NRF has been adamant on the issue stating that sales tax fairness is about more than equality among retailers – it’s about protecting local jobs that are badly needed to support American families and keep towns and cities thriving. States and municipalities are missing out on tax revenue to the tune of $25 billion a year.

Stremberg agreed saying, “I’m a strong believer that before we impose all kinds of new taxes on people, we need to close the loopholes and collect taxes that are already owed.”

The panel also asked an interesting question that is on the minds of retailers across the board: Will the implementation of sales tax fairness – or e-fairness – legislation slow down online commerce? The panel weighs in.

Helping to underscore the importance of imports, NRF has joined with other business organizations this week to mark “Imports Works for America Week,” which promotes the role imports play in supporting the U.S. economy and job creation.

As an industry that supports 42 million working Americans, the retail industry knows firsthand the benefits of imports and trade.

Detailing the importance of imports to the retail industry and our customers, NRF Vice President, International Trade Counsel Erik Autor has authored some insightful comments on Imports Work for American Jobs and Imports Work To Make American Families’ Lives Better, which are both featured on the “Imports Work” website.

According to the survey, Americans will give mom the royal treatment this year. Consumers will shell out an average of $152 on mom, buying everything from flowers and jewelry to apparel and special outings (brunch, dinner, etc.).

What’s most notable, however, is the sheer amount that will be spent on electronic gifts for mom. But we shouldn’t be too surprised; NRF’s Retail Advertising and Marketing Association in 2010 found that moms are more tech-savvy than you think. Of those who will buy electronics, the average person will spend more than $104 on smartphones, tablets, cameras and more, up from $94 last year. That amount has nearly doubled since 2007 when celebrants planned to shell out only $58 on those items.

A few retailers are already offering unique Mother’s Day promotions on gadgets. Best Buy is letting its online shoppers vote for the deal of the day this weekend in anticipation of the holiday, and Walmart has a plethora of electronic gift items for mom’s biggest fans to choose from, including Apple products like iPads, as well as cameras and camera accessories and e-readers.

Obviously, Mother’s Day means different things to different companies. For some it’s more about personalization and memories. Hallmark lets website users personalize any card any way they wish, even offering to stamp it, address it and mail it on whichever day they want. Coach’s “You, your mom and Coach” campaign lets their enormous fan base upload special pictures of women with their moms, which will be featured in the first ever Coach Magazine. All the fun-loving details are on their Facebook page.

Specialty and apparel retailers like TJ Maxx, Macy’s and Sears are aiming to strike a chord with those looking for bright, colorful apparel and accessory gift ideas. Even home improvement retailers know there are plenty of women out there who know very well how to handle a hammer, nails and a 6.5 Amp Jim Saw. Home Depot offers an online gift center that would suit anyone shopping for a do-it-yourself type mom.

With all these great gift ideas, how will you celebrate Mother’s Day? At home with a dinner and a movie and extra-buttered popcorn? Let mom choose her own gift with a gift card to her favorite restaurant or store? Maybe send mom away for a day at the spa while you tackle the kids, cleaning and laundry? Either way, we’re sure mom still holds true to her mantra that it’s the thought that counts – but if you decide to give her something nice, she probably wouldn’t mind.

As retailers and consumers gear up for Mother’s Day, NRF’s Dan Butler shares with CNN Consumer Watch how both sides are preparing for mom’s special day in 2012.

Throughout all the presentations, networking events, and side conversations, I kept hearing the same word—“collaboration.” In such a complex industry, good partnerships are the key to everything from fulfilling orders to ensuring compliance to building efficiencies in the supply chain. Luckily, our attendees included leaders in a range of areas of expertise, providing great opportunities to ask questions and share information and experiences with each other.

Commander Kirk Lippold, US Navy (Ret.)

As the event came to a close on Tuesday, we listened to Commander Kirk Lippold deliver a fascinating keynote about his experience as Commanding Officer of the USS Cole and how his crew saved the ship when it was bombed by al Qaeda in 2000 while refueling in the Yemeni port of Aden.

The story of Lippold and his crew is a pretty extreme example of strong leadership and team competence in a crisis, but it’s an inspiration for all leaders who face daily challenges and prepare for crisis situations. Lippold stressed that leadership involves preparing your teams for the realities they may face, giving them the training they need to succeed and being confident in their abilities, and trusting them to perform. In this instance, training kicked in, and the crew came together, instilled with a sense of leadership, responsibility and personal accountability that came from strong leadership at the top.

Lippold held the crowd’s attention as he conveyed the story with directness and intensity. And as I listened to his speech, and visible respect for his crew and the individuals who serve in the military, I couldn’t help but think that many veterans would probably excel in the complex, logistical, detail-oriented supply chain field. Both today’s retail supply chain leaders and the next in line will need a commitment to integrity, accountability and professional competence more than ever.

That’s why Lippold’s leadership lessons resonated with attendees. As the supply chain world continues to change, it’s important for today’s executives to prepare the next generation of leaders for the challenges that lie ahead. More complexity, greater sophistication, technological advances, more regulations, tough economic conditions and the need to make changes that support sustainability will require both strong partnerships and strong leadership in the coming years.

Greg Johnsen, Chief Marketing Officer and Co-Founder, GT Nexus

Companies have invested a lot in business software designed to automate their business processes. But since much of the data needed to operate effectively is often not owned and created by them, but owned and created by their business partners, they still have a problem getting the information they need when they need it. The cloud supply chain eliminates those problems by letting companies pass information across their business networks, sharing data in real-time so all partners are on the same page.

Visibility is the most obvious benefit. No matter where you are in the world, companies can instantly access information, helping them drive business decisions, respond to crises, adjust to changing conditions or take advantage of new opportunities. But cloud also enables automation for collaborative processes and supply chain intelligence.

And while the world is moving toward the cloud and the benefits are clear, the cloud supply chain is a very complex solution. When looking to move to cloud, Johnsen recommends focusing on a specific part of the supply chain first. Rather than migrate every process over to cloud at once, he suggests taking targeted opportunities and remapping your processes for the cloud. Then, build on your success gradually.

Corey Tyler, Senior Director, Transportation at Menlo Worldwide Logistics

First off, the industry is changing and becoming more complex due to shrinking truckload capacity in North America. Secondly, costs for carriers are increasing on everything from wages to tires to insurance. Unstable fuel costs are another uncontrollable problem, and who bears the burden of rising fuel costs isn’t clear or constant. And thirdly, shippers and carriers are experiencing a lot of regulatory pressures with the enforcement of CSA, HOS and EOBR rules set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, an organization established within the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2000.

Tyler went on to say that a number of factors like driver shortages, carriers leaving the market, and carriers that downsized in 2008 without building up again have made the capacity versus demand relationship unstable. Not to mention increasing rates and regulation changes that have led to driver shortages.

But, Tyler said, it’s not all gloom and doom. There are lots of things shippers can do to protect their business, mitigate risk and reduce costs. If retailers are savvy about their procurement strategy, collect the right metrics that actually drive performance and then use that data to turn it into to actionable steps, the opportunities to increase performance while reducing risk are within reach.

The changing regulatory environment is going to require supply chain professionals to think differently about their operations, including becoming more driver-friendly, considering more environmentally friendly modes, and reducing waste. These changes, while challenging to implement, represent an opportunity to put the industry on a path to greater sustainability.

For example: Let’s say I bought a lovely ceramic birdbath with a wooden base from Crate and Barrel. Crate and Barrel bought it from another vendor, who probably got it from a manufacturer in Thailand, who probably got the wood from another vendor, who probably didn’t harvest the wood himself, wherever that may have occurred. So then, the questions for Crate and Barrel to answer include: Was the plant material harvested legally? What are the genus, species and weight of the plant? In what country was it harvested?

Virginia Thompson, Director of Import/Export Operations and International Trade Compliance at Crate and Barrel

Answering these questions is part of complying with the Lacey Act, which is designed to prevent the trade of illegally harvested plants. But as our panel at today’s session pointed out, when working back through multiple tiers of the supply chain, getting complete, accurate information about the source of raw materials can be very difficult.

NRF’s International Trade Counsel Erik Autor led today’s panel, Managing Corporate Social Responsibility and the Supply Chain at the NRF Supply Chain Summit, that included Virginia Thompson, Director of Import/Export Operations and International Trade Compliance at Crate and Barrel, David Bouffard, Vice President of Public Relations at Sterling Jewelers, Inc. and Elena Lagdameo-Hogan, Assistant General Counsel at The Children’s Place.

It was the feeling of most in the room that when it comes to protecting human rights and the environment, many corporations and the people who run them do what they can to comply with these laws not just because it’s the law but because it’s the right thing to do. But the reality of the compliance process is quite daunting both for retailers and regulators. Along the way, however, the retailers have learned a few tactics that can come in handy when meeting regulations. A few suggestions from our panel included:

Build good relationship with vendors and partners. Vendors are a key part of the process. Each panelist agreed that in working with their vendors, whether with plant material as in the case of Crate and Barrel, or gold and minerals in the case of Sterling Jewelers, or cotton for apparel at The Children’s Place, vendors are very cooperative. However, the ongoing challenge lies in getting accurate and complete information about the source of the materials after so many tiers of suppliers.

Collaborate with other retailers and organizations. Lagdameo-Hogan pointed out that there is no single source of standards in the textile/apparel and footwear industries, which presents a challenge when working with suppliers. However sharing audit data with other retailers and joining initiatives such as GAFTI and Better Work can help move the ball forward. And if the scope of the information you need goes beyond your capabilities, partner with organizations that have expertise in that area and can relieve some of the burden.

Stay involved in NRF and keep an eye on legislation. As lawmakers consider passing more legislation, it’s important to stay in the know. Trade organizations like NRF can help provide updates and alert retailers to legislation that can affect their business.

In front of a packed room at the NRF Global Supply Chain Summitthis morning, Raj described how Sears adjusted its supply chain model to better deliver on its marketing promises – that no matter how, when or where you shop, you’ll get the same great experience and the goods in hand quickly. Fulfilling that promise is the task of the supply chain, Raj says, but to do it effectively, supply chain professionals have to be a little innovative.

Raj Penkar, SVP & President, Supply Chain, Sears Holdings Corporation

Sears has piloted a few new supply chain models that leverage existing inventory and existing retail distribution centers, meaning a small number of store locations now fulfill online orders. More than 90 percent of online orders for big-ticket items are delivered the next day using a network of nearly a dozen of what Sears calls direct delivery centers and marketing delivery operations across the nation. So even if an order comes in at 5 p.m., a direct delivery center (DDC) ships the item to the marketing delivery operation (MDO) in the customer’s neck of the woods, and by the next morning, a trained technician is delivering and installing your fridge.

For smaller items, Sears checks the nearest store capable of shipping first. Though Raj said stores can’t reach the same level of efficiency as a DC, with a few adjustments and some trained staff members, a small number of Sears’ stores include a sort of “mini-DC” that allows the store personnel to fulfill orders. Online orders from the region go first to this fully equipped store for fulfillment and to a DC if the inventory isn’t available from the store.

The model has been successful for Sears, along with other strategies to leverage existing inventory, assets and real estate, such as modifying retail distribution centers to fulfill online orders as well.

When fielding questions from the audience, Penkar stressed the importance of selecting a small number of stores that fulfill a large number of online orders, and then equipping those stores with the resources and staff needed to do the job well. After all, the goal is to provide a seamless customer experience regardless of where an order comes from. That’s the challenge of the integrated, or omnichannel, retail supply chain of today.

]]> http://blog.nrf.com/2012/05/07/nrf-global-supply-chain-summit-kicks-off-in-atlanta/feed/ 0 http://blog.nrf.com/2012/05/07/nrf-global-supply-chain-summit-kicks-off-in-atlanta/ http://feeds.nrf.com/~r/RetailsBigBlog/~3/eOfTr-WqrUo/ http://blog.nrf.com/2012/05/03/a-cinderella-story-the-this-is-retail-edition/#comments Thu, 03 May 2012 12:08:19 +0000 Tony Fontana, Coordinator, Communications & Public Affairs http://blog.nrf.com/?p=13529 In January, NRF announced a multi-faceted campaign as part of the Retail Means Jobs initiative to find the best retail story in America. After a panel of retail executives narrowed down the competition from nearly 100 submissions down to 20, America cast their votes throughout the month of April to determine the Top 3. As we announce our finalists for the This is Retail nationwide video contest, we can’t help but see a few similarities amongst them – all three are small business owners, dedicated philanthropists to their local communities, and women that understand the influence and opportunity of the retail industry.

But there’s one more similarity that truly proves the diversity and strength of America’s retailers. Tanna Dang of Eden in Love, Susan Kaufman of Market Alley Wines, and Kim Williams of The Polka Dot Press moved on to later rounds while some of the larger retailers were unable to garner enough votes to advance past their respective matchups. The takeaway: Retailers in small towns or markets are equally as important as those operating in big cities.

These three women are now local legends with the opportunity to share their stories on a national platform. Tanna Dang from Honolulu, Hawaii uses retail as an avenue to help charities in her community. Realizing she can use Eden in Love to give back, Tanna plans to use her winnings to help a village in Thailand or China by supplying tools and training to sustain healthy living. Susan Kaufman from Monmouth, Illinois is the perfect example of how powerful a community can be when they work together. She left her career to create a true destination for the locals of Monmouth and plans to start a jazz and wine festival with her prize money to make a greater economic impact on her town. Kim Williams from Tallahassee, Florida began as a one-woman operation and online only retailer, eventually growing to own her first store in The Market District. Her neighbors and customers in the Tallahassee community urged her to open a brick-and-mortar location and showed their appreciation by voting her into our Top 3.

From television,  radio, and print, to university newsletters and social media, everyone has come out to support these businesses. Even a few state governors, state retail associations, and members of Congress caught contest fever.

These three Cinderella stories are perfect examples of what retail is all about – making a positive and personal impact to communities all across America and beyond. The three finalists will be ranked rankings will be announced on May 16 at NRF’s Washington Leadership Conference. Make sure you check back then to find out who will be crowned the Best Retail Story in America.