November/December 2016

The business mission was all too common: turn an outdated infrastructure system into a robust, agile engine capable of improving decision making and driving revenue higher across channels. The results, however, have been anything but common, especially for retailers today struggling to stay ahead

Achieving success in the retail business has long been a straightforward proposition that involved driving top-line growth through new stores and improving selling space productivity as a means to leverage expenses over a larger base of sales to improve profits.

Serving as ICSC President and CEO affords Tom McGee a unique perspective on the retail industry. He leads a global organization with 70,000 members in more than 100 countries who develop, lease and operate shopping centers from the largest mega-malls to neighborhood centers.

When Albertsons acquired Safeway in early 2015, most of the corporate functions of the new entity fell to executives at the headquarters in Boise, Idaho.

It's not hard to remember a time where grocers competed with other grocers, consumers made weekly trips to the store, and they could only find out what was on sale by checking out the circular. Those days are forever gone, as now grocers compete with everyone from drug to dollar to e-tailers.

Retailers and suppliers working together to conceive of and execute even the most elaborate integrated marketing and merchandising programs is a piece of cake compared to many of the sustainability related challenges trading partners are attempting to solve.

CPG retailers and manufacturers have to get creative in looking for new ways to drive excitement and engagement.

When Hershey wanted to improve the impact of its in-store product displays—a vital touchpoint for a product that's often an impulse buy—it faced two fundamental problems. One was that, in the words of a Hershey executive at the recent Path to Purchase Expo in Chicago, "candy is proba

The ability to better understand shopper behavior and drive sales is fueling digital promotion growth, while cost concerns and skepticism linger. The reasons for going digital abound: You can now trace shoppers' movements from their home computers or smartphones to the digital offers they redeem in

Although the product assortment in supermarkets is always changing, the basic technology has remained pretty much the same since the invention of the bar code. But it is quickly being disrupted.

One of the least talked about but most important risks facing retailers and brands is the illegality that occurs in the production and processing of the raw materials they buy, and the impact this has on their bottom lines. In 2016 alone Interpol seized more than 10,000 metric tons and 1 million

The cover of this issue features six impressive individuals whose efforts and those of the organizations they lead are needed now more than ever. The transition of power in the nation's capital, especially following a presidential election, is always a time of uncertainty, but never more so than fo