Five retail IT trends to watch in 2011

From inventory optimization to mobile marketing, retailers will focus on customer retention in the coming months.

NRF: Six out of 10 holiday shoppers giving gift receipts with presents

December 8, 2010

Gift receipts are quickly becoming a standard for holiday shoppers, which is great news for retailers who typically see long lines of people waiting to return…

Survey: Holiday shoppers divided over bargains

December 8, 2010

The third wave of StrategyOne's Annual Holiday Shopping Index — examining the "Bricks vs. Clicks" divide — finds that 74 percent of Americans feel that the…

Checkpoint unveils 'retail RFID in a box' solution

December 8, 2010

Checkpoint Systems has announced an "out-of-the-box" Handheld Visibility Solution for closed-loop apparel retailers and department stores.

Reflecting on Virtual Success

by Lisa Biank Fasig — Director, JZMcBride and Associates

Macy’s has installed an interesting feature at its flagship store in Manhattan – a 72-inch digital “mirror” that enables customers to virtually try on all…

MasterCard, Visa websites shut down in WikiLeaks-related hacker attack

Hackers today shut down MasterCard Worldwide's website and disrupted cardholders' payments.

28 days earlier: NCR's DVD kiosks work around new release delays

by Christopher Hall — w, t

NCR is testing premium pricing for premium new releases in its Blockbuster-brand kiosks.

Survey: Smart phones are changing behavior for bargain-hunters

Couponing could become a more important part of the retail experience as smart phones proliferate.

Online shoppers more satisfied with price this holiday season

December 6, 2010

ForeSee Results' weekly benchmark of shopper satisfaction with online retailers during the holidays suggests that holiday shoppers are more satisfied with…

Study: 60 percent of consumers follow a brand via social media, mostly for coupons or promotions

December 6, 2010

Empathica Inc., a provider of customer experience management (CEM) solutions, has announced the results of its latest Empathica Consumer Insights research.

Baking Wars at Michaels

by Jim Joseph — President, Lippe Taylor

It's the holidays, and among other things 'tis the season for baking. I noticed some very interesting marketing activity in the baking category at a surprising…

QuantiSense unveils retail analytics app for iPad

December 5, 2010

QuantiSense has announced the latest release of its retail analytics and business intelligence software, which includes dashboards designed especially for the…

Checkpoint unveils Interactive Public View monitor

December 5, 2010

Checkpoint Systems Inc., a global supplier of shrink management, merchandise visibility and apparel labeling solutions for the retail industry and its supply…

How To Politely Say, "You Suck" to a Retailer

by Bob Phibbs — CEO, The Retail Doctor

When you don't get a word from an employee at a store, call them on it with this simple tool to improve their customer service. 

The Best Price

by Dale Furtwengler — President, Furtwengler & Associates, P.C.

Do you have the best price?Are you sure?I recently saw an ad that said "We offer the best...at the best price." What does that mean?  What is the best price?

Gant

by Jim Joseph — President, Lippe Taylor

I was walking down Bleeker Street in NYC the other day, just kind of strolling along. If you don't know, Bleeker Street is a quiet little street in Greenwich…

Sears loses $145 to one of its kiosks

December 2, 2010

Retailers who wish to offer a product with a price that is different online from the one in store should consider strategies to handle customers who discover…

A View into Your Holiday Morning

by Lisa Biank Fasig — Director, JZMcBride and Associates

Regardless of the Black Friday hype, the holiday shopping season still has a long way to go. After all, the Saturday before Christmas is often the busiest…

Lessons learned from Macy's: Going local can have big payoffs

A local strategy can drive sales, allow flexibility with promotional campaigns.

A two-way integration of digital signage and mobile

by Christopher Hall — w, t

EnQii and Kombi have partnered on an app to further integrate digital signage and mobile techs.