No other guide covers the complete retail picture like this exciting new volume. America's retail industry is in the midst of vast changes - superstores and giant discounters are popping up on major corners. Malls are lagging while "power towns" are surging ahead. Savvy firms are combining bricks, clicks and catalogs to create multi-channel retail powerhouses. Online auction firms like eBay, along with ecommerce giants like Amazon.com and Blue Nile are taking increasing market share from stores.
Who are the hottest retailers? What lies ahead? Our market research section shows you the trends and a thorough analysis of retail technologies, chain stores, shopping centers, mergers, finances and future growth within the industry. Included are several major statistical tables showing everything from total U.S. retail sales year by year and by sector, to shopping center statistics, to consumer demographics.
Meanwhile, the corporate profiles section covering Plunkett's Retail 500 Firms gives you complete profiles of the leading, fastest growing retail chains across the nation. From Wal-Mart and Costco to Barnes & Noble and Amazon, we profile the major companies that marketing executives, investors and job seekers most want to know about. (Our list includes leading U.S.-based companies, publicly and privately held, plus an impressive list of the most important foreign retailers.) These profiles include corporate name, address, phone, fax, web site, growth plans, competitive advantage, financial histories and up to 27 executive contacts by title.
This exciting new book (with database on CD-ROM) covers competitive intelligence, market research and business analysis--everything you need to know about the retail business, including:
- Analysis of major retailing and retail store business trends and markets.
- Historical retail industry statistics and tables.
- Profiles of major chain store and specialty store operators, such as The Gap, Barnes & Noble, Intimate Brands and many, many more.
- Profiles of food retailers of all types, from convenience store operators like 7-11 to giant supermarket chains like Albertsons and HEB.
- Emerging technologies, including self checkout and RFID (radio frequency ID tag).
- Profiles and trends of top department store chains, including Dillards, Saks, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus.
- Profiles and trends of leading discount store and warehouse club operators, like Wal-Mart, Costco and Target.
- A discussion of trends in e-commerce and Internet-based retailing, including synergies of “bricks and clicks.”
- A discussion of trends and profiles of leading companies in such non-store retailing and direct-marketing areas as consumer catalogs, party-based sales, multi-level marketing, television shopping and mail order.
- Retail opportunities in China.
- Entertainment and travel-based retail opportunities.
- Distribution centers and logistics.
- Retail mergers, acquisitions and private equity.
You'll find a complete overview, industry analysis and market research report in one superb, value-priced package. This book also includes statistical tables, a retail industry glossary, retail industry contacts and thorough indexes. The corporate profile section of the book includes our proprietary, in-depth profiles of the 500 leading companies in all facets of retailing, retail technologies and retail support services. This book is available in printed, eBook and online versions. Purchasers of the printed or eBook edition will also receive a free copy of the company profiles database on CD-ROM.
Reviews:
"In this retail trade guide, Plunkett covers the retail industry in detail. The
introductory chapter contains an overview of the retail industry with trends and statistics. Chapters 2 through 5 discuss useful retail industry contact sources with World Wide Web addresses; online retailing and nonstore retailers; retail sites on the Web by broad subject and Web addresses; malls, superstores and shopping centers; and employment, careers, earnings and job outlook in the retail trade. The detailed and varied information found here on retail trade is difficult to easily access elsewhere in one volume. The almanac should be a welcome addition to business and large public and academic libraries that deal with the retail trade side of business."
American Reference Books Annual
"…This audience should consider this reference essential: it analyzes the latest statistics on retail industry growth and trends, covering everything from malls and superstores to mail-order businesses, and presents in-depth profiles on companies which provide keys to overall industry operations. An important reference."
Internet Bookwatch
"Large discounters like Wal-Mart that offer customers a wide array of low-priced merchandise in one convenient location dominate today's retail scene. One might guess that Plunkett's aspires to a similar niche in the business reference market as a convenient one-stop source of information about the American retail industry. Included in this premier edition are an overview of the retail industry; a chapter on careers in retailing; lists of retail industry contacts, selected retailing sites on the World Wide Web, shopping center and outlet center mall owners and managers; and profiles of … companies selected for 'their prominence in retail fields and related support industries… Plunkett's is recommended for libraries with demand for information about the retail industry."
CHOICE magazine of the American Library Association