International expansion has become an established route to generating revenue growth for UK retailers, but the logistics of moving products across the globe can often put a strain on efficiency and profits.
Target is rolling out a service that allows customers to order products online and then pick them up at its stores as the discounter seeks to cater to tech-savvy, time-pressured customers.
While much is being written about expected holiday sales, the flip side of retail returns is also an interesting business, with consumers returning about $264bn worth of merchandise, or almost 9 percent of total sales, according to industry estimates. But, what happens to all that unwanted or defective merchandise that doesn't make it back on the retailer shelf?
The Chanler Group, an environmental law firm, reached a settlement on behalf of its client with a Chinese manufacturer of products alleged to contain a reproductive toxin, commonly known as DEHP. This is reportedly the first time that California's Proposition 65, or any American consumer protection statute, has been used as a basis for international prosecution. The Chanler Group and its clients expect this to be the beginning of a new trend, where overseas manufacturers are held accountable for the products they provide for American consumers.
As a Target "beauty concierge," young Chelsea Mathison prowls the cosmetic aisles at the retailer's Nicollet Mall store, sweetly asking shoppers if they need beauty tips and recommendations. The pixieish clerk seems an unlikely front-line warrior in the Minneapolis-based retailer's effort to embrace showrooming -- where consumers fiddle with products in stores, only to surf their smartphones to see if they can buy the items cheaper somewhere else.