A recent opinion piece in MMR, our sister publication, lamenting the disappearance of effective merchants from the mass retailing community, elicited some strong response from within that community. Among the most vocal were those merchants who defended themselves, denying their disappearing effectiveness and maintaining the view that they continue searching for dynamic new products as
In the wake of Walgreens’ announcement that it is moving ahead with the second phase of the Alliance Boots deal, a process that will result in the full merger of the two companies in the first quarter of calendar 2015, most news reports focused on the decision to keep the combined entity headquartered in the
Mass market and chain drug retailing are in a bit of a funk lately. According to Nielsen, industry sales grew less than 2% last year, the worst gain in the last 10 years. This was coming off a lackluster 2% from 2012. The mega-consumer packaged goods manufacturers — the P&Gs, PepsiCos and Krafts of the
In a multipart series during 2014, our team will examine key product attributes and marketing tactics from two different perspectives — the retail buyer and the consumer/shopper. We believe readers will benefit from an objective picture of the viewpoints that contribute to a product’s success at retail. In this column, let’s explore how a product’s
Since launching in 2009, Pinterest has been one of the fastest-growing digital platforms. Users love its visual layout, curated boards and intuitive mobile app. Some marketers joined Pinterest early and quickly embraced the platform with organic content strategies that provide value to Pinterest users. But most companies join Pinterest and apply a Facebook-like approach, complete
The cosmetics industry is going the way of fashion in terms of uptick in mergers-and-acquisitions activity, with a push toward globalization and an emphasis on branding and intellectual property. In the last couple of years, in particular, we’ve seen a spike in deals throughout the fashion, footwear and cosmetics sectors, opening a window of opportunity
