Amazon's Whole Foods Market acquisition points to a changing role for physical stores; millennials hold the key

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods Market is yet another sign – the biggest to date – that retail is being redefined by multiple shopping channels.

4 insights you can unlock by mapping the customer journey

By uncovering the path your customers follow when they engage with your brand, you'll gain four valuable insights that can help you build a stronger, more…

Customer experience is defined at new levels during ICX Summit 2017

by Lyle Bunn — Strategy Architect, BUNN Co.

When brands, retailers and digital experience providers met at the 2017 ICX Summit in Dallas the focus was on defining “what works” to maximize CX approaches.

A generational perspective: How our past defines future buying behaviors

Everyone's trying to figure out what drives consumers to purchase. But to understand how they shop, you need to know what makes them tick.

7 tips to combat the Amazon effect (hint: it's the hair of the dog that bit you)

Consumers overwhelmingly want more technology in brick-and-mortar stores. And with more consumers willing to show up and shop at stores that have it — beefing…

Kiosks help keep brick and mortar stores relevant as e-commerce expands

Interactive kiosks offer retailers a tool for allowing customers to join the e-commerce experience with in-store purchasing by allowing shop to shop for both…

Rolling out the robots: The next tech transformation

The main benefit of robots is often described as automating repetitive tasks. Robots are perfectly suited to such tasks, they can check over and over without…

Tackling the challenges of remote branch IT

Today's retail space is evolving rapidly, driven by changing customer demand and increasing competition. While technology should be the enabler of this shift…

ICX Summit: Speakers, keynotes are all 'A-list'

by Ben Wheeler — President, KioskGUY.COM

A lineup of kiosk experts will share their insights at the ICX Summit June 5-7, offering a bird's eye view of what's in store for interactive customer…

Kagan: Georgia Tech is helping transform retail

by Jeff KAGAN — Wireless Analyst, Telecom Industry Analyst

Georgia Tech has launched a $1 million-dollar retail technology initiative at its Advanced Technology Developers Center. The ATDC, launched in 1980, is the…

Can any traditional retailer survive the "Battle of the Bots"?

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

Chris H. Petersen says going up against Amazon is like taking a knife to a light saber battle. Why? Because the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Multichannel is not enough: Creating a true omnichannel customer experience

It's critical businesses not assume today's online purchasing experience is the same as what consumers experienced years ago. As companies seek to bring the…

5 digital signage future trends set to change the market

by Egor Belenkov — CEO, Kitcast

In the future, digital signage will be smarter, trickier and more personalized, and that's just the beginning.

How to craft a seamless omnichannel experience

by Judy Mottl — Editor: RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com, Connect Media

Experts offer tips, advice and insight to help retailers develop an engaging and rewarding customer experience between online and offline.

How do you describe the CRM evolution? With these 4 c's

By John Oechsle, CEO, Swiftpage

What AI can teach you about your customers

When most businesses think of artificial intelligence, chances are they think about chatbots, logistics, or really any machine learning algorithm that improves…

Digital, physical worlds collide at Amazon Books

by Will Hernandez — Editor, NetWorld Media Group

Amazon’s new bookstores partly leans on mobile technology, but could use some improvements with something like beacons.

Future of retail is robotic and not just in the supply chain

While augmenting human labor in the supply chain with robots enables increased productivity, this advancement is rendered ineffective when the back office acts…

Chatbot success 101: Why a single customer view is a must

The need for retailers to have a single customer view to ensure a consistent positive experience, across all the channels via which they interact with…

8-second race: How retailers can connect with fast-moving customers

the window of opportunity for retail marketers to know, reach, convert and engage their customers has dropped to just eight seconds. The key to reaching them…