While luxury retailers in the U.K. may be snapping up store space on local high streets, especially in London, the outlook for the rest of the industry is struggling, as retail point-of-sale software lays dormant.

In the first quarter of 2012, the number of British retailers who went out of business increased a staggering 38 percent from the fourth quarter, from 486 companies to 670 companies, Reuters reports.

The increase is part of the double-dip recession manifesting across the nation. This has also been affected by slow wage growth for U.K. workers, an unsteady euro zone and worries about job security.

"Last year was bad but this year is even worse. Retailers are still struggling with rents that they feel are far above the market rate and banks are particularly reluctant to extend credit to struggling retail businesses," Anthony Cork, a partner at the firm, told Reuters.

Many retailers, especially those in London, are hoping the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 London Olympics will boost sales.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, May 30th, 2012 at 2:36 am .

This week, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's 60-year reign, is prepared to go into full swing, which shops hope will spur increased traffic at retail point-of-sale systems.

British retailers have been capitalizing on the event for months now, adorning china, clothing and every imaginable keepsake with the red, white and blue of the Union Jack or, alternatively, the Queen's youthful coronation photo.

High street department store John Lewis told the Financial Times that sales of royal memorabilia, including mementoes both for Diamond Jubilee and of last year's royal wedding, are increasing by 15 percent each week.

"Last year's royal wedding increased consumers' interest in royal memorabilia, and sales of these kinds of items have been consistently higher since then," Anna Rigby, head of buying for home accessories and gifts at John Lewis, told the FT. "People from both the U.K. and abroad want to share in the experience of these national events, and enjoy having something which reminds them of the day."

The event comes at a particular key moment for U.K. stores, as first quarter figures were released this week, revealing that the number of U.K. retailers who went bust in this period increased by 38 percent from the previous quarter, Reuters reports.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 at 11:40 pm .

Canadian merchants are taking a second look at their retail operations, as new duty-free limit changes could adversely affect those north of the U.S.-Canada border.

The limits are set to change on June 1, with an increase from $50 to $200 for stays longer than 24 hours and from $400 to $800 for visitors who remain in the U.S. for more than 48 hours.

As a result, Canadian retailers are looking to industry associations to help them keep consumers in the country, The Montreal Gazette reports. One organization, the Surrey Board of Trade, has partnered with Chambers of Commerce in border cities to investigate why Canadian retailers pay higher wholesale prices to suppliers, which inevitably raises prices on the consumer side.

"The Canadian dollar has really remained at par with the U.S. dollar for many years, but retailers pay up to 50 percent percent more for the same products,'' Paul Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, told the paper. "We say the federal government needs to take a look at this seriously and research why Canadian retailers pay that much more for milk and butter and that type of thing than a U.S. retailer.''

For U.S. border retailers, the change in duty-free limits was welcome news, as an influx of Canadian shoppers could help businesses further boost the strengthening economy.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 at 11:38 pm .

Ecommerce is still a relatively young shopping medium in France, with less than half of the country's population making purchases on the web, according to recent data from research companies Fevad and Mediametrie. However, retailers in the country are quickly adopting mobile devices as parts of their ecommerce strategy.

A separate report from CCM Benchmark suggests that nearly half of French retailers have mobile-optimized sites or applications. Forty-five percent of respondents said they had some sort of presence tailored to these devices, compared to the mere 22 percent who answered the same during the first quarter of 2011. An additional 19 percent also plan to launch a mobile app or site sometime this year.

"IPhones are the top smartphones used in mobile commerce, according to the study – accounting for two-thirds of mobile sales for the companies surveyed," Internet Retailer adds, citing the research. "Therefore, most businesses that are launching apps are focusing on the iPhone. However, smartphones using Google's Android operating system are on the rise in France, the study says."

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 at 10:17 am .

The pressing economic climate has driven many Americans to steal products from retailers because they can no longer afford to buy them. For that reason, it's crucial to store operations that retail merchants invest more time and energy into the management of their retail stock and ensure none of their inventory falls victim to shrink.

As Security Info Watch notes, there are many different types of theft to be worried about, ranging from organized retail crime (ORC) to employee shrink. Various products will be more targeted than others, depending on value and how easily they can be stolen. Retailers should identify these key targets and develop a protocol to ensure they are being sold and not stolen.

"This may mean conducting spot checks of these items in the store to note if a particularly high volume seems to be moving from the shelves," the source suggests. "It may mean running an extra weekly report on inventory and comparing it with sales to ensure targeted items are in fact being sold. A quick check can ensure that any major discrepancies are noticed and promptly investigated."

For retailers with operations in multiple countries, they should also take note that there are different theft threat levels globally. Employee theft is more common in the U.S., while organized crime is more prevalent in Central America, for example.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 at 10:15 am .

While major corporations may seem to receive the greatest amount of attention, this year specialty retail sectors are putting their retail software to use and experiencing great success.

Off-price apparel businesses such as TJ Companies – think TJ Maxx – and Ross Stores both saw revenue increases in the first quarter of this year, Forbes reports. TJ Companies saw first quarter earnings grow by 55 percent while sales increased by 11 percent, totaling $5.8 billion and surpassing analyst projections of $5.75 billion.

Ross Stores surprised analysts even more in the first quarter, according to Forbes. The consensus estimate placed the retail company at reporting revenue of $2.34 billion, yet Ross Stores easily beat expectations with $3.26 billion in revenue.

These numbers draw attention to and even dispel a problem plaguing the speciality retail sphere: marketing. Mobile devices are all the rage in the marketing sector, and purportedly may make or break how retailers connect with their customers.

According to a survey from Briteskies, only 17 percent of specialty online retailers offer a mobile website. However, with the numbers seen above, is mobile as really important as we've been led to believe?

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 at 4:55 am .

With the advent of ecommerce, brick-and-mortar retail operations have been devising a variety of strategies to offer customers the same convenience, low prices and selection of products that their online counterparts do.

However, in the past few years, experts have been advocating a different approach for brick-and-mortar retailers: multichannel engagement. Basically, numerous reports have suggested that retailers' sales, marketing or even service strategies would benefit from a greater channel of avenues through which to connect with shoppers.

A recent article in Forbes calls this strategy one of "bricks and clicks," and highlights one mega-retailer's success with it. Luxury department store Saks Fifth Avenue explained that it has found its most profitable and loyal customers to be those who shop both online and in-store.

Forbes attests that this revelation is true for every retailer – they just don't understand this principle. The article notes that most retailers believe that when a consumer is shopping on their website, it only means fewer customers in store.

However, Forbes confronts this point. "If retailers don’t encourage shoppers to buy from both their stores and their website, if they don't make the experience between the two seamless, if they don't analyze and build a relationship with shoppers through both, then the shopper drain will be so fast heads will spin," the news source explains.

A recent study from Jones Lang LaSalle suggests that retailers may actually be making the move to a more multichannel consumer experience. The report, Retail 3.0, found that 92 percent of retailers sell online, 68 percent maintain brick-and-mortar retail locations and 64 percent send out catalogs.

One of the factors driving an increased interest in online outlets by brick-and-mortar retailers is the potential savings digital channels offer. In many ways, the study found, online operations can be a cheaper distribution model.

"With multichannel selling comes a major focus on retail distribution, and how to get from ship to shore to store or your door as quickly and as efficiently as possible," said Kris Bjorson, head of Jones Lang LaSalle's retail/e-commerce distribution group. "Traditional retailers must support the delivery of merchandise and manage both in-store and online inventories."

Companies should also avoid thinking of "multichannel" sources in a purely online versus in-store binary. Keeping abreast of new mobile technologies will help retailers stay a step ahead.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 at 4:44 am .

Retailers in the United Kingdom may see some radical changes in the ways consumers shop over the next few years, with eBay's U.K. branch proclaiming the sector is "on the cusp of a third wave of technological revolution."

According to a new report from the popular online auction site, interactive television will have the biggest influence on buying habits, with one in four shoppers expected to use this technology to shop by 2014. As Auction Bytes notes, that translates to approximately £750 million ($1.18 billion) worth of retail sales.

The research also suggests augmented reality will play a bigger role in shopping, overlaying digital information on products, spaces and places that consumers will be able to interact with.

"This will range from allowing shoppers to view 3D projections of products that aren't physically present or allowing them to virtually try on clothes," according to eBay UK.

Other currently used technologies, such as NFC payment systems and mobile devices, are expected to have an even bigger presence at retail as well, further driving change to the sector.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Sunday, May 27th, 2012 at 9:49 am .

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has cut interest rates and taxes in an effort to bolster consumer spending, and the initiative has paid off for the local retail sector. For the fifth time in seven months, Brazilian retail sales grew in March, according to a national statistics agency based in Rio de Janeiro.

Economists had predicted an increase of 0.3 percent, and while that forecast was a bit high, sales were still up by 0.2 percent month-over-month. Compared with one year earlier, sales jumped 12.5 percent – the largest such leap since March 2010.

"Public banks last month said they would cut their lending rates by as much as 21 percent to help boost economic growth that slowed to 2.7 percent last year from 7.5 percent in 2010," Bloomberg Businessweek adds. "The Rousseff administration has also extended tax cuts for appliances to stimulate consumer spending and eliminated payroll taxes for industries including textiles and shoes."

The Brazilian economy is quickly become a global powerhouse and has been rated as the world's sixth-largest market, helping local retailers come out of the recession in a strong place.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, May 25th, 2012 at 9:48 am .

The retail sector fared relatively well throughout the economic recession and is now positioning itself for growth. In an effort to help achieve that objective, many merchants are looking to bring on new help to assist with store operations. Because of the tough job market, recent college graduates are quickly becoming the preferred target for retailers nationwide.

Ramon Winemberg, a sales and operations executive with more than 30 years experience in retail, told the Fulton Sun that a common misconception is that retail only has low-paying positions, which makes job prospects unattractive at first glance. However, he was quick to note that there are several great-paying and challenging jobs within the sector.

"The retail trade sector is the largest employer in the United States," Winemberg added. "Even more compelling, the retail industry is expected to add even more sector jobs in the coming years and will continue to grow annually."

Retailers are receiving somewhere in the ballpark of 700,000 job applications a month, according to Kronos' Retail Labor Index, suggesting there is interest in working in the sector.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, May 25th, 2012 at 9:46 am .