Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt from one of RetailWire’s recent online discussions. Each business morning on RetailWire.com, retail industry execs get plugged in to the latest news and issues with key insights from a "BrainTrust" panel of retail industry experts. In the retail industry, a 100% plus annual employee turnover is not uncommon. And, in these tough economic times, that statistic doesn't tend to be of greatest concern to operators. More likely, they're preoccupied with determining if they can get away with one less person on the floor; cutting back on training; or increasing the commission portion of the compensation.

Aeropostale, Family Dollar and Sam’s Club are three of the retailers “almost certain” to see sales increases over the next 75 days, according to predictive analysis reported in the ForecastIQ survey report.

Borrowing a page from Apple's playbook, Microsoft plans to open Microsoft-branded retail stores. Although details were limited, Microsoft said the stores' purpose will be to "create deeper engagement with consumers and continue to learn firsthand about what they want and how they buy."

An alarming sales slide in January for many retailers has retail analysts nervously speculating just how far consumer spending may drop in 2009. While the National Retail Federation (NRF) recently projected sales to decline 0.5% versus last year, other forecasters are projecting the sales decline could be even steeper.

Retailers can make quicker ordering and merchandising decisions because they are receiving sales information up to a half day sooner from Theory, a New York-based apparel manufacturer and wholesaler. Using the SkyPAD Software as a Service (SaaS) dashboard, Theory is able to more quickly and efficiently analyze sales performance at the store level.

Out-of-stocks continue to plague the retail industry as one of the biggest causes of lost revenue and customer frustration. Now a new research study from IHL Group has helped to quantify just how big the problem is for the industry and also identifies the biggest laggards when it comes to in stock positions. Consumers experienced out-of-stocks during approximately 17.8% of their shopping trips, which is about 123% higher than the out-of-stock rate claimed by retailers for themselves, according to the new report from IHL Group titled “What’s The Deal With Out-Of-Stocks?”