If you've been looking for an easy and inexpensive way to bring in more business, check this out. Taking advantage of people's propensity to sit — at their desks, on their couches, and behind …

The nightmare of finding people to work on the selling floor continues. It seems like it's been a problem forever. But the last 25 to 30 years it's been getting worse. Today it's a mind blower. I was …

Forget about burritos, Taco Bell may be saving its best beef for the law firm that tried to charge it with false advertising. The fast-food chain on April 20 placed full-page ads in The New York …

The economic downturn has permanently changed the way consumers shop. More shopping trips begin online and at in-store kiosks, and price comparisons and coupon searches are even more common. Coupled …

Oscar Wilde phrased it beautifully in "The Picture of Dorian Gray." He wrote, "It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances." Right or wrong, most people judge others by how they look …

How do you decide what price to charge? How well is that working? As I sat down to write this post the lyrics of an old Johnny Lee song, "Lookin' for Love," came to mind. Most business owners/leaders …

Google recently announced that it is ending both its development and support of QR (Quick Response) codes. QR or 2-D barcodes as they are sometimes called, were originated by a subsidiary of Toyota …

I'm sure you saw that Walmart just launched a new ad campaign that promises "Low Prices. Every Day. On Everything." No doubt the big box stores are going to be slugging it out this spring in an ugly …

Want to engage your customers? One way to do it is with a contest. But how do you create a successful contest, one that pulls customers? Wet Seal Senior Vice President of eCommerce and Chief …

Like most retailers, you probably have a consistent strategy in place for pricing products when they come in. But do you have the same consistent strategy in place to review and determine the selling …

I've been wondering lately how big you actually have to be to stop caring about how you treat your customers. The inspiration for this blog came from taking a business trip and finding myself in an …

Is the recovering economy a blessing, or a potential minefield for retailers? Most business owners are breathing a sigh of relief; they're emerging alive and well from one of the most devastating …

It looks like Canada is not only going to bring home the bacon for Target Corp., but chances are it will deliver some loyalty, as well. The Minneapolis-based mass merchant recently estimated that …

A grocery chain focused on self-service is expanding throughout California, Arizona and Nevada. Apparently, the Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, a subsidiary of British-owned Tesco, not only …

I'm normally loathe to go anywhere near reality television — and has there ever been a more dishonest or inaccurate label for a genre than that one? — but I was captivated this week by …

Do you have a luxury product to sell? I'm not talking a good or better version of something you could find at some dollar store. I'm talking the best. Selling luxury goods is very different from …

Can we really buy customer loyalty? If not, what are we really buying? To answer these questions we need to define loyalty. Loyal customers: Pay a premium to get what you have to offer in good times …

I've read a number of articles recently commenting on the conspicuous lack of social marketing in the luxury sector. While it's also true that participation in social media among luxury brands has …

Lost in the recent news about Charming Shoppes closing 10 percent of its stores is whether this decision will have any bearing on its loyalty programs.Charming, the parent of Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug …

I've been an avid customer of Amazon's MP3 download service ever since it launched a few short years ago, but there's always been one major shortcoming that kept it from the lofty heights of the …