Jelmoli Prepares for a New but Different Chapter in Its Retailing Legacy

Jelmoli is a Swiss department store in Zürich well-known to residents and visitors of the city. Last year (2023) the retail brand celebrated “190 Years of Jelmoli” with the tagline “Full of Stories” (e.g., posted on the store’s front windows). However, this celebration also marks in all likelihood a conclusion of its function as a… Read More

Globus: A Department Store Changes Its Face

A visitor returning to the flagship department store of the Swiss chain GLOBUS in central Zurich after a long absence is headed for a surprise. The visiting shopper is about to encounter on entry a completely different landscape — bright and flashy, with a large avenue stretching from the front entrance (on Bahnhofstrasse) to the… Read More

Digital Changes Coming Ahead for Marketers and Consumers

The digital landscape in marketing and e-commerce is fluid and evolving continuously. In the meantime, the patterns and habits of consumer shopping behaviour also keep changing. Most notably in recent times, consumers were driven to modify their shopping behaviour due to restrictions imposed during the course of the coronavirus pandemic. However, consumers have had to… Read More

Is Inflation in Consumer Prices Lurking for a Bite?

Countries face several economic challenges while they are trying to recover from the coronavirus pandemic: recuperating the economy from a traumatic recession (shock-induced shutdown and negative growth); increased budget deficit, possibly leading to larger debt; combatting high (and stubborn) unemployment, together with changes in the job market. But reigniting the economy might be tied with… Read More

Retail in Recovery

Wherever relief from COVID-19 is evident, we can see signs of recovery in offline retail, that is at physical stores and shops. In the first months of 2021 countries have lapsed again into third and fourth waves of COVID and lockdowns, which caused a reversal of earlier signs of recovery experienced. But where a recent… Read More

Pondering About the Post Corona Pandemic Era

While we are still deep in the coronavirus pandemic, people wonder how life will look and feel like in the aftermath. There have been major changes in behaviour of businesses and consumers since the beginning of 2020, largely compelled by concerns of people about their health and measures imposed to curb the COVID-19 disease. But… Read More

A New Opportunity Arises for Pop-Up Stores

Temporary stores pop-up in recent years more frequently in different retail locations such as central shopping districts (e.g., on high-streets or inside urban quarters) and in malls; as you might expect, they are called Pop-Up Stores. These stores or shops may operate for as short as a few days to as long as two or… Read More

The Attraction of Colourful Displays of Merchandise

Colour has a strong attraction power: it can capture visual attention faster than other design features; it can be inviting and appealing; and colours can evoke specific feelings and emotions of consumers. Furthermore, colours may play an important role in establishing a brand image. Henceforth, colour serves in particular as a primary tool in store… Read More

Seeing Beyond Retail in Shopping Centres

In recent years shopping centres are inclined to re-evaluate their goals and the functions they are required to fulfill for their customers. The proprietors are facing growing difficulties to attract shoppers to visit and buy at the stores in their shopping centres. Electronic commerce is considered a major factor contributing to the decrease in consumer… Read More

Whole Foods Market in the Hands of Amazon

When Amazon.com acquired the food retail chain Whole Foods Market in the summer of 2017 (for $13.2bn), it stirred bafflement mixed with speculations: What is happening here? To what aim does the giant e-commerce retailer need physical stores of a natural and organic food retail chain? Customers were worried out of concern about what Amazon… Read More