The American shopper continues to grow more confident, both with the direction of the country's economy and their own financial standings. A new report from Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan observed the consumer sentiment index at 79.3 in May, up from 76.4 the previous month.

The latest reading marks the highest the Index has been since 2007, before the economic crash. Half of respondents said the economy had improved over the past year, with many planning to spend more money on vehicles, household durables and other retail purchases.

"Unfortunately, consumer confidence is still extremely vulnerable to a reversal, as occurred in the past two years," survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement. "While their most optimistic expectation for job growth could go unfulfilled without much harm, if the recent slowdown in job growth persists in the months ahead, it could form the basis for a third retreat in confidence."

Many retail merchants are still concerned about the impact of rising gas and grocery costs, though, which they believe could temper retail purchases over the summer.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, June 5th, 2012 at 9:48 am .

Sears has devised an interesting strategy for acquiring more product reviews on its website. The American retailer is encouraging shopper feedback – good or bad – through a new project called "Love/Hate: Share Your Thoughts, Send Some Love."

After consumers write a review, they will have the option to vote for one of four charities: The American Cancer Society, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, World Vision and the World Wildlife Fund. The charity that receives the most votes will be awarded with a $100,000 donation.

"Customer opinions are important to us at Sears. Good or bad, we want to encourage our online community to share their thoughts on our products," said Adriana Llames, division vice president of social media marketing for Sears. "The Love/Hate project will help us continue our commitment to providing products our customers love while helping to further the work of their favorite charities."

With more customers using the web to research products before buying them, having a number of on-site reviews may help to win over purchases. Sears' new initiative may serve dual benefits, helping to generate reviews while also improving its brand reputation by donating to charity.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, June 4th, 2012 at 10:28 am .

A new study called "Get Growing," which leverages data from AOL, Business News Daily, Intuit and the Small Business Administration, suggests a number of small retailers are missing out on pivotal sales by not using point-of-sale (POS) terminals that can conduct credit card transactions.

The majority of smaller retailers accept cash (82 percent) and checks (86 percent) as a means of collecting payments from shoppers. While many do accept credit cards as well, it is still not as common as either of the other two payments at smaller retailers, which means they may be losing sales to customers who prefer credit cards.

Moreover, credit card users are a lucrative market to tap, according to the report. Credit card users spend 50 percent more than cash users, which means the processing fee – the reason many business owners don't accept credit cards – will be easily covered by these new sales. There are other benefits to accepting credit cards, such as making more sales, getting paid faster, reducing bad debt or no payments and making upward of $20,000 more per month.

Sixty-one percent of retail merchants who recently began accepting credit cards say they no longer lose a sale when people don't have enough cash to buy their products or services. Additionally, 51 percent said it was relieving to know payments will go through.

"Small businesses still commonly rely on cash and checks for payment, which are reliable and free forms of payment for the most part," the report explains. "Problem is, by not accepting credit cards, these businesses stunt their growth potential."

"Cash is still a standard, but card payments are becoming increasingly popular … businesses may lose customers in the future if they don't start accepting credit cards," the whitepaper concludes.

Consider a POS upgrade

While credit cards are a good start, retail merchants should consider other POS upgrades as well. For example, mobile payments are beginning to gain traction, particularly as smartphones become more popular among American consumers.

In fact, a recent report from PEW Research suggests eight years from now, mobile wallet services could become just as mainstream as traditional payment types.

"By 2020, most people will have embraced and fully adopted the use of smart-device swiping for purchases they make, nearly eliminating the need for cash or credit cards," the research added. "People will come to trust and rely on personal hardware and software for handling monetary transactions over the internet and in stores."

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, June 4th, 2012 at 10:26 am .

Approximately one in 10 Europeans (12 percent) have used their tablets, smartphones or other mobile devices to browse their favorite retailers and make a purchase – a number that will almost certainly continue to climb, asserts John Sullivan, director of information technology at the Gondola Group.

Speaking on a panel during the Open Mobile Summit in London, Sullivan was quick to stress the importance of offering a mobile shopping experience for customers who want to make purchases through this new technology. While mobile shopping may not be replacing brick-and-mortar or even online sales, it's important to provide shoppers with a multichannel experience to ensure their highest satisfaction.

While the results of going mobile will vary depending on the brand and the audience it's targeting, the benefits could be huge.

"Fifty percent of our traffic is on mobile. The more we give the customer on mobile, the more they use," explained Sullivan, as quoted by Internet Retailer. "You just need to get out there and do some experimentation to find out what your customer wants."

Crafting a mobile experience

That said, mobile technology is relatively new to the market. Each year, Apple is announcing updated products with radically different specifications, not to mention the wide array of differences between the various Android phones. When developing a mobile site or application, retailers need to be willing to experiment. Nothing should be sacred, and merchants should be prepared to scrap parts of their mobile site if they aren't displaying correctly or if customers aren't reacting positively to them.

"Just focus on what the experience needs to be," Ian Cranna, vice president of marketing at Starbucks, added. "See your way through the technology through the customer's eyes and make an experience of those things that are working as opposed to first focusing on the more challenging things that are hard to use."

Howard Gefen, director of worldwide mobile business development, suggests focusing on the core experience. While features such as behavioral-based recommendations may be nice, they shouldn't come at the expense of loading times or other key aspects.

Just having a mobile site may not be enough. Some retailers have begun using mobile devices for other purposes as well. For example, Target recently rolled out Shopkick to its stores nationwide, which enables visitors to collect loyalty points for checking in.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, June 1st, 2012 at 2:56 am .

Digital channels have heralded a revolution in retail merchandising and marketing. Social networks, email and company websites have changed to ways in which business engage consumers and preserve loyalty.

In fact, as consumers' lives become more embedded in digital technologies such as smartphones, tablet computers and laptops, traditional tactics of outreach are falling to the side.

Print still helpful, but digital catching up

A recent survey of 23,000 shoppers from Brick Meets Click illustrates the growing preference for online marketing communications. For example, while more than 80 percent of find printed supermarket circulars helpful, acceptance of digital coupons was not far behind – 20 percent of shoppers said Facebook and text messages were helpful.

Retail websites proved to be one of the most popular digital options, with 90 percent of shoppers admitting that they visited their preferred retail websites at least once per month. Moreover, 64 percent said they visited between one and six times per month.

"The frequency of site visits by digitally engaged shoppers indicates a lot of activity can be generated provided that useful content is available," the report said. Companies may find it helpful to mine customer data to determine which content is best for their websites and even social networks.

Coupon websites catch on

The rapid growth of online coupon website Groupon may also prove a boon for businesses. The survey reported that in addition to visiting retailer websites, they also search online coupon providers and compare prices with other retailers.

Online coupon providers such as Groupon, Living Social and Coupon Chief work with businesses to give consumers daily deals – limited time offers which give consumers a service or discount.

However, while online coupon websites can help retailers reach new consumers across a wide array of demographics, they also come with a few challenges.

Many small businesses have noted that coupon users can often turn out to be one-time customers, rather than repeat patrons. Additionally, other local companies have found themselves unprepared for the demand online coupons can create for their services.

What matters most for retailers is to research and find out which channels work best, not only for their business model but also for their customers. Older demographics may prefer a more traditional approach, while young customers could highly value smartphone communications.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, May 31st, 2012 at 9:34 am .

While some retailers continue struggling in the fluctuating marketplace, others have found their retail point-of-sale systems in high demand around the world.

The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, is experiencing both boons and setbacks. At its annual rally for international workers this week, the company will discuss how it plans to slow expansion in Brazil, improve productivity in its Chinese outlets and continue growing operations in Canada.

According CBS News, Wal-Mart has continued to expand worldwide to offset what it sees as limited growth opportunities in the U.S. While the U.S. still makes up the majority of the retailer's business, international net sales are growing. Currently, the international market accounts for 28.4 percent of Wal-Mart's net sales.

"Overall, Wal-Mart's has successfully exported its 'everyday low price strategy' to the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Mexico and Central America," CBS News reports. "But it's in the planning stages for South Africa, Argentina, China, Chile and India. Company officials will likely offer more details on when it plans to implement the pricing plan in the remaining countries."

Wal-Mart may also face setbacks this summer, as gasoline prices are expected to spike in the U.S. This could constrain fleets and shipping operations.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, May 31st, 2012 at 9:32 am .

U.K. retailers are facing a mixed market. While the Queen's Diamond Jubilee has helped boost revenues, a double-dip recession has made retail merchandising a tough task.

Regardless, foreign companies and outlets continue to seek a foothold in the national market. Yet China, one of the fastest growing economic powers in the world, has failed to make its way into the U.K. retail scene.

A recent article by Retail Week suggests the lack of Chinese companies could be due to a number of factors, including a rather inexperienced retail sector in the country as well as an already huge domestic marketplace. Furthermore, the article notes that when Chinese retailers feel prepared to go international, they may not even choose the U.K.

"There's often a perception that to make it big Asian companies have to have a presence in Europe and North America," Rob Gregory, Planet Retail global research director, told the website. "But 10 to 20 years down the line there’s no doubt the more mature markets are going to be relatively low growth. That’s why everyone’s moving to Asia."

This year, events such as the 2012 London Olympics and Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, which celebrates her 60th year on the throne, hope to spur tourism and fill retailers' registers.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, May 31st, 2012 at 9:30 am .

For many traditional brick-and-mortar retailers, there is a stark divide between online and in-store. However, this creates a challenge for retail merchandising strategies in an increasingly digital world.

As a result, many high street shops in the U.K. are taking the plunge into the online world. One way retailers are reinvigorating their brick-and-mortar outlets is by incorporating visitors through social networks.

For example, technologies such as interactive dressing rooms partnered with social media allow customers to comment on products, influence retailer decisions and even get feedback from friends, The Guardian reports.

"Involving customers in product design and inventory decisions can optimize stock-to-sales ratio and control operating costs," the paper explains. "In time this could even change how fashion trends unfold as customer demand influences seasonal ranges and retailers' buying decisions."

Social retailing doesn’t need to be locked up in the virtual dressing room, though. Shops can use social networks to promote in-store events or share discounts only redeemable at a brick-and-mortar shop.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, May 31st, 2012 at 9:28 am .

Retail operations in the U.K. are facing tough times, as the nation is entering a double-dip recession and an increasing number of stores are going bust.

There are, of course, many factors contributing to U.K. retailers' difficulties. However, a recent report from Fujitsu found that nearly two-thirds of businesses believe that the current rate of market change is moving too quickly for companies to keep up.

Customers are primarily driving change. In fact, the survey found that 83 percent of respondents cited customers as a significant factor in fluctuations, as well as the issue they felt the least equipped to handle.

"The hardest task for CEOs today is to strike the balance between responding to external change and allowing change to happen around you while you stay true to your long term plan," said Duncan Tait, CEO of Fujitsu. "[It] is about understanding the environment around you and arming your organization in advance with the tools it needs to be able to respond quickly."

One of the top strategies for keeping up with consumers and their desires is by making them part of the process. Query them about what they like, want or would do differently.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, May 31st, 2012 at 9:26 am .

In the past few years, reward cards and point systems have become a ubiquitous part of retail merchandising strategies.

Reward systems award benefits to customers of both retailers and supermarkets for shopping with the company or even helping to build its word-of-mouth reputation. These benefits can range from promotions to discounts and even special members-only events.

Now, more retailers are attempting to spice up their reward programs to differentiate themselves from competitors by introducing new membership structures. For example, Starbucks, Gap and Best Buy offer tiered memberships, awarding those who spend more with bigger rewards, the website Smart Money writes.

Additionally, some retailers have partnered with banks or credit card providers. Citibank cardholders can spend their reward points at Best Buy, while users of the mobile app Shopkick can access discounts at Old Navy, Target, Crate & Barrel and Exxon.

Whatever the type of reward system a retailer decides to implement, make sure it's tailored to consumers. If a store's main customers are older, a strictly smartphone application is unlikely to be a big hit.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, May 31st, 2012 at 9:21 am .