James Tenser

From my perspective, retailers as a group have made the most impressive progress on the internal dimensions of their businesses. Chains have gained scale by growing larger; pricing systems have squeezed out a few margin pennies; employee productivity has been improved.

For all the operational improvements, however, stores and...

"Food desert" is a metaphor that might be just evocative enough to motivate corrective action. I'm heartened to see the dialog is gaining a place on the American agenda.

As we wrestle with this challenge it is important to remember that it persists in small rural communities as well...

Daily deal is a tactic, not a business model. The fact that 798 startups have tried and failed is proof that these sites could be set up by the average 14-year-old. But to sell deals on a sustained basis takes real savvy, a commodity in much shorter supply.

I...

It would certainly be a nice thing if malls somehow found techniques to amplify traffic to the benefit of non-anchor tenants. I regret to observe that tweaks of technique are not likely to be the answer. A more foundational consideration is why shoppers will want to spend time visiting...

Is the customer right? Wrong?

Not relevant!

Right or wrong he/she is either a valuable relationship or not. The art lies in telling the difference. The science lies in understanding the distribution of shoppers along several dimensions, including lifetime value, likelihood to recommend and cost to serve.

An even...

I perceive both pros and cons to Mr. Johnson's revamp of JCPenney.

On the positive side are the simplification and sharpening of the stores' price image, and the focus on shopper experience.

On the negative side, the Town Square seems like a tacit admission that its existing store footprints...

New product innovation is driven by need. Sadly, it's more often the brand marketers' need to accomplish something besides re-optimizing existing offerings. The needs of the consumer are considered after the needs of career, and the emphasis on gauging purchase intent favors self-deception. "It tested well in the focus...

Shopper and Consumer Insights are immensely valuable inputs to our category and promotional planning processes. The bullet points enumerated in Paul Thompson's article do a fine job of illustrating how much knowledge potential exists.

As ever in Category Management, however, we tend to focus so intently on inputs that...

"Radical" is hardly the word I'd choose to describe JCP's plan to step back from constant price discounting. Even "innovative" would be a stretch.

If it tries to stake out a "we're the cheapest" position in the apparel/home goods market under Mr. Johnson, I think JCPenney will not fare...

There will always be a few independent retailers who excel at leveraging the latest online, digital, localized, personalized and/or charismatic marketing to great effect. For me the key question is, "will it scale?"

Chains will be hard-pressed to match the kinds of successes that a company like Dave's Soda &...