Retail Twitter Handles to Follow

General Retailing, Industry News and Tips
Retail Week @RetailWeek

Retail Wire @RetailWire
RIS @RISnewsInsights
Hanover Research @hanover4bix
Retail Minded @RetailMinded
Retail Online Magazine @RetailOnlineMag
One Step Retail Solutions @OneStepRetail
Future of Retail Alliance @joinFORA
NY Times Retail Reporter @stephcliff

Retail Technology / Technology
Point of Sale News @PointOfSaleNews
One Step Retail Solutions @OneStepRetail
Tech Crunch @TechCrunch
Retail Digital @RetailDigital
NCR Counterpoint: @NCRCorporation
Retail Pro: @RetailProNews

Hiring / Personnel
The Retail Life @theRetailLife
Find Hire @FindHire
Work in Retail @WorkinRetail
NRF Retail Careers @Retail_Careers

Consultants / Training
Evan Carmichael @EvanCarmichael
Retail Smart Guys @danjab
Retail Touch Points @RTouchPoints
Retail Concepts @RetailConcepts
The Retail Doctor @theRetailDoctor
Retail Mavens @RetailMavens

Associations
NRF News - National Retail Federation @NRFnews
RSPA @RSPA
Board Retail Association @BoardRetailers
Florida Retail Association @FloridaRetail
Michigan Retail Association @MichRetail
California Fashion Association: @calfashion
Canadian Apparel Federation: @caf_apparel
Museum Store Association: @MSAconnect
Jewelers of America: @Jewelers_JA
Association of Zoos and Aquariums: @zoos_aquariums
American Nursery & Landscape Association: @american_hort
American Apparel and Footwear Association: @apparelfootwear
Brewer’s Association: @BrewersAssoc
Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America: @FDRA
Game Manufacturers Association: @GamaOnline
International Council for Shopping Centers: @ICSC
National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers: @NASGW_Pros
National Sporting Goods Association: @NSGASportingGds
North American Home Furnishings: @theNAHFA
Sports and Fitness Industry Association: @theSFIA

Visual Merchandising and Design
Retail Details @retail_details
King Retail Solutions @KingRetail
DDI Online @DDItweets
Store Signs @StoreSigns
Retail Design Blog: @RetailDesignBG

Promotion and Marketing
Snap Retail @SnapRetail
Brand Spank @BrandSpankShop
Plastic Resource @PlasticResource
Postcard Mania @PostcardMania

Retail Real Estate
Retail Traffic @RetailTraffic
CBRE @CBRE

Style and Fashion
Racked National @Racked
Lifestyle Lemonaid @LifeStyleLemonaid
Women's Wear Daily @WomensWearDaily
Refinery29 @refinery29
Red Carpet Fashion: @Fashion_Critic_

Connect with Your Customers Using Social Media

Peter Pishko VP of Operations at One Step Retail Solutions

Recently while researching a prospect, I visited their web site and read an interesting time line on the origins of the company. It was very witty and clearly demonstrated the lifestyle of the founders and accurately portrayed the atmosphere of the company, namely fun. It was quite a read, but the timeline stopped in 2006. Now, I know that the company still exists and is in very healthy shape (kudos these days) but the company history on their website was incomplete. I wanted to know more and was interested in the more recent history. As we all gravitate towards these new marketing tools, that is exactly what they are on a personal and business level, it is important they are updated regularly. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter are great methods of keeping in communication with your customers, but they must be maintained.

Think of it this way, a customer takes the time to become a fan of your business or sign up on Facebook because they are interested in what's new and exciting with your operation. As you are opening boxes and merchandising new product on your sales floor, send out alerts, let them know. Add photos of your staff modeling the new assortment, your staff will love it. We used to send out direct mail to our best customers and it was tough to be timely. We had to schedule and print postcards and mail them out to ensure that the customer received the notification with enough notice so they could attend the trunk show etc. E-mail blasts were a great alternative until the SPAM gods came along and made it very difficult to stay out of the spam filter especially when attachments are involved. Now you can give notice of an upcoming event and remind them multiple times. Just as your customers have shown you a commitment by signing up for your information updates, show interest in them by maintaining and continuing the exchange of communication. Customer service is all about commitment, so assign a dedicated individual to maintain your social networking site and reap the benefits of this instant and free communication with your most valuable of assets.