8 things no one tells you about protecting your brand's identity

Retail and restaurant owners invest in developing a distinctive name, logo, color scheme, and marketing model but often miss eight crucial aspects of branding.

The great Occam’s Razor paradox for retailing in 2016

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

The law of parsimony is great for consumers, but a burden for retailers.

5 New Year resolutions to drive smarter retail customer experiences

by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com

This past year has clearly been a year of advancement and enlightenment by retailers, and 2016 is likely not going to be much different. Here's a few…

Click and collect: A hat trick retailers can't pull off?

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

'Sort of works' is not acceptable for today's omnichannel consumers.

Dear Santa: All I want for Christmas is equal product pricing across genders

by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com

From razors and clothing to toys and adult diapers, women are likely always paying more for a product than men.

Zappos’ Santa Claus feat leaves big shoes to fill

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

A recent act of kindness by Zappos has some wondering if it could spin its reputation for feel-good experiences into a marketing tool.

Mitigating cybersecurity threats to ensure customer experience is a safe one

Although the nationwide rollout of EMV technology is beginning to eliminate some security concerns, experts expect to see an increase in online fraud as…

3 changes to PCI mandate retailers need to understand

Three changes to the PCI DSS mandate are having dramatic effects on a number of business owners and vendors.

Insight on kicking a 2016 retail strategy off on solid ground

by Ethan Whitehill — CEO, two west inc

It's a good idea to review consumer patterns and data from the past year to make sure retail strategy plans for the new year are on track from the start.

Critical reasons why retailers need a seamless product return process

Retail product returns, which appear to be a minor part of the customer experience, are actually a crucial component of the overall relationship between the…

Shoes of prey: New time versus personalization trade-off

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

A case of when personalized means more than speed of delivery.

10 tips for boosting customer service and inspiring a retail seasonal workforce

For many businesses, the holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year. But it certainly is not the time to slack off on service.

Top 2016 marketing trends & why you need interactivity

by Casey Dubbs — Marketing Manager, Horizon Display

2016 is going to herald many changes to the marketing paradigm. Let's look at how interactive technology can help retailers utilize these trends.

Investing in loyalty: How a family-run chain may just upstage big brands

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

Supermarket chain H-E-B’s plan to give workers a stake in the company hints at technological capabilities that enable retailers to better compensate their…

3 tips to foster a robust in-store holiday season

Sometimes it's the simplest things that can play into a rewarding customer experience and a rewarding sales season for retailers.

8 tips for successful digital signage deployment

by Sean Matthews — President & CEO, Visix, Inc.

If you deploy digital signage solution without some planning, you could end up with ignored screens and wasted time. With just a little extra effort, though…

Retailers are bringing a rusty knife to a cyber wars shootout

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

Today's omnichannel shoppers have grown accustomed to services and experiences at a whole different level. To borrow a western movie metaphor, most retailers…

5 benefits of mPOS every retailer needs to know

The introduction of point of sale systems has changed payment experiences by replacing cash registers in many scenarios. Credit cards have become a preferred…

The birds and the bees of customer experience design

by Lyle Bunn — Strategy Architect, BUNN

Meeting customer expectations has changed, forever. Meantime, corporate initiatives can take a long time to implement and poorly executed inititives can really…

Walmart inventory cuts – 5 ways to make room for the best shoppers

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

Walmart’s recent attempt to reduce shelf stock has vendors concerned, but the greater consideration should be applied to shoppers. Walmart may be doing so, as…