Amazon's FreeTime Unlimited geared toward kids with Kindles

December 19, 2012

Amazon has lured in adults with its Amazon Prime subscription service and is now setting its sights on children. FreeTime Unlimited is "part streaming media…

Motorola releases shopper insight survey

December 19, 2012

Findings from the Motorola Solutions annual holiday shopper study highlighted the impact on the shopper experience across various age demographics.

Cookies and the key to success in retail

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

For the holidays I took my friends, clients and business colleagues cookies. I bought them from a small coffee house and bakery in Toronto called Le Gourmand …

Retail Top 100 2012, No. 28: Disney

December 18, 2012

Leverage others' experience instead of wasting time on pure invention

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

From the first days of school, we are taught that "copying others is bad." In the process of teaching students to think creatively, we create a lifetime…

Outhouses and QR codes: Never assume the norm

by Jeff Weidauer — Vice President, Marketing & Strategy, Vestcom International, Inc.

New research from the NPD Group shows that nearly 100 million people (or about half of Internet users) listened to music online in the past three months. No…

Home Depot acquires data tech start-up

December 18, 2012

Retailers continue to ride the technology wave with the recent news of Home Depot's acquisition of BlackLocus. The Austin-based startup builds data-driven…

Guess? CIO discusses benefits of in-store iPads

December 18, 2012

In a recent Q&A on openforum.com, Guess? Chief Information Officer Michael Relich admitted that two years ago, the fashion retailer had a bit of a…

Dick's and Walmart suspend sales of semi-automatic rifles

December 18, 2012

While it may be a stalemate issue legislatively, some major retailers are taking action on gun control — for now.

Predictable results

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

In the world of pricing, results are more predictable than we might think. Recently a Fortune 500 marketing professional told me that his company had changed…

UK mall hangs 'largest LCD video wall in Europe'

December 18, 2012

Scala Inc. today announced the installation of more than 350 digital signage screens at Britain's third-largest shopping center, Westfield Stratford City. The…

Under the Radar: Ten emerging marketing trends

Loyalty programs are becoming a commodity due to their ubiquity and lack of creative differentiation.

Commentary: The facts about card-linked incentives

A retailer's most loyal customers spend $1.44 with competitors for every $1.00 spent with them.

Analyst: Microsoft's retail strategy 'absolutely stinks'

December 17, 2012

Over at The Street, Rocco Pendola isn't pulling punches when he talks about visiting a pop-up Microsoft Store in Times Square this weekend, which he said was…

Report: Social integration drives consumer engagement, trust

December 17, 2012

Research firm Mass Relevance has released a new research study that quantifies the impact of social integration on customer engagement, brand preference and…

Walgreens utilizes pharmacy kiosks in new store designs

December 17, 2012

Walgreens has begun the roll out of new store designs at select locations across the country with self-service kiosks touted as a tool to improve customer…

Retail Top 100 2012, No. 29: Digital signage

December 16, 2012

Web outages are costly nightmares for retailers

December 14, 2012

The days between Thanksgiving and Christmas mean big money for retailers, and with the increase in online shopping revenue, glitches in a retailer's website…

NPR discusses the future of retail

December 14, 2012

National Public Radio's Audie Cornish has been exploring the evolution of the American shopping experience and recently interviewed retail architect M.J.

The trouble with facial recognition technology

December 14, 2012

While the use of facial recognition technology for marketing purposes is attractive for retailers, an article on independent.co.uk discusses how the process…