Tale of the Tape: Retailers Take Receipts to Great Lengths†

Coupons and Reward Points Extend Tallies; A Wallet-Busting 'Waste of Paper'.

Wall Street Journal, September 1, 2009 — Debra Shigley recently went to a CVS pharmacy in Atlanta and paid $25.39 for two prescriptions, a beverage and a roll of toilet paper. The cashier then handed her a receipt that was almost two feet long.

"As long as my arm," said Ms. Shigley, a 30-year-old author who consults with women on careers and fashion.

Many shoppers have noticed with chagrin store receipts getting longer and longer as retailers tack coupons, return policies, loyalty points and other bits of information and advertising onto narrow pieces of paper that are supposed to be a record of what you bought and how much you paid.

The Reputation Challenge: Building Corporate Reputation to Drive Business Performance

By Aneysha Pearce

Prophet, May 1, 2009 — Corporate reputation must be built. It must be supported and managed. And, it must be an authentic reflection of the business — its culture, value system, and behaviors. Businesses that expect to experience the kinds of success achieved by best-practice organizations will understand that truth. And they will create and live the kind of meaningful purpose that will allow them, too, to more effectively reap the benefits of a strong reputation.

With Shoppers Pinching Pennies, Some Big Retailers Get the Message

New York Times, April 13, 2009 — IN real estate, the saying goes, the golden rule is location, location, location. For retailers in a recession as severe as this one, it is value, value, value.

As shoppers remain reluctant to open their wallets, stores are still scrambling to adjust advertising and marketing strategies to play up the value aspects of what they sell. Even as retail sales data for March suggested improving results at some chains, consumers are hesitating to buy much beyond groceries, gasoline, vitamins and candy.

The 0.3% Solution

In good times or bad, a customer database is a license to do business.

Hub, December 8, 2008 — Research indicates that during the last two recessions (1990-91 and 2000-01), growth in every retail sector slowed. According to the McKinsey Quarterly, 93 percent of retailers surveyed experienced slowing revenue growth in one of the recessions and 59 percent found it true in both.

Unfortunately, it also takes retailers longer to benefit from the turnaround when it does happen. The average retail growth rate in the year of recovery in both 1991 and 2001 was just 0.3 percent.

Most of us start to hunker down and take a defensive approach to a recession. Obviously cutting costs where possible is common sense. But when it comes to marketing at retail, cutting back is a self-fulfilling prophecy to 0.3 growth.

During previous recessions, advertising,... continue reading

Survey: Wal-Mart Among Best 'Value' Brands†

YouGovPolimetrix places AIG at bottom of insurance heap

Adweek, November 4, 2008 — A recent survey by YouGovPolimetrix revealed that the slumping economy is having a significant impact on how consumers perceive brand value. Budget brands like Wal-Mart and Old Navy were ranked highest by consumers, while more upscale brands and financial services firms ranked lowest, reflecting a loss of consumer confidence.

An Old Buzzword Is Back: Bargains

New York Times, October 24, 2008 — As the year began, consumers started to see a trickle of advertisements that played up brand value rather than attributes like status or prestige. As the economy worsened in the spring and summer, the trickle became a torrent.

Now, as the crisis in finance continues, a veritable tidal wave of ads devoted to saving money is washing over the country.

Marketing textbooks suggest, however, that a focus in the short term on pinching pennies could in the long run have a deleterious effect on the images of brands or products by cheapening them.

Thriftiness on Special in Aisle 5

New York Times, October 14, 2008 — While it might seem counterintuitive for stores to teach shoppers to cut their spending, several chains have concluded that providing such knowledge can spur loyalty and keep customers from trading down to cheaper competitors.

So the Stop & Shop grocery chain is offering “affordable food summits” where consumers are taught how to lower their grocery bills. Home Depot offers classes on how to cut energy bills. And Wal-Mart Stores hired a “family financial expert” who has used online chats to teach several thousand shoppers how to save money for college, whittle away debt and sell a house.

The retailers say their advice is neutral, not specific to any store — but they are always careful to point out money-saving items that their stores carry. The... continue reading

Home Depot Learns to Go Local†

Uniform Approach Didn't Cut It; Unsold Mowers in Arizona, Too Few Power Tools Out West

Wall Street Journal, October 7, 2008 — Shortly after taking command of Home Depot Inc. in early 2007, Frank Blake found a pyramid of riding lawn mowers outside a store in Arizona, where lush lawns are uncommon. It turned out the store had sold only one such mower in two years. Then, he learned that the retailer was chronically short of Makita power tools on the West Coast, where they sell particularly well.

Mr. Blake ordered changes in Home Depot's purchasing system, which had favored national uniformity at the expense of local customer preferences... The shift in Home Depot's buying patterns highlights a tricky problem for national retailers: balancing local demand with national efficiency. In Home Depot's case, the new, more targeted buying has helped lower merchandise costs by reducing... continue reading

Home Depot's total rehab

First the customers revolted. Then housing went into a free fall. Time to slash and burn - unless you're CEO Frank Blake, who thinks an army of orange aprons will save the day.

FORTUNE, September 29, 2008 — The Home Depot's Francis S. (Frank) Blake has one of the biggest jobs in corporate America but one of its least famous faces. Which is what the CEO is counting on one weekday morning when he goes on an undercover mission in Riverside, N.J.: a secret walkthrough at one of his company's 1,970 U.S. stores.

At Home Depot, How Green Is That Chainsaw?

Some environmentalists say that Home Depot is being too inclusive in its new Eco Options marketing campaign

New York Times, June 25, 2007 — Home Depot sent a note a few months ago to the companies that supply the 176,000 products it sells, inviting them to make a pitch to have their products included in its new Eco Options marketing campaign.

More than 60,000 products — far more than obvious candidates like organic gardening products and high-efficiency lightbulbs — suddenly developed environmental star power.