Training & Resources

Study data illuminates emerging trends that can help retailers as they work to counteract the inflationary hangover, and effectively reach, serve and retain today's price-conscious consumers.

Latest key market indicators for Canada's retail real estate sector including spending volume, rents and growth forecasts.

Interested in more real estate and regional retail reports by Colliers International? Click here to view their extensive library.

This collaborative research between Industry Canada and the Retail Council of Canada is intended to help Canadian retail sector executives as well as decision makers enhance their understanding of current market trends, the strategic significance of retail sector innovation and practices that improve business competitiveness across industries.
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In this issue, we examine the politics of pricing and how consumers are fighting back, Brazil’s coming of age, the rise of nutraceuticals and functional foods, the use of derivatives in easing food price volatility, and the sustainability reporting strategies that cutting-edge companies are currently employing.

This edition of ConsumerCurrents is an essential read for companies faced with challenges in their supply chains. The cover story looks at how price volatility and uncertainty in food commodities may be undermining the entire industry. Another article on supply chains proposes how companies may overcome some of the most daunting of their supply chain challenges.

This edition of Consumer Currents discussed how trends such as water scarcity, emerging markets, private label brands and global talent shortages are impacting consumer markets companies. Also, the publication features an exclusive interview with Nestlé's Executive Vice President and Zone Director for Asia, Oceania, Africa and Middle East, Frits van Dijk on the challenge of conquering emerging markets.

A report by KPMG's Retail Sector examines the rising influence of today's global consumer on traditional industry retail models.

This edition of six articles focuses on the opportunities that are emerging from today's much changed consumer markets environment. With costs fluctuating, the need for innovative and creative brand management, and a possible paradigm shift in consumer behaviour, we look at new thinking outlining how consumer companies can thrive in the radically altered consumer markets landscape.

The purpose of the Code is to demonstrate the industry's commitment to:

1. Ensuring that merchants are fully aware of the costs associated with accepting credit and debit card payments thereby allowing merchants to reasonably forecast their monthly costs related to accepting such payments.
2. Providing merchants with increased pricing flexibility to encourage consumers to choose the lowest-cost payment option.
3. Allowing merchants to freely choose which payment options they will accept.

Considering the complex and ever-evolving nature of Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance, Retail Council of Canada performed a study of the industry to determine the current status of Canadian retailers and their progress toward achieving the end goal. In addition to identifying progress toward PCI compliance, the study has also provided RCC with a general overview of the assistance that is needed by some retailers in order to achieve compliance.

This discussion paper describes the evolution of the Task Force's thinking, and elaborates on the goal of becoming a world leader in payments by articulating the principles we feel must be respected. It sets out the fundamental challenges as we see them, and carves out the elements of a proposed Governance Framework we will continue to refine.

In a global online survey of nearly 1,000 executives in the financial services, technology, telecommunications and retail industries, this report explores opportunities and barriers to the adoption of mobile payments, and provides insight into the forces shaping the mobile payments market – both today and in the future.

At the most fundamental level this document aims to bring clarity to the complex and controversial issue of unsaleables management and to provide you with a starting point from which you can improve your company’s ongoing management of this issue.
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Today, Health and Safety is recognized as playing a far more significant role in the workplace as a driver of productivity and increased employee engagement. Yet, there remains much that can be done in order to ensure an even safer environment for retail employees. Retail Council of Canada (RCC) with Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS) are pleased to partner in the development of this practical guide to assist you in your efforts to ensure a safe and healthy work environment. This guide will also help retailers better understand their obligations while providing useful tools to enhance their safety programs.

For more Health & Safety Resources, visit our Health & Safety page

Apparel Human Resources Council
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Starting late in 2008, Innovative Research Group Inc. and Jacobson Consulting Inc. conducted an extensive situational analysis that provided Retail Council of Canada — along with retail stakeholders in Canada — with up-to-date and relevant labour market information for the retail sector. Key topics included:

• Current labour market information on occupations in the sector;
• National trends in training and labour conditions; and
• A review of the structure of the industry.

Though we all wish it were not so, the fact is theft and fraud are issues that retailers across Canada must wrestle with every day. A recent poll of independent retailers conducted by Ipsos Reid on behalf of Retail Council of Canada and RBC confirms this, with 87 per cent of Canada's small and medium-sized retail business owners reporting they have been victimized by retail crime within the past year.

Most counterfeits enter circulation at a retail point of sale. As cash handlers, that puts you on the front lines in the fight against counterfeiting. The new polymer notes have leading-edge security features that are both easy to check and hard to counterfeit.
Please remember—security features are helpful only if you use them. So know your notes, routinely check them, and be ready to halt a counterfeit in its tracks to protect yourself and your customers from this crime.
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This report presents how apparel industry leaders have made changes to their internal purchasing practices and corporate structures as part of the continued efforts to improve factory working conditions. Interviews with industry leaders detail how innovative purchasing practices impact both compliance and cost savings. Examples from Gap Inc., Jones Apparel, Levi Strauss & Co., Nike, Nordstrom, Phillips-Van Heusen, and Timberland show numerous benefits of having an effectively managed supply chain.

This systematic review synthesize the entire body of research on socially conscious consumerism. The authors reviewed thousands of studies from both academia and practice.

Designed for executives and senior supply chain, purchasing and sustainability managers, this systematic review synthesizes 194 studies spanning 25 years of research on sustainable supply chains and presents frameworks for developing competitive and sustainable global supply chains.

The Network's Leadership Council meets annually to identify the greatest challenges facing Canadian business. For the top two priorities each year, the Network funds leading international researchers to conduct rigorous systematic reviews of the topics.

Today's CEOs are more committed than ever to creating a sustainable business. Yet the motivator is no longer just social responsibility; it's now equally about achieving high performance measured in terms such as lower costs, stronger customer relationships and increased revenues.

As part of Retail Council of Canada's ongoing commitment to sustainability within the retail sector, we completed a Market Characterization Study. The primary goal of this research project was to better understand the current needs, opportunities, and barriers to retail engagement in energy conservation activities. This allowed RCC to evaluate the effectiveness of the current approach to energy conservation in Ontario which, in turn, led to a series of recommendations on how to increase retail and consumer participation in energy conservation initiatives across the province.

With independent retailers in mind, Retail Council of Canada (RCC) partnered with Microsoft, BAASS, and Second Foundation to develop a guide that focuses on retail technology systems available to small-sized retailers. This guide explains the benefits of different technologies for your store, identifies the functionalities you want to have in your store and offers questions to help you start a conversation with a technology vendor.
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Building strong leadership capacity is one of the top strategic business priorities facing organizations today. Many senior HR leaders in Canada's retail sector are concerned about the potential leadership gap within their organizations and the impact it is having on their ability to drive sustained future growth of their educational institutions.
As part of the Retail Council of Canada's HR Conference, Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions conducted a survey to better understand current practices in building leadership capacity.

Retail Council of Canada conducted the 2010 Retail Technology in Canada Survey to provide a general overview of the retail technology landscape. In addition to providing the association with significant insights into our industry's technology usage and needs, the survey has also provided a perspective into the future direction of technology in retail.
Executive Summary.