Customer Experience
Forever 21 Files for Bankruptcy
The apparel retailer has filed for bankruptcy protections. “Teens once swarmed to Forever 21’s piles of inexpensive, high-fashion-imitating party dresses and tank tops. Its prices were below those of Arcadia Group Ltd.’s Topshop and Inditex SA’s Zara. But it went on a rapid store expansion after the 2008 recession, just as shopping was shifting online. While other chains were shrinking store sizes and closing locations, Forever 21 pushed into spaces that in some cases were double or triple the size of previous locations.”
What Are Lego’s New Building Blocks? Brick-And-Mortar Stores, Primarily in China
The toy brand is betting on growth by investing in physical stores in regions other than its previous strongholds. “With this strategy, Lego is thinking both vertically—by investing in stores where it controls its distribution—and globally—by shifting focus from low-growth North America and Western Europe to markets like China and India.”
The Future of Royal Caribbean’s Digital Transformation
EY and Royal Caribbean have collaborated “on a five-year innovation roadmap, which included updating Royal Caribbean’s technology and enhancing their customers’ on-board experiences. One result is a recently updated mobile app that helps customers navigate around the ship, eases their check-in, and even allows them to order drinks.”
Get the Rings and Get Married, Even Before Leaving the Jewelry Store
We’ve seen some creative customer experience strategies to increase foot traffic in brick-and-mortar stores, but this is a standout. Helzberg Diamonds now offers customers who buy its diamonds the opportunity to get hitched in-store.
Data
Google Draws House Antitrust Scrutiny of Internet Protocol
Congressional investigators “are scrutinizing plans by Google to use a new internet protocol because of concerns that it could give the company a competitive advantage by making it harder for others to access consumer data.”