From The Editor's Desk
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A CFO’s Take On FLSA Changes
10/21/2016
With the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) December 1st deadline looming, most retail executives are keenly aware of and concerned about how the overtime regulations will affect their employees and their businesses. Come December 1, the new salary requirements will apply to the FLSA’s executive, administrative, and professional exemptions. Employees who do not meet the new salary requirements when the final regulations become effective will no longer qualify for one of these exemptions, which means they will have to be paid overtime compensation when they work more than 40 hours in a work week.
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Drive Your Own Holiday Sales Gains
10/14/2016
Gallup says last month’s consumer spending marked the highest on post-recession record. True, “post-recession” doesn’t give us much of a backlog from which to mark historical sales records. But, the $91 per day that Gallup says Americans spent in September 2016 is a gigantic leap from the paltry $59 average daily September spending we saw in 2010. Consider that in September 2008, when we were on the verge of financial meltdown but not yet in the felt throes of it, consumers spent $99 per day on average in September.
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A Q&A With Neiman Marcus’ Scott Emmons
10/5/2016
One of my favorite parts of my job is talking to forward-thinking retail executives about what they’re working on, the innovative projects they’re leading, and where retail goes from here. As such, I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Scott Emmons, Head of the Innovation Lab at Neiman Marcus about the future of retailing. Scott has his finger on the pulse of innovation in retail, and he offered thoughtful responses that you’ll surely find valuable.
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Retail: A Ripe Market For Workforce Management Software
9/29/2016
On October 4th at 2 ET, I’ll be hosting a webinar featuring Terry McElroy, Director of Operations Planning & Communications at Hibbett Sports. Terry and I will discuss the cloud-based human capital management software implementation at Hibbett, but we’ll also be reviewing the results of a recent survey-based report on cloud adoption, WFM, and HCM that we produced in conjunction with Ceridian.
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IRT’s Retailer Innovation Awards
9/20/2016
So many of our retailer subscribers are implementing new technologies and adopting progressive processes to help them make significant business gains. As such, Innovative Retail Technologies’ January/February 2017 issue will honor the most entrepreneurial and groundbreaking retailers in our inaugural Retailer Innovation Awards. We’ll do so by spotlighting the retailers who leverage innovative technologies to improve the customer experience and are turning today’s good ideas into tomorrow’s realities.
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Sneak Peek At 2017 Retail Tech Spending Plans
9/15/2016
We just wrapped our annual retail tech spending survey, the results of which will be reported in detail in the November issue of Innovative Retail Technologies. As we crunch the numbers in preparation of the report, we’re seeing both the continuation of some of the trends we’ve been charting for the past few years.
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Why The Starbucks For Outlook Add-In Nails The Customer Experience
9/8/2016
If you’re a Starbucks fan, you may have heard about and perhaps may have already installed the Starbucks for Outlook Add-In. Yet, you don’t need to be a Starbucks loyalist to see that the company has taken brand awareness and customer engagement to the next level by meeting professionals where they already are — their email. Here’s how they’ve done it.
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Changing Customer Demographics: Ignorance Equals Obsolescence
9/2/2016
One of the most important keynote presentations I’ve heard in years was given a few weeks ago at the NCR Synergy conference in Dallas by Dr. James H. Johnson Jr. Dr. Johnson is the William R. Kenan Jr. distinguished professor of strategy and entrepreneurship and director of the Urban Investment Strategies Center at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. He delivered a fast-paced, engaging, and at times, alarming romp through changing U.S. consumer demographics.
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Good News About IRT’s E-Mail Newsletters
8/29/2016
I love it when we get to share great news with our readers, and I have great news for you regarding IRT’s e-newsletters. Based on reader feedback, we’ve made some important changes. Starting today, you will receive Innovative Retail Technologies’ email newsletter in your inbox three times a week — on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 12 p.m. EST. Monday’s and Wednesday’s editions will feature fresh, new content. Friday’s edition, In Case You Missed It, will include a few of the best articles from Monday and Wednesday.
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Whose Recruiting Playbook Did You Steal?
8/17/2016
In our July issue, we ran a story (A Fresh Perspective On Associate Engagement), that offered up some timely advice on the hiring and retention of millennial and Gen Z associates. That Q&A with Todd Corley, Founder And Head of the TAPO Institute, got me thinking about just how incestuous the retail recruiting and hiring process really is.