Advice for Retailers

New merchants and restaurant owners still make up the majority of new small business owners in this country even though retail and the restaurant business are the two most competitive business environments. Getting customers to come to your business is a mission critical step for thriving in these hypercompetitive markets.

Looking for info on RFID and what it means to the retail industry? You've come to the right place.

What's your store procedure for a complete power loss? If you don't have a power failure plan in place, you are making a big mistake.

Holding a store meeting every morning before the customers arrive is a great way to make sure everyone on your staff gets the latest info and is aware of your store policies.

Who's writing your product copy this holiday season? If you have strong customer loyalty, consider letting your customers do your copywriting.

We all know a bad retail store experience when we see it. Here are some common retail gaffes that you will want to steer clear of.

Retailers lose $12 billion a year to bad checks with over 450 million bad checks being written. Here are some great tips to help you avoid accepting bad checks.

Is your store design helping you to maximize your sales? We examine the effect of store image on customer decisions and offer a few tips to help you improve store design at your shop.

You're a small retailer and a bix box chain store is coming to town. Here's how to survive the challenge and live to tell the tale.

Is your retail business ready for the next wave of product recalls? The pace of product recalls is accelerating so you need to know how to handle a product recall.

The success stories of retail empires like Walmart and JC Penney are all too familiar -- everyone is appreciative of the fact that the founders of these retailing giants invested lots of effort and sacrifice to create these household names from scratch. You may have the ambition and passion to create a successful retail enterprise of your own -- what are the factors for success that you should be keen on?

Ensuring that your customers get a memorable shopping experience every time they visit your premises is one of the surest ways of securing repeat business and by extension new business from new customers who've been told about you. What are those things that you should start doing to create customer enthusiasm?

SWOT analysis is used in business plan development to vet the feasibility of a proposed business idea with respect to its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. What does this analysis technique involve?

We all have seen bar codes on all the products we buy from supermarkets and other retail businesses. These products are automatically identified as such through the open bar coding system. What are the benefits that you can accrue by incorporating this system into your own retail business?

The independent store who has had the monopoly on custom will undoubtedly suffer if a supermarket opens in their catchment area. Can they attempt to compete on price or do they need to offer something different?

Retail window displays can draw customers into your store and create a strong brand. We offer advice on how to make the most of your store window displays.

If your sales clerks in your store are hard to find, odds are your store isn't doing well. Here are a few tips to make sure sales clerks are accessible and helpful to customers.

True or false: When there's a product recall, you can be held liable if you don't get the products off your shelves within 24 hours?

As a retail store owner, your profits can disappear in a heartbeat if you become a burglary or robbery victim. We answer a few basic questions about burglaries and robberies.

Counterfeit checks, NSF checks, stolen checks -- these are just a few contributors to retail check fraud. Learn how to inspect a check to avoid bad checks at your store.

Retail theft is a big problem. The sad truth, however, is that thieving employees are the biggest cause of retail theft. Here's some excellent advice on how to prevent employees from stealing.

The 'buy local' movement encourages consumers to support the local businesses in their communities instead of patronizing national chain establishments. How can an entrepreneur leverage the buy-local sentiment and convert it into new customers for his or her business?

The holidays are over, but the big question on everyone's mind is whether Santa was good to the U.S. retail sector.

Retailers turned a profit during the 2010 holiday season. Now the big question is what the retail forecast looks like for 2011.

According to the experts, we're looking at a slow period of economic recovery over the next several years. How will that affect the retail sector and what retail trends do they see emerging in 2011?

Does it seem like small retail stores are popping up everywhere lately? It's an intentional retail strategy called pop-up retailing - and pop-up stores are presenting major challenges to traditional brick and mortar retailers.

Pop-up stores are taking the retail industry by storm. Here are the key ingredients you'll need to leverage this retail model for profit or other business benefits.

Smartphones are a consumer phenomenon that is changing the retail landscape. But how are retailers reacting to consumers who use their mobile devices to check prices?