusal, stepping into a brick-and-mortar store seems to have lost its appeal to most shoppers.

In February 2017, Sears announced it would cut costs by as much as $1 billion and lay off 130 corporate employees, while J.C. Penney said it expects to close two distribution facilities and 130 to 140 of its 1,000-plus stores throughout the year.

American Apparel has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection twice since October 2015. In 2016, Macy's announced it would close close 100 of its 728 stores, explaining that the properties would be worth more as real estate. Sports Authority went bankrupt and decided to shut down all 450 of its locations.

Many others have failed to meet even their bleakest expectations. Photos of abandoned, dilapidated malls filled with plant overgrowth make the rounds online frequently as more closures loom.

Meanwhile, online-first companies are opening brick-and-mortar storefronts, and 71 percent of people say they would prefer to purchase an item in a store if one was located nearby. Ecommerce is no replacement for touching and feeling a product before making a purchase -- 85 percent of people value this option, according to TimeTrade. Many people prefer to shop in stores, but stores aren't doing enough to meet their demands and rival the online experience.

"There is no shiny object or silver bullet to this retailer set of challenges out there," says Pano Anthos, managing director of retail innovation accelerator XRC Labs. In order to stay relevant to smartphone-consumed consumers, stores have to get creative and bring the digital world to the physical world.
Related: What This Founder of a Multi-Million-Dollar Company Learned From Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner
Here are five ideas retailers are testing that would make us actually enthusiastic about going shopping again:

These 5 Retail Innovations Could Actually Make You Want to Shop in a Store Again

In-store experiences

When was the last time a big sale made you get in your car and head to the local mall? (Black Friday 2012?) What about the last time an email alert from a store ("free shipping!") inspired you to make an impulse buy? (Last week?)

Thanks to the convenience of ecommerce, you don't have to get off your couch to outfit your entire wardrobe or home. That means stores have to offer an experience that will outdo even the flashiest online deal.

At its flagship store in Manhattan, Macy's has recently hosted dance parties as well as opened a special floor, called One Below, geared toward millennials. One Below contains selfie walls, wearable tech and 3-D printers for custom-made accessories. Members of the young demographic value being able to curate and personalize their possessions, sure, but they also don't like being stereotyped. They're turned off by transparent attempts to market to them, and they don't all dwell on their obsession with selfies like older generations do. Still, these efforts are a sign that Macy's recognizes the need to offer something more than merchandise alone.

Many stores have offered alternatives such as special events and classes over the years, but today the stakes are higher. "People don't hang out, because the stores are boring," Anthos says. "Store engagement gives the consumer a reason to be there beyond simply buying an object."

In December, Nordstrom contributed to a $15.5 million series B financing round for Shoes of Prey, a company that lets people customize a pair of heels or flats. Shoes of Prey started as online-only, but it quickly realized the demand for people to try on shoes before shelling out. Now, Shoes of Prey operates out of many Nordstrom stores -- a win for both companies.

The problem is, most major retailers are still in the experimental phase. They haven't done much research to find out if events actually make people want to spend more, for instance. Besides, adding a 3-D printer to a store in New York is one thing, but it's a huge expense to install them chain-wide, leaving shoppers in the Midwest without more reasons to stop in.

What the companies do know is that many customers expect VIP service. Eighty-nine percent of consumers want shopping to feel personalized, but only 18 percent of them say that retailers are achieving this level of service, according to mobile marketing platform Vibes. A positive interaction with a sales associate can go a long way. But anyone who's been accosted immediately upon walking into a store knows how annoying that can be.

"It's very similar to the digital journey in ecommerce," Anthos says. "You're looking, thinking, learning, reading way before you're ready to buy something. Attentiveness and clerks are a very late stage in the purchase process."

Another example is the movement among stores of asking your name, writing it on a dry erase board on a dressing room door and playing the roles of BFF and personal shopper. But how is that employee supposed to know that just because you're trying on clothes in a store that sells pink ponchos, that doesn't mean you would ever wear one?

TimeTrade found that 59 percent of millennials say they would spend more if a personal shopper proposed suggestions. The distinction is that not every sales associate is trained to be a personal shopper, and not every customer believes they have signed an invisible contract to receive style tips.

The stores that really want to connect with you are doing more than exchanging shallow small talk. Rather than bombard customers to find out their preferences and persuade them to buy something, more and more retailers are trying to figure out how to get you to open up about how you shop online.

These 5 Retail Innovations Could Actually Make You Want to Shop in a Store Again

Omnichannel retail

While "omnichannel" might sound like an industry buzzword, it's the future of shopping. Even today, if you're shopping in a store, chances are you've done a bit of research online beforehand.

At the most basic level, omnichannel retail refers to a consistent shopping experience online and off. But that doesn't just mean the store and website sell the same merch. It also refers to bait stores cast out to reel you in.

According to Google's marketing insights arm, Think With Google, retailers want to know how you shop when you're not in their stores. On your laptop? On your phone? If you made the trek to a store, what prompted you to go? Was it an ad? Was that ad on another website? A promoted Facebook post? An email promotion?

If you're a shopper getting wind of these tactics, you might feel like stores are spying on you. But they're doing it all with your interests -- quite literally -- in mind.

Google cites a 2015 IDC study that found omnichannel shoppers have a 30 percent higher lifetime value for retailers than their single-channel counterparts. Stores are desperate to master the art of not only getting your attention, but also making sure that when they do, that you can transfer your online browsing into in-store buying with no hiccups. Think: the end of online-only deals.

Say you're browsing a store's website and add a few items in your virtual shopping cart, but you don't check out. Instead, you travel to the store to see them for yourself. If you sign in when you arrive, maybe by sharing your email address with a tablet-toting employee (à la Apple Store Genius Bar), it'll make finding and buying those products much easier. Plus, that sales associate will get a sense of your tastes and preferences and be better equipped to provide you personalized service.

This practice falls more in line with hiring a personal shopper. However, there's a catch-22. Anthos explains: "You want my user information to give me better service, but I want better service before I give you that user information."

TimeTrade surveyed nearly 5,500 consumers and found that 59 percent would be willing to share their online shopping carts with in-store employees. The idea is even more favorable among millennial and gen Z consumers, at about two-thirds. Retailers have been slow to catch on: 24 percent of them have this capability today, while 26 percent say they aren't interested in implementing it. They're still afraid it won't be a hit.

"Stores are proud of their heritage," Anthos says. "Their whole model is, 'we've been around for 150, 200 years.' But that heritage means they don't change very much, very fast, and when they put something in, if it doesn't succeed right away, it's considered a failure. ... Startup companies think of failure as a learning experience. That never crosses the mind or the culture of a retailer."

Related: 4 Ways Omni-Channel Retailers Can Step Up Their Shipping Game

These 5 Retail Innovations Could Actually Make You Want to Shop in a Store Again

Leveraging data through tech

As stores move toward providing smooth online-to-offline transitions, they're also thinking about the data they can mine from your every shopping move. Again, this unsettles many people, but remember, they're already getting it from you when you shop online.

By 2020, brick-and-mortar stores will have access to the same data and analytics as ecommerce, according to Fitch Ratings. Like improving customer service, stores know that introducing these changes to shoppers will require delicate care. If you're the type of person who wants sales associates to give you your space, you'll probably balk at Big Brother monitoring your behavior.

Smart technology is one of the most promising sources of data for retailers, with possibilities including video and Wi-Fi tracking to follow customer's paths through stores, smart shelves to see what items they pick up and move around and devices called beacons to transmit smartphone notifications to passersby.

When TimeTrade surveyed consumers to gauge their aversion to tech that tracks, such as beacons and Wi-Fi, relatively equal proportions said they didn't like the idea (39 percent) or they didn't mind as long as it benefited them (44 percent). As far as smart mirrors, which help customers visualize outfits in various colors, many people are open to the idea -- they're just skeptical that it will really help them "try on" variations of the same outfit.

The bottom line is, retailers are going to have to prove that their newfangled tech is truly helpful not just to them, but to you.

Take beacons. They're small boxes, or even computerized stickers, that detect nearby customers and push deals or notifications to their smartphones via Bluetooth. But do you walk around with your Bluetooth on all the time? And if a store asked you to turn it on, would you? What about if a store asked you to download their app?

Even if you say yes, you might get an influx of notifications, disrupting your browsing with deals for items you're not interested in. You might be in one department and a beacon from another will detect you and send you a blast. The stores are working on that.

"Beacons are, again, very late in the sale cycle," Anthos says. "When you're in browsing mode, the last thing you want to is to be hit by ads. You just want to look around."

Still, Business Insider Intelligence predicts that beacons and proximity marketing will influence more than $40 billion in retail sales in 2016. Soon, stores will find a way to shower you with deals and challenge you to scavenger hunts, all via messages.

If you want to keep your phone free of these kinds of pushes, stores have another plan. Some have added iPads for you to shop and play with.

These 5 Retail Innovations Could Actually Make You Want to Shop in a Store Again

Downsizing and showrooms

So many products are available online that the idea of spending hours in a giant store might seem like a waste of time. Even if that store has top-notch customer service and all of the highest-tech bells and whistles, you're probably used to typing in a search query to find what you're looking for, so what's the point of getting lost among the racks?

In addition to closing dozens of stores, Sears is beginning to pilot smaller spaces. The first of these, announced last week, is a 10,000-square-foot store devoted to home appliances in Fort Collins, Colo. The store will include technology that allows customers to visualize new appliances in various kitchen layouts, according to Reuters.

Ecommerce may be taking over retail as we know it, but that doesn't mean you're going to buy everything on the Internet. Online-first businesses such as Shoes of Prey, Warby Parker, Birchbox and Amazon have opened physical locations for the majority of customers who like to touch, feel and try on products before proceeding with a purchase. Online retailer Bonobos has a chain of 21 "Guideshops" that don't carry inventory for purchase. Instead, customers can walk in or make a fitting appointment, then have their merchandise delivered to their home or office. Talk about VIP service.

Same-day delivery is becoming more and more feasible in major cities, and soon the rest of the country will have this luxury. You'll become accustomed to being able to have anything delivered anywhere, any time, if you're not already. Plus, when stores downsize, they'll be able to carry only the items you truly want, so you won't have to sift through the excess.

In the future, it's also possible that the sharing economy will influence more stores to offer rental service, Anthos explains. Rent the Runway, another company that started online and later opened brick-and-mortar locations, lets people borrow the latest fashions so they can wear them at a lower cost. If you're a fast-fashion aficionado, widespread renting could help you keep up with constantly evolving trends.
Related: Why These Ecommerce Front-Runners Are Building Brick and Mortar Stores

These 5 Retail Innovations Could Actually Make You Want to Shop in a Store Again

'Store as platform'

Image credit: Enhanced by Entrepreneur

Shopping at a physical store feels outdated and foreign. You rely on your phone to guide you through the shelves, telling you, say, which sneakers are the highest rated among triathletes. Maybe while you're in a store, you go on Amazon to check ratings and then see, hmm, Amazon is selling pairs for $15 less ... and with one tap you leave the store empty-handed.

In addition to getting better about price-matching competitors, Anthos presents another concept he thinks stores should adopt, which he refers to as "store as platform." In this vision of a digital experience translating to the physical world, stores would parallel online marketplaces.

He uses the iOS App Store as an example. It contains a page of "featured" apps, which includes "New Apps We Love" and "New Games We Love" sections, curated by Apple. Users can browse these suggestions, or toggle over to "Top Charts" and see what the most popular apps are among iOS users. (The Google Play store recommends apps for users as well as lists popular downloads.)

Anthos makes the point that physical stores don't rank products by popularity or reviews, despite the fact that tech-savvy consumers often use these filters when shopping online. He says he believes stores should begin allowing vendors (e.g. Nike and Adidas) to rearrange assortments and displays based on product popularity.

"Right now stores would say, 'that's a lot of work,'" Anthos says. "But you spend more time on your phone than you do in a store -- by far. Stores have to start modifying their behavior."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
These 5 Retail Innovations Could Actually Make You Want to Shop in a Store Again

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Retail 14 min read This article originally published May 23, 2016. With a world of products available for virtual perusal, stepping into a brick-and-mortar store seems to have lost its appeal to most shoppers. In February 2017, Sears announced it would cut costs by as much as $1 billion and lay off 130 corporate employees, while J.C.

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/technology/salesforce-is-said-to-question-microsoft-linkedin-deal-in-europe.html?ref=business&_r=0

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Costco Wholesale Corp. will lift its minimum wage for the first time in nine years, by a $1.50 an hour, as the labor market tightens and competitors start giving workers a raise.

The second-largest U.S. retailer will start paying at least $13-to-$13.50 an hour, up from $11.50-to-$12 an hour, the company said Thursday in a conference call with analysts. The increase will cut its earnings per share in the next three months by 1 cent, and by 2 cents in the following three quarters, the Issaquah, Washington-based company said.

Retailers are under pressure to boost wages as unemployment falls below 5 percent and 14 states have raised their minimum wage this year. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which operates the Sam's Club warehouse-style chain, a Costco competitor, lifted its pay floor to $10 an hour this year and gave an increase to more than 1 million workers. Costco didn't say how many of its 117,000 employees would get a raise.

"It will help, and it is important to do," said Richard Galanti, Costco's chief financial officer. "This is a physically challenging job. You're on your feet, lifting cases, moving carts, and we thought it was time to do it."

Costco's highest hourly pay is about $22.50, and the company plans to give those workers about a 2.5 percent raise this year, Galanti said. It takes a full-time Costco employee about four years to reach the top of the pay scale, he said.

Costco reported earnings yesterday that fell 8.7 percent to $546 million, or $1.24 a share. Analysts had estimated $1.28 a share, on average. Same-store sales in the U.S., a closely watched measure by investors, increased 4 percent, excluding the negative impact of lower gasoline prices and foreign-exchange rates. That compared with an estimate of 4.9 percent.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Costco Will Raise Minimum Wage as Competition for Workers Grows

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Costco Wholesale Corp. will lift its minimum wage for the first time in nine years, by a $1.50 an hour, as the labor market tightens and competitors start giving workers a raise. The second-largest U.S. retailer will start paying at least $13-to-$13.50 an hour, up from $11.50-to-$12 an hour, the company said Thursday in a conference call with analysts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
More shoppers are turning to Amazon over Google as their starting point.

Roughly 55 percent of consumers begin their online shopping searches on Amazon's site, according to a new study by BloomReach. That's up 11 percentage points from last year, when the data technology firm ran its inaugural study.

Meanwhile, 28 percent of people said they start their hunt on a traditional search engine, down from 34 percent last year; only 16 percent make another retailer's site their first stop.

Even when shoppers find a product they want on a retailer's page, roughly 90 percent said they'll still compare Amazon's selection or prices. Most often, consumers cited the ease of shopping on Amazon - including its "superior" search and product filtering capabilities - as the reason they went to the site.

BloomReach based its results on a survey of 2,000 consumers over Labor Day weekend.

"Amazon continues to be the first destination when consumers want to find a product," Jason Seeba, head of marketing at BloomReach, said in a press release.

Amazon's grip on American shoppers is expected to carry into the winter holidays, with roughly 94 percent of respondents saying they plan to shop there. Members of its growing Prime service are particularly loyal, as they try to maximize the value of their $99 subscription fee and free shipping promise.

Yet just because shoppers gravitate toward the site doesn't mean they'll make a purchase.

A majority of respondents said other retailers are better at tailoring their websites and product recommendations than Amazon. Roughly one in five consumers said counterfeit products are their main concern with shopping on Amazon, according to BloomReach.

The retailer has recently grabbed headlines regarding concerns about counterfeit goods on its third-party marketplace, which prompted Birkenstock's decision to remove its products from the site.

Still, Forrester estimates Amazon accounted for roughly 60 percent of all online sales growth in the U.S. last year. It's widely expected to extend its lead over traditional retailers on the web this holiday.

All in, eMarketer anticipates digital sales will increase 17 percent in November and December, to $94.7 billion, accelerating slightly over last year's 16 percent growth. That should push online sales to more than 10 percent of overall retail revenues for the first time, the research firm said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
More than half of all shoppers start their search at Amazon instead of Google

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
More shoppers are turning to Amazon over Google as their starting point. Roughly 55 percent of consumers begin their online shopping searches on Amazon's site, according to a new study by BloomReach. That's up 11 percentage points from last year, when the data technology firm ran its inaugural study.

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.cnbc.com/retail/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find the latest news, headlines, blogs and video about retail, consumers, shopping and retail companies from CNBC.com.

# data[].attributes.body
-Andrea Hughey

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As you probably know by now, WhyWhisper is focused on supporting organizations and companies that care about making a positive social or environmental impact.

Recently, we've been thinking about how impactful different companies' programs are. Are they really making a difference, or are they just there for PR purposes?

While discussing a friend's employer's CSR strategy recently, she said that they "provide a discount on a gym membership and incentivize us to challenge ourselves in different ways with the reward of company shout outs and prizes. It's just enough for them to check off the social responsibility box before going public."

This got us thinking. How many companies are just "checking off the box" when it comes to social responsibility, and how many are actually making an impact?

To give you a sense as to what we mean, we took a look at one of the most comprehensive CSR strategies we've seen to date: Starbucks. Here's what they're doing, and why it works:

Who are they?

As most of us know, Starbucks is an international coffee company, with over 20,000 stores in over 60 countries to date. But just five years ago, the company was doing poorly. This was partially as a result of the financial crisis and internal restructuring; but, generally, the company's future was "bleak." As a result of this slump, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz launched a "Transformation Agenda," aimed at investing in the company's people. The series of initiatives launched under the agenda were centered on people, the environment, and the community. As a result of these initiatives, which we'll dive into in a minute, Starbucks recovered financially, and even exceeded its prior revenue, by 2013.

What are Starbucks' CSR initiatives?

Starbucks' social responsibility strategy is based on three pillars: Community, Ethical Sourcing, and the Environment. Here's what the company does to have a positive impact in each of those areas:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Corporate Social Responsibility: How Starbucks is Making an Impact

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As you probably know by now, WhyWhisper is focused on supporting organizations and companies that care about making a positive social or environmental impact. Recently, we've been thinking about how impactful different companies' programs are. Are they really making a difference, or are they just there for PR purposes?

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/12/business/international/alibaba-earnings.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FAlibaba&action=click&contentCollection=business&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection

# data[].attributes.body
-Rebeca Escamilla

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
After Investing $5 billion to develop a range of hybrid and electric vehicles, Nissan-Renault claimed the title of the leading manufacturer of zero-emission cars. CEO Carlos Ghosn has found that it can be lonely at the top. Speaking at the Frankfurt motor show earlier this year, Ghosn said he welcomes competition from other automakers because a bigger field would help jump-start the market. "The more companies that buy into electric cars, the better it is," he said.

If competition is good for a billion-dollar automaker, why not for your start-up? Although most entrepreneurs dream of having a market all to themselves, research shows that you're probably better off with some company. Professor Michael Porter of Harvard Business School has written extensively about industry "clusters" and has shown the benefits that competition brings to similar businesses within an industry.

"If nobody is competing in your space, there's a very good chance the market you're going into is too small," says Ben Yoskowitz, an angel investor and founding partner at Year One Labs, a start-up accelerator in Montreal. "Any reasonably good idea has 10,000 people working on it right now. You may not even know they exist because they're as small as you."

James Park, co-founder and CEO of Fitbit, is well aware of his competition. His company, which makes a wireless tracker that lets users monitor their physical activity, competes against similar devices made by Nike and Jawbone. Those big brands, Park says, have actually helped his business by lending it an air of credibility and generating some buzz in the press. "More players in the market implies that wearable tech is a mainstream activity and that consumers should be comfortable adopting it," Park says. "You need some critical mass to legitimize what you're doing."

Brad Feld, managing director at the Foundry Group, a Boulder, Colorado-based VC firm, has some rather cryptic advice for start-ups worried about competition: "Be obsessively focused on your competitors while ignoring them." In other words, know your rivals' products, market positioning, and financial status, and how they engage users, but don't constantly react to every move they make.

Nor should you be deterred from entering a market that already has some competitors. "I don't think a market is ever too crowded," Feld says. That is, of course, as long as your product isn't just another "me too" offering. "Most start-ups are competing with the status quo," says Feld. "Instead, build a company that does something unique."

Apoorva Mehta hopes to do that with Instacart, the San Francisco-based same-day grocery delivery service he founded in 2012. A former Amazon engineer, he now competes against his previous employer and a handful of other companies that offer a similar service.

Instacart differentiates itself by using personal shoppers to pick up a customer's groceries from multiple stores and deliver them in about an hour. "Competition has shown us there's a demand for our services," Mehta says. "Our product is faster, and we have more selection than Amazon or PeaPod. Competition combined with having a better product means we're going to succeed." A little cockiness never hurts, either.
While competition may be good for business, it doesn't always bring out the best in people. Below are a few cases in point. Steve Jobs
"The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. I have no problem with their success. I havea problem with the fact that they make really third-rate products."
Jack Welch
"No. 1, cash is king. No. 2, communicate. No. 3, buy or bury the competition."
Ray Kroc
"If any of my competitors were drowning, I'd stick a hose in their mouth and turn on the water."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why Competition May Be the Best Thing for Your Business

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
After Investing $5 billion to develop a range of hybrid and electric vehicles, Nissan-Renault claimed the title of the leading manufacturer of zero-emission cars. CEO Carlos Ghosn has found that it can be lonely at the top. Speaking at the Frankfurt motor show earlier this year, Ghosn said he welcomes competition from other automakers because a bigger field would help jump-start the market.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Defying the gloom and doom predictions that flooded social media two years ago, electronics retailer is still in business -- and rising again.For the third quarter of 2014, the company reported $9.4 billion in revenue, and $0.32 in non-GAAP diluted earnings per share versus 0.18 last year. And Wall Street has taken notice, helping the company's stock triple from the 2012 lows, and trade near its five year high.

If you are skeptical about the numbers, just take a walk into your local Best Buy store. You'll see a vibrant floor filled with sales staff and customers.That was my impression at the local Best Buy store I visited recently, at least.

Best Buy's resurrection isn't spontaneous good fortune. It is the result of a smart strategy - Renew Blu e -- which has helped the company get its business model right. To be precise, the company's capitalizing on its two competitive advantages, scale and location, to fend-off Amazon's challenge.

Here's how it happened:

Once upon a time-before expanded its presence to consumer electronics commerce - was growing bigger and better, benefiting from scale (bigger stores) in prime locations. Revenues, profits and stock prices soared, catching the attention of business strategists and Wall Street analysts.

After threw its hat in the ring, however, the game changed. Best Buy continued to get bigger, but not better. Its most important assets

-location and scale-turned into liabilities.In what has come to be known as "show-rooming," customers did their window-shopping at Best Buy, and their actual shopping at Amazon.com - which offered better prices than Best Buy.

Best Buy's revenues, profits, and stock headed south. And strategists and stock analysts-some here at Forbes-discounted the slow death of the company.

Now that it has launched Renew Blue, however, Best Buy seems to be getting its business model right, capitalizing again on the benefits of scale and location -- in two ways.First, it has introduced a matching prices policy, helped by a push by states to have on-line retailers collect , narrowing the gap between on-line and in-store sales.

Second, it has introduced the concept of stores-within-stores, with Korean electronics giant Samsung and open their own stores within Best Buy stores-in essence shifting the cost of show-rooming to these manufacturers.

The rest is history. Samsung and Microsoft were followed by Google, turning the partnership Best-Buy and electronics vendors into a form of "collective entrepreneurship," in which the two sides share the risks and the rewards from getting closer to the customer.

"We can now work closer with electronics vendors to enhance customer service," stated a salesperson during my visit to the local Best Buy.

Most notably, Best Buy has managed to square off with the on-line retailer with domestic online , comparable sales up 22% for the third quarter.

At the same time, the company continues to reap the synergies associated with increased customer traffic - and the efficient and effective deployment of its Geek Squad to customers who buy flat panel TVs and other accessories that need installation services, as reflected in the increased revenue for the third quarter in higher-margin large screen televisions.

Still, Best Buy is in a cyclical and highly competitive industry whereby the growing use of mobile Internet is eliminating the boundaries between e-commerce and traditional commerce, depressing prices and margins across the industry. That's why I would be very cautious before buying its shares, especially after the recent big run up.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why Best Buy Is Still In Business And Rising...Smartly

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Defying the gloom and doom predictions that flooded social media two years ago, electronics retailer Best Buy is still in business -- and rising again. For the third quarter of 2014, the company reported $9.4 billion in revenue, and $0.32 in non-GAAP diluted earnings per share versus 0.18 last year.

# data[].attributes.body
Jose Tabares

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
6 min read

If you walk into Bantam Bagels' cozy store in New York City's West Village, you could easily make the mistake of thinking it is just another mom-and-pop bagel shop. However, that would vastly underestimate the drive of the owners, Elyse and Nick Oleksak, and - most importantly - the power of the stuffed bagel ball.

"I just saw you on TV!" one customer says to Elyse, who is working the counter, shattering any illusion that this is just another neighborhood bagelry.

Elyse, who has heard at least three people make variations of this comment in the last half hour - including a tourist from Texas and a dad buying bagel balls for his daughter - just smiles back and starts talking up the different flavors. Bagel balls are essentially the bagel-version of donut holes, filled with a variety of spreads.

"This one is Oprah's favorite," she tells the customer, pointing to a salt-sprinkled bagel ball with a cream-cheese filling.

While Elyse still sometimes works behind the counter and Nick hasn't quit his day job in finance, Bantam Bagels is a much bigger business than it would appear. It's a thriving catering service, a huge online company and is angling to become a wholesale supplier to stores like Walmart. And, it's only getting bigger: last week, Elyse and Nick appeared on Shark Tank and walked away with a $275,000 investment from Lori Greiner in exchange for 25 percent of the company.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Lori Greiner's Invent It, Sell It, Bank It.
A little over two years ago, Shark Tank also helped spark the creation of Bantam Bagels. "We both came from backgrounds on Wall Street and have always been interested in... entrepreneurial opportunities, mostly - and this sounds crazy - but, mostly inspired by Shark Tank," says Elyse. "We both love that show and were always trying to come up with, 'What can we do?' and 'What's our idea?'"

Nearly every day, Nick would tell Elyse his ideas for a Shark Tank-worthy product. She vetoed them all, until one morning he called her about a concept he had quickly typed on his phone in the middle of the night. The product: mini stuffed bagel balls.

"It was the first time I actually stopped and said, 'I love that,'" says Elyse. "Actually, more, 'I want that.'"

Once the idea was born, the Oleksaks couldn't stop working on it. They immediately began testing recipes for bagel balls, filling homemade bagels with cream cheese in a store-bought pastry gun. At night, the pair would test different recipes, and the next day Nick would bring them into work. With hungry coworkers' encouragement, the couple decided to take the plunge and write up a business plan. Soon, Nick and Elyse were raising capital from investors and planning the opening of the West Village shop.

"Once you raise the first dollar, you're in," says Elyse, who quit her job in finance in summer of 2013 to focus on Bantam Bagels full time.

While the New York City bagel shop, which opened in September 2013, was a huge business boost, it was never the end goal Bantam Bagels. With the lessons learned from watching countless hours of Shark Tank (Elyse says they've seen every episode), Elyse and Nick knew if they wanted to make Bantam Bagels big, they had to create a business that was more than simply a bakery. So, the duo started selling frozen bagel balls online to customers around the U.S.

"We always knew [the bakery] was going to be our starting point," says Elyse. "Inspired by Shark Tank, we were always envisioning big, huge."
Related: Shark Tank Star Robert Herjavec's Top 10 Tips for Entrepreneurs
The Oleksaks' dreams of a Shark Tank appearance came true in the summer of 2014. The pair entered the tank, nervous, but armed with countless Excel spreadsheets, study guides and a concrete game plan. They knew they wanted to attract the attention of QVC queen Lori Greiner and that they couldn't afford to give up more than 26 percent of the company, since other investors already owned 23 percent of the Bantam Bagels. While all of the judges loved the concept, Greiner fell hardest, paying up $275,000 for a fourth of the company and coming on as a strategic adviser.

"We talk to [Lori] nearly every day," says Elyse. "From the day we closed our deal with her, she said, alright, let's have a strategy call, what are we targeting, what are we doing?"

Since the episode was filmed last summer, Greiner's investment has led to huge changes at Bantam Bagels, even though her involvement had to be kept under wraps. The Oleksaks, knowing that a Shark Tank customer bump was coming when the episode aired, but not sure of the exact date, made increasing production capacities the No. 1 priority. Having bagel balls to spare paid off big when Oprah named the filled bagel balls one of her favorite things in 2014, leading to an avalanche of orders due to the " Oprah Effect" that Bantam was luckily prepared to fill.

Now that the Shark Tank episode is out for the world to see, Bantam Bagels is ready to undergo another business growth spurt. Today, the Oleksaks are focusing on expanding efforts to reach customers directly via online sales and getting into the wholesale market. Seeing as the business has gone from a note on Nick's phone to a multi-faceted bagel ball empire in less than three years, don't be surprised if you soon start seeing Bantam Bagels in your local Walmart.

"I'll put it this way: having a baby felt really easy [compared to starting a business,]" says Elyse on the astronomical rise of Bantam Bagels. "But, it's also the most rewarding thing in the world."
Related: How These Parents Went From Sleepless Nights to Pitching a Million-Dollar Business on 'Shark Tank'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How This 'Shark Tank' Champ Is Building a Bagel Balls Empire

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
6 min read If you walk into Bantam Bagels' cozy store in New York City's West Village, you could easily make the mistake of thinking it is just another mom-and-pop bagel shop. However, that would vastly underestimate the drive of the owners, Elyse and Nick Oleksak, and - most importantly - the power of the stuffed bagel ball.

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/27/amazon-is-the-first-place-most-online-shoppers-visit.html

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/opinion/future-retail-end-wholesale

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Burberry store in China | Source: Burberry

TORONTO, Canada - Retail is facing a monumental problem that no one seems to want to talk about. It's that the entire economic model of revenue and profitability for retailers and the suppliers they do business with is collapsing under its own weight and soon will no longer function.

Part of the problem stems from the continued pervasiveness of online retail. Global e-commerce increased by 19 percent in 2013 alone, a figure that was likely equalled or bettered in 2014. With those sorts of multiples, it's entirely likely that upwards of 30 percent or more of the total retail economy will be transacted online by 2025.

Our dependence on stores to serve as distribution points for products is rapidly diminishing as digital media, in all forms, becomes remarkably effective at serving our basic shopping and distribution needs which, until recently, could only be fulfilled by physical stores. Now, just about anything we buy can be on our doorstep in a matter of days, if not hours, via a myriad of online shopping options.

The physical store has the potential to be the most powerful and effective form of media available to a brand.

The End of Wholesale
This historic transition raises a few critical questions: How can the financial models for retail revenue and profit, which haven't changed significantly since the industrial revolution, sustain if the core purpose and definition of a "retail store" itself is being completely reinvented? How can retailers continue to buy products in mass quantity at wholesale, ship them, inventory them, merchandise them, train their staff on them, manage them and attempt to sell them, when the consumer has a growing myriad of options, channels and brands through which to buy those very same products? How many of today's retailers will simply stand by and watch an ever-increasing percentage of their sales cleave off to an expanding mosaic of online competitors - which, by the way, may include many of their own suppliers who are now selling direct to consumers?

It seems inevitable that retailers will have to define a new model; one better suited to the fragmented market they find themselves in.
The Store As Media
This does not, however, mean an end to physical retail stores but rather a repurposing. Given their innately live, sensorial and experiential quality, physical stores have the potential to become powerful media points from which retailers can articulate their brand story, excite consumers about products and then funnel their purchase to any number of channels, devices and distributors. In fact, as I've often argued, the physical store has the potential to be the most powerful and effective form of media available to a brand because it offers an experience, which if crafted properly, cannot be replicated online.
The Experience Is The Product
With all this in mind, I foresee a not-so-distant future where the retailer/vendor relationship will begin to look a lot more like a media buy than the wholesale product purchase agreement of today.

Part media outlet, part sales agent - a new breed of experiential retailers will use their physical stores to perfect the consumer experience across categories of products. They will define the ideal experiential journey, employ expert "product ambassadors" and technology to deliver something truly unique, remarkable and memorable. So memorable in fact, that it leaves a lasting experiential imprint on the shopper. The solitary aim of these new-era retailers will be to drive significant sales for their vendors' products across multiple channels including, at least to some extent, their own. But unlike stores of today that are single-mindedly focused on keeping sales in-house, stores of the future will position themselves as true omnichannel hubs, serving customers through multiple channels of fulfilment, which will ultimately include their vendors and competitors - yes, even their competitors. Attribution for these sales will matter less than delivering the powerful shopping experience responsible for generating them, regardless of how, when or through whom they occur.

Skids of products and rows of shelving will give way to more gallery-esque store designs and artful merchandising, allowing space for in-store media and interactivity with product. Social media will be infused into the experience offering at-the-shelf reviews, ratings and comparisons of products. The store in essence will become an immersive and experiential advertisement for the products it represents and a direct portal to the entire universe of distribution channels available.
A New Revenue Model
As for revenue; Retailers who can design and execute these sorts of outstanding customer experiences will likely charge an upfront fee or "card rate" to their product vendors based on the volume of positive exposure they bring to the products they represent in store.

If this seems implausible, consider that just as musicians now makes significantly less from record sales than they do from live performances, so too will great retailers build more of their economic model around delivering a live in-store experience around their products, than relying solely on the margin from individual product sales.
Metrics Beyond Sales
This new model will, however, require retailers to qualify and quantify the experience they deliver, the traffic they generate and the consequent downstream sales impact they influence. To that end, an array of new technologies will enable a 360-degree understanding of the experience in both stores and the centres in which they sit. Anonymous facial recognition, video analytics, mobile ID tracking, beacon technology, radio frequency identification and other systems will transform stores into living websites. Using these and other technologies, store chains will be able to understand the profile and behaviour of the customers in their spaces and gather new insight into the level of engagement being created and eventually, even its causal impact on downstream purchases. In other words, the ability to understand what kind of customers came into the store, how many were repeat versus unique visitors, where they went within the store, what and with whom they engaged and ultimately what they bought while in the store and even after leaving the store.
New Era. No Rules.
My hope is that retailers accept this historic shift as a call to action - a heads-up that, to invoke Sam Walton, the days of stacking it high and watching it fly, are gone forever. Retailers that succeed in the digital age, will be those that begin now to redefine the value they bring to the equation and dare to defy what is fast becoming old industry math.
Doug Stephens is a retail industry futurist and the founder of Retail Prophet.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Future of Retail is the End of Wholesale

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Burberry store in China | Source: Burberry TORONTO, Canada - Retail is facing a monumental problem that no one seems to want to talk about. It's that the entire economic model of revenue and profitability for retailers and the suppliers they do business with is collapsing under its own weight and soon will no longer function.

# data[].attributes.body
Gaby Gallegos

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
In Start Your Own Wholesale Distribution Business, the staff at Entrepreneur Press and writer Bridget McCrea explain how to start and run a successful wholesale distribution business. In this edited excerpt, the authors offer tips on finding loyal employees and how to decide what to pay them.
Once your wholesale distribution company gets up and running, you'll want to hire employees as it becomes necessary. How will you know when that is? Well, when your employees start wearing more than five hats, or when you realize that working 24 hours a day wouldn't even help you get caught up, you'll know it's time to hire help.

For starters, you'll want someone who can manage customer relations. This person will handle inbound and outbound telephone calls to customers, as well as emails, texts, social media messages and letters to and from customers regarding issues, concerns and questions. Good candidates include recent college graduates and individuals who already have some sales experience. Seek out aggressive workers who can not only help boost company sales but also be sensitive to customer needs.

Next up on the hiring list will be someone who can run your company's finance department. Their duties will include verifying customer credit, working with third-party organizations (leasing companies, for example) and handling other finance-related issues for the company. This person should have a financial background or credit management experience.

As you begin to delegate more responsibilities to your employees, you'll also need to determine who's going to handle the purchasing function. When the time comes to hire someone specifically for purchasing, that person will find themselves working directly with your vendors to negotiate prices and delivery time frames. They'll also manage the inventory in your warehouse or distribution center.

Another consideration, which may or may not be necessary depending on where you're located and how much of your business is done by referral, will be a marketing professional. This person should be experienced in the field and will be responsible for presenting your company to your customer base, vendors, media and trade groups in a positive fashion.

Once your front office is staffed, you'll need to hire a few warehouse associates who'll physically take inventory off of the shelf, pack it in boxes and receive incoming inventory. They'll also operate the forklifts in the warehouse and handle other tasks as needed.

Depending on how your company is set up, you'll probably need a warehouse manager as well. This person should have some warehouse experience and will spend most of their time worrying about control and efficiency and making sure workers are filling orders correctly. At Borvin Beverage, a wholesale wine distributorship in Alexandria, Virginia, for example, the warehouse manager ensures that the right wine is put into the right cases for the customer, that the trucks are loaded and that the delivery people are on time in delivering it.
How much you'll have to pay
Pay rates for employees in the distribution field vary greatly by geographic area. As with any other type of business, for example, a warehouse in midtown Chicago will probably have to pay more for workers than would a warehouse located in a rural Iowa town.

On average, an office manager or assistant will demand $15 to $30 per hour, depending on experience. Professional positions (purchasing or marketing associates, for example) will command a starting yearly salary in the $30,000 to $40,000 range.

In general, warehouse workers command anywhere from minimum wage to $10 per hour to start. Pay rates for office personnel range from $10 to $17 per hour, depending on experience, and warehouse managers generally earn $30,000 per year and up, depending on their experience in the field.
Tips for finding employees
To get the right people on board, try the following tips for recruiting and retaining employees:

* Offer them enough money. If a truck driver comes to you for a job and if he was already making $25 per hour, then you know that offering him $18 per hour won't work. Even if he does take the pay cut, he'll only leave when something better comes along. The solution? Stick to hiring employees who've been making the same or less than what you're willing to offer.

* Explore their potential. If you're simply looking for an administrative assistant, then look for someone with the appropriate credentials to fill that need. If you want an assistant who can be groomed into a salesperson, however, then look for the credentials that will meet the position's needs.

* Search outside your area. Try placing employment ads in newspapers outside your local area-preferably in an area with a higher unemployment rate, such as a city where a large plant may have recently shut down.

* Cultivate, cultivate, cultivate. Everyone wants to feel wanted, and that includes your employees. When you find a great employee, be sure to foster their professional and personal growth by allowing them to share ideas and truly be a part of your growing organization.

As a wholesale distributor, the primary obstacle to finding and keeping good employees in a warehouse atmosphere is that you'll be competing with many other companies for the same skill sets. In other words, a warehouse worker would also make a good assembly line worker or auto detailer. The key is to choose carefully and to make your employees feel like they're part of a team and not just another laborer. The same goes for your sales staff and administrative personnel. Such jobs are adaptable across a variety of industries, so be sure to treat employees well, make them feel they're contributing to the overall success of the company, and listen to their needs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Ultimate Guide to Staffing Your Wholesale Distribution Business

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
5 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. In Start Your Own Wholesale Distribution Business, the staff at Entrepreneur Press and writer Bridget McCrea explain how to start and run a successful wholesale distribution business. In this edited excerpt, the authors offer tips on finding loyal employees and how to decide what to pay them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The longtime chief executive of Wells Fargo agreed on Tuesday to forfeit $41 million in performance pay three weeks after the bank acknowledged that for at least five years, thousands of low-level employees set up sham accounts to meet sales quotas.

The San Francisco-based bank has repeatedly apologized for the scheme and said it had fired 5,300 employees for misconduct and put in place more stringent internal controls. But that has not been enough for lawmakers, who have been pushing for the company's top leaders to give back the millions of dollars in bonuses they earned while the irregularities were occurring.

The independent directors of the Wells Fargo board announced Tuesday that they were launching an investigation into the bank's retail business.

"We are deeply concerned by these matters, and we are committed to ensuring that all aspects of the Company's business are conducted with integrity, transparency, and oversight," Stephen Sanger, the lead independent director, said in a statement. Sanger, who has been a member of Wells Fargo's board since 2003, is the former chairman of General Mills, the packaged-food company.

John Stumpf, the chief executive, will forfeit unvested stock awards worth about $41 million, will not receive a salary while the investigation is underway and will not be eligible for a 2016 bonus, the committee said in a statement. Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of Wells Fargo's community banking unit, where the misconduct took place, will give up $19 million in unvested stock awards and not be eligible for a 2016 bonus. Tolstedt had announced her retirement in July but had initially planned to stay at the bank until the end of the year.

Stumpf and Tolstedt still have millions of dollars in stock and other compensation from Wells Fargo. Stumpf, for example, was awarded $161 million in bonuses and performance awards between 2011 and 2015, the period in which the misconduct took place, according to Equilar, a research firm. Tolstedt was awarded more than $60 million in bonuses in the same period.

But this action by the bank's board is, by far, the most aggressive and public effort by a bank since the 2008 financial crisis to show that top executives will be held responsible for their companies' misdeeds.

In early September, Wells Fargo was fined $185 million by regulators after it discovered that thousands of employees were setting up unauthorized accounts, including credit cards and checking accounts, that customers had not requested. In some cases, the customers were charged various fees for accounts they did not know existed.

The case has sparked a national outcry, with lawmakers pummeling Stumpf before the Senate Banking Committee last week, with one even calling on him to resign. He is to be the only witness before the House Financial Services Committee when he attends a hearing this week, and the move to take back financial awards could help head off some of the inevitable anger of lawmakers.

The debate comes as regulators try to finalize rules called for by the 2010 financial-reform bill, known as Dodd Frank, to overhaul the way Wall Street executives are paid and to address years of complaints that excessive bonuses helped lead to the 2008 financial crisis.

The long-awaited rules were aimed at stopping executives from making risky financial bets to boost their pay and then collecting large bonuses before the consequences of their actions are clear. But the banking industry is mounting a counterattack against the rules, which critics say do not allow enough flexibility. Some employees would be subject to claw-backs for up to 11 years after being awarded bonuses, much longer than the current industry standard of three to five years, industry officials have said.

In July, Wells Fargo joined the debate, saying it was concerned that the rules may have unintended consequences. "We have worked, and are continuing to work, diligently . . . to improve and evolve our incentive-based compensation practices," Hope Hardison, Wells Fargo's director of human resources, said in a letter to regulators.

But the rules would "create an un-level playing field, driving high-quality talent" away from big banks subject to the rules, she wrote.

The controversy surrounding Wells Fargo is likely to make it more difficult for banks to mount efforts to weaken the rules, industry officials say.

Stumpf is expected to face tough questioning when he appears before the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday. In addition to questions about executive compensation, he is likely to face questions about a recently launched Labor Department inquiry into the bank.

The Labor Department says it is conducting a "top-to-bottom review" of Wells Fargo after lawmakers complained that the bank's workers were forced into a hypercompetitive environment that led thousands of them to set up the sham accounts to meet aggressive sales goals.

Some former employees allege that they were unfairly fired when they did not cut corners to meet Wells Fargo's aggressive sales targets.

That could violate federal rules, according to lawmakers and some labor experts. Last week, former Wells Fargo employees who say they were fired for following the law filed a $2.6 billion lawsuit against the bank. They are seeking class-action status.

The Labor Department said it has set up a working group to expedite a review of the issue.

"Given the serious nature of the allegations . . . I have directed enforcement agencies within the Department to conduct a top-to-bottom review of cases, complaints, or violations concerning Wells Fargo over the last several years," Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said in a letter released Tuesday by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who had asked the agency to look into the matter.

"We take the concerns raised . . . very seriously," Perez wrote.

A Wells Fargo spokeswoman declined to comment on the Labor Department review.

It is just the latest sign that San Francisco-based bank will be grappling with the fallout from this case for some time. Federal prosecutors are considering civil or criminal charges against the bank.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Wells Fargo CEO to forfeit $41 million in performance pay after sales scandal

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The longtime chief executive of Wells Fargo agreed on Tuesday to forfeit $41 million in performance pay three weeks after the bank acknowledged that for at least five years, thousands of low-level employees set up sham accounts to meet sales quotas.

# data[].attributes.body
http://beta.fortune.com/fortune500/mgm-resorts-international-309 - MGM International

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/opinion/future-retail-end-wholesale