McDonald's looking to create Starbucks experience with kiosks, digital menu boards

January 10, 2017

McDonald's is looking to upgrade its McCafe espresso machines with the McBarista. This upgrade will feature $12,000 espresso machines, sweets, seasonal coffee…

Limited shuttering all U.S. stores, 4,000 jobs cut

January 10, 2017

The new year brings the closing of a well-known women's apparel retailer as The Limited is closing all of its 250 U.S. stores and laying off 4,000 workers.

Under Armour aims to go beyond retail

January 10, 2017

Athletic apparel, footwear and gear maker Under Armour has plans to advance beyond retail and just signed a 10-year deal to provide uniforms for Major League…

Disney Magicband-style experience coming to Carnival cruises

January 10, 2017

Princess Cruises, a global cruise line and tour company, announced last week at CES in Las Vegas that it will be the first Carnival Corp. brand to feature the…

IoT, customer-facing robots and VR among topics to be discussed at 2017 ICX Summit

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

The annual conference, which draws hundreds of customer experience leaders and innovators, is June 5-7 in Dallas and features a range of interesting sessions…

Kate Hudson's Fabletics is enjoying fabulous growth

January 6, 2017

Activewear brand Fabletics, co-founded by actress Kate Hudson, plans to launch 12 new retail locations this year.

Amazon makes meal reordering easier than ever

January 6, 2017

Amazon Prime members can now voice-order restaurant orders via Amazon Restaurants on Alexa-enabled devices, including Amazon's Echo and Dot. Customers can…

2016 in review: Top retail customer experience stories

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

The year 2016 was one of technology, big changes and big steps by retailers aiming to boost and hone the customer experience. Here's a look back at the big…

Shoppers are loving mobile messaging apps, claims new study

January 5, 2017

Retailers may want to consider bolstering mobile messaging communications with consumers as a new study reveals 51 percent of messaging users view it more…

Amazon's IoT products clearly a holiday shopping favorite

January 5, 2017

The top selling and most gifted item on Amazon.com this past holiday season was the company's IoT device Echo Dot, and sales of the company’s Echo family of…

Sears shuttering more stores in the new year

January 4, 2017

Sears plans to close 30 Sears locations and Kmart stores in the next few months, according to a Business Insider report.

New year, new resolutions: 4 brand strategies to boost customer satisfaction in 2017

From creating improved customer experiences to a renewed focus on employees, 2017 will be a year where companies deploy new employee engagement strategies that…

Retailers embracing mobile but conversion rates sluggish

January 3, 2017

More retailers are embracing mobile and are making mobile device sales a priority in the new year.

Retail display market to reach $11.2 billion, report says

December 30, 2016

The retail display market is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 16 percent from 2017 to 2021. The market will also be worth $11.2 billion by…

5 tips to boost customer loyalty in 2017

by Jon Siegel — CMO, ZBoxDVD

The new year is fast upon us and with it comes new opportunities for brands to surprise and delight their customers with engaging and rewarding experiences. A…

Polish shopping center deploys digital signage system

December 29, 2016

The Posnania shopping center in Poznan, Poland, recently deployed a series of digital signage solutions including a large elliptical transparent screen, LED…

Walgreens introduces medication disposal kiosks in New Jersey

December 28, 2016

Walgreens has introduced its safe medication disposal kiosk program in New Jersey with the installation of drug take-back kiosks at 16 drugstores, according to…

7 keys to customer experience happiness

Storytelling and understanding the rules of a "happy life" are two of the dominant themes throughout my career and education, with science being added as an…

Panasonic tests automated checkout in Japanese convenience stores

December 27, 2016

Panasonic recently unveiled "Reji Robo" — short for register robots — an automated checkout system that scans and bags groceries, according to CNBC.

Retailers striving to beat Amazon must perfect the customer experience

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

To avoid losing more market share to Amazon, competing e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retailers must perfect the customer experience from the moment a…