Retail
Walmart Focuses On Supercenters As Strategy To Take On Amazon
Walmart is planning to make its supercenters the centerpiece of a network of businesses operating together to drive profits and bring in customers, The Wall Street Journal reported. Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon said at a recent strategy meeting that supercenters are the heart of the plan. The giant stores have 100,000 products and are approximately 180,000 square feet. Open 24 hours, these locations will have groceries, clothes, electronics, and more, as well as offer money, hair and pharmacy services.
Reimaging Kohl’s Beauty Department
After exploring new beauty offerings over the past year – including bringing in prestige brands and introducing customers to new trends through initiatives like The Beauty Checkout – Kohl’s is piloting an in-store experience offering a reimagined beauty department in 12 stores across the country. This will double the footprint previously dedicated to beauty in those Kohl’s stores and will include wider aisles, brighter lights and updated fixtures. Trained beauty advisors will be available to help answer questions, provide samples and educate customers. Interactive technology also will help customers find their best makeup shades.
Innovation
San Francisco 49ers removing game-day barriers in real time with its SAP data war room
“In the second year of using Executive Huddle, a real-time tracking system created by German software company SAP, the 49ers say they are seeing positive results and plan to expand it next season,” a recent CNBC report states. The 49ers are the only team in the National Football League to use Executive Huddle, which is located in a suite on the west wing of the team’s stadium. Five big-screen monitors displaying real-time data allow the team to study fan behavior and make adjustments on game day.
Customer Service
Southwest Ranked No. 1 By J.D. Power Website Satisfaction Studies
Southwest Airlines earned J.D. Power’s No. 1 ranking in customer satisfaction with airline travel websites. Southwest has made multiple digital enhancements to Southwest.com and their mobile app, with the goal of improving customer experience. While already not having change or cancellation fees, Southwest now is making modifications even easier for customers to manage unused travel funds. Rapid Rewards members previously manually tracked their confirmation numbers for unused travel funds, but now they will be able to see remaining unused travel funds in their account as long as their Rapid Rewards number was listed on their booking before a cancellation or change.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Advanced Nutrients Founder and CEO Announces New Charitable Organization
Advanced Nutrients recently announced its new corporate social responsibility initiative, Humanity Heroes. Founded by company CEO Michael “BigMike” Straumietis, Humanity Heroes helps cultivate sustainable communities by providing them with the tools necessary to strengthen their foundations. For BigMike, this starts with helping the homeless population in Los Angeles. Homelessness affects nearly 60,000 Los Angeles residents on any given night. To date, his philanthropic efforts have led to donations of more than $500k in non-perishable items to Skid Row.