Best Buy CEO, FCC chairman among speakers at CES

January 3, 2012

Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn will discuss the state of the retail industry Jan. 11 at the Consumer Electronics Association's 2012 International CES in the Las Vegas…

Online retailers must provide better service

January 3, 2012

Although Cyber Monday 2011 set a record for the most online retail spending in a single day, and the weekend before Christmas was the second heaviest weekend…

KIOSK to debut automated retail store at NRF

January 3, 2012

KIOSK Information Systems will showcase StoreBOT, its latest solution in a new series of automated retail solutions Jan. 16-17 in New York City at the National…

Vending machine 2.0 serves up snacks and personalized digital signage ads (Video)

by Christopher Hall — w, t

A digital signage advertising and vending kiosk uses Intel's AIMS analytics to target ads and offerings to consumers.

Kodak may be going under

January 3, 2012

Eastman Kodak Co. may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy-protection in the coming weeks if efforts to sell several of its digital patents fail, according to the…

How Target said it best when it said nothing at all

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

My apologies to Paul Overstreet and Alison Krauss for the title of this post, but it was the first thing that came to mind when I stumbled upon this blog post…

Employee turnover: Are you causing it or preventing it?

by Harry Friedman

There are many causes for turnover, but the single biggest reason for turnover in retail stores today is the inability of the sales staff to be successful. But…

Want to be good at customer service? Be mediocre.

by Kimberly Nasief — President, Measure Consumer Perspectives

It's not too hard to rise above the competition these days. When you're out and about doing your errands or eating at a restaurant, how often do you walk out…

If the only discernable difference between you and Amazon is the sales tax, you never had a chance in the first place.

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

The recent launch of Amazon's price check app was greeted with everything from retailer outrage to government sabre rattling! Some even called it evil! Really?

Survey announces 10 worst online retailers

January 2, 2012

Is it brand perception or actual high-quality service that gives online retailers their reputations? That's a question that 24/7 Wall St. set out to find by…

Sears CEO: Technology key to revitalizing company

January 2, 2012

Sears' chief executive officer, Lou D'Ambrosio, plans to turn around his company's performance by implementing technology and spending more money on stores…

Re-assuring the assurance factor: Why smiles and happy faces aren't enough

When providing customer service, courtesy is not a substitute for competence and skill.

Teamwork Retail using iPads to manage stores

December 29, 2011

Employees in Teamwork Retail stores are using iPads to ring up purchases and look up product info on the retail floor,

If only Ocean Marketing had been versed in bilateral customer service

December 29, 2011

The Ocean Marketing public relations nightmare that played out in the blogosphere last week never had to happen. Providing good customer service is retail 101…

3 things shoppers care more about than price

December 28, 2011

American consumers were less concerned with costs during the 2011 holiday shopping season than last year, according to the Foresee E-Retail Satisfaction Index…

Big boxes going condo is a "material" change

by Mark Murray — Director, The Store Channel

The most noticeable change for mass-market retail in the year ahead will be the introduction of new architectural materials and flooring. As "stores" evolve…

Amazon's deadline extended! Quick, what thought pops into your mind?

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

I just received an email from Amazon. In big, bold letters it said "FREE Super Saver Shipping Deadline Extended." Quick, what thought pops into your mind?

Book store owner starts petition against Amazon

December 27, 2011

A small shop owner is standing up against Amazon.com and its recent promotion urging customers shopping in brick-and-mortar stores to use its price-check app.

Retailers phasing out paper receipts

December 27, 2011

Receipts are going digital as more retailers offer to skip paper and email shoppers receipts, according to Consumer Watchdog Michael Finney.

Telescoping display caters to variety of store environments

December 26, 2011

Walls + Forms, Inc., a provider of displays, wall systems and signage, recently launched Scopic, a system that telescopes to provide flexibility in height and…