GLG News by GPS Controller Experts (North America)

And they are. Whether it’s manufacturers opening retail stores or retailers getting into the manufacturing business, it’s happening, and it’s working. Apple, Sony, Nokia, and Bose retail stores; Sear’s Craftsman, Safeway’s Organics, Best Buy’s Insignia, Costco’s Kirkland brands are a few good examples...

Retail ended strong in 2006. While the amount of increase was higher than the market might have expected, key trends were not terribly surprising, and should be used as an indicator of  what's to come in 2007.

While Amazon.com was the #1 retail site in dollars spent for the 2006 holiday season, Bestbuy.com was #1 in growth. Walmart.com was #2. According to the data firm ComScore, bricks-and-mortar retailers saw the highest percentage sales increases over 2005. What’s driving their growth? Choice is a wonderful...

Big box retailers are training consumers to shop early or shop late with no really compelling reasons to shop in between. The increasingly promotional activities before Thanksgiving, lead by Wal-Mart this year, followed up by unprecedented pricing on Black Friday created a tough first half of December...

The point and shoot digital camera category is still growing, but maturing. The SLR digital camera category is a relatively new category  - just now emerging in the mass market channel - representing dramatically higher ASPs and accessory add-on opportunities for retailers and manufacturers.

The current drama in marketing is just another distraction from the really big job at hand for Wal-Mart: positioning their brand for health now and in the future. Recently their marketing approach has been schizophrenic, flailing about with one approach and then another, wasting money and confusing...

While not groundbreaking in it’s design, graphics or games, the Wii is groundbreaking in something that may prove out to be much more important over the long term, growing the market for video games, bringing the game console into the living room for social entertainment with friends and family.

Black Friday is about capturing the minds and hearts of holiday shoppers. Share of voice drives share of mind. Share of mind drives share of wallet. Share of wallet drives market share. Bottom line, big box or big ticket items - Black Friday is very important, way beyond Black Friday.

Why choose when you can have both and and get more? Merchant or customer, having both choices adds up to more.Cyber Monday is not a real event.The first Monday after Thanksgiving was recently given this name by the industry to create a sense of an event. The real event is the increasing focus retailers...

Toys R Us drove their customers away. Huge boxes poorly merchandised with mediocre assortments, ineffective supply chain management, and dirty, dingy stores. Wal-Mart and Target really didn’t have to do much to take share. Provide clean, well lighted departments with key item assortments supported by...