The Association of Retail Technology Standards is an organization of retailers and vendors who have come together to create an extensive set of standards to reduce the cost and time for upgrading existing applications or adding new capabilities. To understand the depth of support that ARTS offers, consider that the granddaddy of ARTS standards, the ARTS Data Model, has more than seven hundred tables and seven thousand attributes.

In this new guide, author Richard Halter reveals how ARTS standards can help your business turn more consumers into customers and maximize profits. You can learn how to

- communicate better with potential customers;- harness the power of social retailing;- boost the success of promotions and discounts; and- organize your store to maximize sales.

Written in a language that everyone can understand, this guidebook explains how ARTS works together to help retailers and vendors. Take your business to a higher performing level and put more money in your pocket with ARTS for Retail.

Shopping is one of the most challenging and rewarding human activities. Pooler offers a captivating exploration of the emotional and psychological dimensions of shopping. What drives shoppers in various situations? Why do we shop the way we do? Why do people go to malls, boutiques, and Web sites with their credit cards in hand, despite not knowing what it is they're looking for? This book answers such questions, taking an incisive look at how shopping and shoppers have changed in recent years. For those in retailing and marketing, this guide to the fickle consumer's mindset offers concrete and practical advice on modern shopping behavior, along with important insights into the shopping psyche. Comprehending why people shop as they do is a daunting challenge for today's retailer. For example, why do people shop for bargain groceries yet purchase the latest luxury-model SUV? Why do people feel justified in splurging for Christmas, birthdays, or anniversaries, but suffer guilt from over-spending at other times of the year? Is clothes-shopping all about price and practicality, or is it more about emotional reward and psychological needs? Is the excitement in the quest or the acquisition? Why is there such a thing as a morning-after "urge to return" among certain shoppers, while others refuse to return an item even if it's flawed or doesn't fit? Pooler probes to the heart of today's complex shopper, providing valuable insights for retailers, advertisers, marketers, and consumers.

This is the first major biography of Alexander T. Stewart, known during his lifetime as The Merchant Prince for his success in retail, wholesale, and manufacturing in New York City. At the time of his death in 1876, Stewart was one of the three wealthiest men in America, along with William B. Astor and Cornelius Vanderbilt. But, because he died with no surviving children, his name has all but been forgotten. In this work, Stewart is revived, his remarkable success as the father of the department store examined, and his great contributions to retailing acknowledged and recounted. Not only a definitive account, this story of a major figure in America's Gilded Age, as told by Stephen Elias, is also an absorbing tale.

This work fills a gap in the literature on American history and the history of our retail trade. It will be of use to historians, students of merchandising, and those interested in New York's golden age.

In 1867, less than three years after the Civil War left the city in ruins, Hungarian Jewish immigrant Morris Rich opened a small dry goods store on what is now Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta. Over time, his brothers Emanuel and Daniel joined the business; within a century, it became a retailing dynasty. Join historian Jeff Clemmons as he traces Rich's 137-year history. For the first time, learn the true stories behind Penelope Penn, Fashionata, The Great Tree, the Pink Pig, Rich's famous coconut cake and much more, including how events at the downtown Atlanta store helped John F. Kennedy become America's thirty-fifth president. With an eye for accuracy and exacting detail, Clemmons recounts the complete history of this treasured southern institution.

Grocery shopping is an often ignored part of the story of how food ultimately gets to our pantry shelves and tables. "A Theory of Grocery Shopping" explores the social organization of grocery shopping by linking the lived experience of grocery shoppers and retail managers in the US with information transmitted by nutritionists, government employees, financial advisors, journalists, health care providers and marketers, who influence the way we think about and perform the work of shopping for a household's food. The author provides insight into the contradictory messages that shape how consumers provision their households, and details how consumers respond to these messages. The book challenges the consumer choice model that places responsibility on the shopper for making the "right" choice at the grocery store, thereby ignoring the larger social forces at work, which determine what products are available and how they get to the shelves.

"A Theory of Shopping" offers a highly original perspective on one of our most basic everyday activities - shopping. We commonly assume that shopping is primarily concerned with individuals and materialism. But Miller rejects this assumption and follows the surprising route of analysing shopping by means of an analogy with anthropological studies of sacrificial ritual. He argues that the act of purchasing goods is almost always linked to other social relations, and most especially those based on love and care.

The ethnographic sections of the book are based on a year's study of shopping on a street in North London. This provides the basis for a sensitive description of the issues the shopper confronts when making decisions as to what to buy. Miller develops a theory to account for these observations, arguing that shopping typically consists of three major stages which reflect the three key stages of many rites of sacrifice. In both shopping and sacrifice the ultimate intention is to constitute others as desiring subjects. Finally the book examines certain historical shifts in both subjects and objects of devotion, in particular, ideals of gender and love.

This treatment of shopping from the perspective of comparative anthropology represents a highly innovative approach to one of the most familiar tasks of our daily lives. Written in a clear and accessible manner, this book will be of interest to students and academics in anthropology, sociology and cultural studies, as well as anybody who wants to consider more deeply the nature of their own everyday activities.

The story of Britain's market halls-built to replace traditional open-air markets throughout England, Wales, and Scotland-is a tale of exuberant architecture, civic pride, and attempts at social engineering. This book is the first history of the market hall, an immensely important building type that revolutionized the way Britons obtained their consumer goods. James Schmiechen and Kenneth Carls investigate the economic, cultural, political, and social forces that led to the construction of several hundred market buildings in the two centuries after 1750. The market hall was frequently vast in scale, revolutionary in plan, and elaborately ornamented-indeed, it was often the most important architectural statement a proud town might make. Drawing on a wide range of contemporary records, the authors show how municipal authorities used market buildings to improve the supply and distribution of food, convey social ideals, control social and economic behavior, and declare a town's virtues. For the Victorians, Schmiechen and Carls argue, the enormous investment of energy, seriousness, and funding in the market hall reflected a belief that architecture was a primary agent of social reform and improvement. Generously illustrated with more than 180 drawings and photographs, this book also includes a Gazetteer with information about some 300 specific market buildings. Published with assistance from the Annie Burr Lewis Fund

Globalization has pushed the use of technology in business with advancing information and communication technology becoming a key factor in the future development of the retailing industry. Technology applications have significantly contributed to the exponential growth and profits of retailing institutions worldwide. ""Information Communication Technologies and Globalization of Retailing Applications"" critically examines the synergy of technology use and conventional wisdom in retailing and explores contemporary changes determining higher customer value. Discussions in this book encompass strategy implications for managers to optimize their advantage in retailing through the application of ICT, bridging the customer-technology gap.

This volume discusses continuous improvement strategies of Japanese convenience store operators. The study highlights the efforts of companies operating under lean management systems to identify new, dynamic, firm-specific capabilities in highly competitive markets.

The continued advancement of globalization, increases in internet connectivity, compatibility of international payment systems, and adaptability of logistics and shipping processes have combined to contribute to the rapid growth of the cross-border e-commerce market. Due to these advancements and the ubiquitous presence of smartphones, consumer use of cross-border e-commerce is increasingly simplified, and thus, sellers are hardly restricted to a specific country in terms of promoting, selling, and shipping goods worldwide. The burgeoning opportunities, habits, and trends of shopping on cross-border e-commerce platforms have expedited the prospect of becoming a presence in the global market. This is true for enterprises of all sizes, especially for small? and medium?sized enterprises (SMEs) that want to add their footprint in the international market for the first time. Like any other industry, cross-border e-commerce has its specific economics and driving forces, but has different scopes, challenges, and trends due to the geographic and cultural expanse of relevant environments. Cross-Border E-Commerce Marketing and Management was conceptualized by identifying the scope of new complementary information with a comprehensive understanding of the issues and potential of cross-border e-commerce businesses. The authors believe that this book will not only fill the void in the current research but will also provide far-sighted vision and strategies, as it covers big data, artificial intelligence, IoT, supply chain management, and more. This book provides the necessary knowledge to managers to compete with the competitive market structure and ultimately contribute to the sustainable economic growth of a country. It works as a guideline for existing cross-border e-commerce managers to formulate individual strategies that combine to optimize the industry while keeping the enterprise competitive. This book is useful in both developed and developing country contexts. This publication is an ideal resource for academicians, policy makers, stakeholders, and cross-border e-commerce managers, especially from SMEs.

Continuous improvements in digitized practices have created opportunities for businesses to develop more streamlined processes. This not only leads to higher success in day-to-day production, but it also increases the overall success of businesses. E-Manufacturing and E-Service Strategies in Contemporary Organizations is a critical scholarly resource that explores the advances in cloud-based solutions in the service and manufacturing realms of corporations and promotes communication between customers and service providers and manufacturers. Featuring coverage on a wide range of topics including smart manufacturing, internet banking, database system adoption, this book is geared towards researchers, professionals, managers, and academicians seeking current and relevant research on the improvement of cloud-based systems for manufacturing and service.

A cantankerously funny view of books and the people who love them. It does take all kinds and through the misanthropic eyes of a very grumpy bookseller, we see them all--from the "Person Who Doesn't Know What They Want (But Thinks It Might Have a Blue Cover)" to the "Parents Secretly After Free Childcare." From behind the counter, Shaun Bythell catalogs the customers who roam his shop in Wigtown, Scotland. There's the Expert (divided into subspecies from the Bore to the Helpful Person), the Young Family (ranging from the Exhausted to the Aspirational), Occultists (from Conspiracy Theorist to Craft Woman). Then there's the Loiterer (including the Erotica Browser and the Self-Published Author), the Bearded Pensioner (including the Lyrca Clad), and the The Not-So-Silent Traveller (the Whistler, Sniffer, Hummer, Farter, and Tutter). Two bonus sections include Staff and, finally, Perfect Customer--all add up to one of the funniest book about books you'll ever find. Shaun Bythell (author of Confessions of a Bookseller) and his mordantly unique observational eye make this perfect for anyone who loves books and bookshops. "Bythell is having fun and it's infectious."--Scotsman "Virtuosic venting ... misanthropy with bursts of sweetness." Guardian "All the ingredients for a gentle human comedy are here, as soothing as a bag of boiled sweets and just as tempting to dip into."--Literary Review "Any reader finding this book in their stocking on Christmas morning should feel lucky...contains plenty to amuse--an excellent diversion"--Bookmunch

Learn about the luxury brand industry from the inside out with this masterful and insightful resource The newly revised Fourth Edition of Luxury Brand Management in Digital and Sustainable Times delivers a timely re-examination of what constitutes the contemporary luxury brand landscape and the current trends that shape the sector. Distinguished experts and authors Michel Chevalier and Gerald Mazzalovo provide readers with a comprehensive treatment of the macro- and micro-economic aspects of management, communication, distribution, logistics, and creation in the luxury industry. Readers will learn about the growing importance of authenticity and sustainability in the management of fashion, perfume, cosmetics, spirits, hotels and hospitality, jewelry, and other luxury brands, as well as the strategic issues facing the companies featured in the book. The new edition offers: A new chapter on the "Luxury of Tomorrow," with a particular focus on authenticity and durable development A completely revised chapter on "Communication in Digital Times," which takes into account the digital dimension of brand identity and its implications on customer engagement activities and where the concept of Customer Journey is introduced as a key marketing tool A rewritten chapter on "Luxury Clients" that considers the geographical changes in luxury consumption Considerations on the emerging notion of "New Luxury" Major updates to the data and industry figures contained within the book and a new section dedicated to the hospitality industry New semiotic analytical tools developed from the authors' contemporary brand management experiences Perfect for MA and MBA students, Luxury Brand Management also belongs on the bookshelves of marketing, branding, and advertising professionals who hope to increase their understanding of the major trends and drivers of success in this sector.

As financial systems migrate to a pervasive, online environment, business leaders and layman investors alike must adapt to changes in the market brought about by this new age of business. Strategic E-Commerce Systems and Tools for Competing in the Digital Marketplace advances the body of knowledge on electronic business and commerce with an in-depth look at the opportunities and concerns surrounding online business and finance. This cutting-edge reference aids business leaders, financial managers, investors, and consumers looking to build their portfolios and thrive in modern digital business environments.

From the Civil War through the Great Depression small businessmen and their stores dominated retailing in nearly every city and town. Within the walls of their shops, grocers wrestled with fundamental changes in the structures of industrial and commercial capitalism, including the development of mass production, distribution, and marketing, the growth of regional and national markets, and the introduction of new organizational and business methods. Yet today we know very little about the considerable achievements of these small businessmen and their corner stores and even less about their major contributions to the making of "modern" enterprise in the United States. Popular stereotypes of Rockwellian storekeepers as avuncular men who prevailed over pickle-barrel conversations and checkers games, have characterized grocery retailers as backward and resistant to modernizing impulses. Cornering the Market challenges these conventions to argue that nineteenth- and early twentieth-century grocers were important but unsung innovators of business models and retail technologies that fostered the rise of contemporary retailing. Small businessmen revolutionized business practices from the bottom by becoming the first to own and operate cash registers, develop new distribution paths, and engage in transforming the grocery trade from local enterprises to a nationwide industry. Drawing on private thoughts from storekeepers' diaries, business ledgers and documents, and the letters of merchants, wholesalers, traveling men, and consumers, Spellman shows how proprietors confronted industrialization by crafting solutions centered on notions of efficiency, scale, and price controls, without abandoning local ties, turning social concepts of community into commercial profitability. It was a powerful combination businesses from chain stores to Wal-Mart continue to exploit in the twenty-first century.

As media evolves with technological improvement, communication changes alongside it. In particular, storytelling and narrative structure have adapted to the new digital landscape, allowing creators to weave immersive and enticing experiences that captivate viewers. These experiences have great potential in marketing and advertising, but the medium's methods are so young that their potential and effectiveness is not yet fully understood. Handbook of Research on Transmedia Storytelling, Audience Engagement, and Business Strategies is a collection of innovative research that explores transmedia storytelling and digital marketing strategies in relation to audience engagement. Highlighting a wide range of topics including promotion strategies, business models, and prosumers and influencers, this book is ideally designed for digital creators, advertisers, marketers, consumer analysts, media professionals, entrepreneurs, managers, executives, researchers, academicians, and students.

Concentration tendencies, globalization, increasing cost pressure and well-informed customers all make up the hard competition faced by today's businesses. The "right" products, a successful market image, a strong positioning between suppliers and customers, efficient logistics and optimum organization structures contribute to a company's survival. Achieving this goal requires flexible information and communication systems that are fully adaptable to the specific situation. Modern retail information systems are not bound by organization borders but support both business partner cooperation and electronic commerce. This book presents the architecture of retail information systems, as well as the functions of SAP Retail, and in so doing links modern retail management with the implementation strategies based on innovative software systems.

Fashion is a business of smoke and mirrors, notorious for crushing the souls of most who dare to be part of the industry. Go on a global expedition with New York City-based fashion buyer, strategist, and consultant, Mercedes Gonzalez, as she learns that there is no glamour in fashion and that only cutthroat corporate espionage prevails. From politicking with blood diamond dealers and Russian kingpins to living in indigenous villages, she has relied on her street smarts and fear of her uncle in order to outwit the industry tyrants at their own game. The underdog becomes the overlord (at-large). You'll want to grab a notebook for all the business (and life) tips this read has to offer. Advance warning, this book will convince you to become a proponent of child labor, an advocate of GMO, and a cynic of organic cotton.

As retailing becomes an increasingly important part of economics worldwide, the similarities and differences of retailing from country to country are now more evident. Retailing in the European Union is a unique and timely study of the difference retail structures across Europe, offering an insightful overview of the internationalisation of retailing and asking important questions about the effectiveness of different retailing sectors.