Why 2017 Will See Desperate Department Stores And Anxious Apparel Chains

It was a hard year for many retailers. Amazon.com continued to run away with the e-commerce prize, and consumers, though in much better shape financially than they have been in many years, are getting increasingly bargain-hungry. The result has been declining sales at many major retailers (particularly department stores) and store closings by the hundreds. But a new year offers the industry a clean slate, whether it be a new CEO or new initiatives to break that sales skid. Indeed, 2017 will be a decisive year for many retailers, as investors will feel many have had enough time to show they can figure out a way to update how they do business in the e-commerce era. Target and Kohl’s in particular are under pressure to show their turnarounds are still on track. Meanwhile Walmart can’t let up for a second if it hopes to begin to narrow the e-commerce gap with Amazon. Department stores up and down the price spectrum are under growing pressure to show they can still be relevant and central to the shopping experience. And apparel chains have been talking for about two years about how they plan to address fast fashion and increase the quality of their products again. 2017 promises to be a decisive year in which retailers plow ahead in the internet era and which get left behind, possibly for good. Read more at Fortune.