Human Resources

As shoppers become increasingly connected, online retailers in 2013 will get back to basics, focusing on strategies and tactics to improve the customer experience and increase web conversion and loyalty across all devices

Bringing together the world’s leading retailers and their business partners, Retail’s BIG Show is set to commence next week, offering a speaker lineup never seen before. The four-day convention, held January 13-16, 2013 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, will feature topics ranging from digital and mobile retailing to corporate and social responsibility to economic and consumer trends in the new year.

Christmas came early for 24 college students when they learned they were recipients of a $5,000 scholarship through the NRF Foundation’s Ray M. Greenly Scholarship fund. Each student, nominated by educators at their schools based on their high scholastic achievements and passion for retail, will receive a $5,000 scholarship to cover educational costs and a stipend to attend Retail’s BIG Show in January.

According to a preliminary Black Friday shopping survey, up to 147 million people plan to shop Black Friday weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), a slight decrease from the 152 million who planned to do so last year.

With retailers providing increasingly creative ways for gift cards to be personalized and delivered, NRF’s 2012 holiday consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight shows that 81.1 percent of shoppers will purchase at least one gift card and will spend an average of $156.86 on gift cards, the highest amount in the survey’s 10-year history.

According to the National Retail Federation’s holiday consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight, 52.8 percent of Americans have already started their holiday shopping, up from 51.4 percent last year.

The National Retail Federation announced today that Bill Simon, president and chief executive officer of Walmart U.S. will keynote Retail’s BIG Show, January 13-16, 2013 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City.

More than two dozen colleges and universities have joined the NRF Foundation as partners through a program that provides educators and students exclusive access to retail industry research, educational events and other industry networking opportunities.

Tempered by political and fiscal uncertainties but supported by signs of improvement in consumer confidence, holiday sales this year will increase 4.1 percent to $586.1 billion. NRF’s 2012 holiday forecast is higher than the 10-year average holiday sales increase of 3.5 percent. Actual holiday sales in 2011 grew 5.6 percent.

The National Retail Federation, in partnership with its member companies, today announced the launch of the Integrated Mobile Initiative (IMI), a first-of-its-kind, initiative that will serve as the single source for information about the challenges and opportunities that exist within mobile retailing.

NRF/BIGinsight survey finds consumers will spend more on school and college as consumers replenish children's needs and more children enter school.

Growing in severity, number and type, retailers are reporting organized retail crime (ORC) has become more troublesome than ever before. Of the 125 retail companies surveyed for NRF’s eighth annual Organized Retail Crime Survey, a record-setting (96.0%) say their company has been the victim of organized retail crime in the past year,

Shop.org will welcome two of the industry’s most influential and prominent executives to its Annual Summit this September in Denver. Jerry Storch, chairman and CEO, Toys“R”Us, Inc., and Jamie Nordstrom, president of Nordstrom Direct will both keynote at the event,

Hawaii has a shining star in Ms. Tanna Dang as the Honolulu boutique owner today was awarded the top $25,000 prize in the National Retail Federation’s inaugural “This is Retail” video contest.

The National Retail Federation today announced the final three winners of its “This is Retail” video contest, determined after a week of public voting through NRF’s Retail Means Jobs website.

The National Retail Federation announced today that Bill Thorne has been named the association’s Senior Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs.

The National Retail Federation today announced the top 10 finalists of its “This is Retail” video contest, determined after a week of public voting through NRF’s Retail Means Jobs website.