Confederate flag sales flying strong for at least one retailer

June 25, 2015

Not every retailer is pulling Confederate products off the shelves in the wake of the murders in Charleston, South Carolina and push to retire flags.

Interactive customer experience technology has to surprise and delight

Customers expect a personalized experience that surprises and delights them, and most will trade bits of information about themselves if they receive something…

Retailers facing 'egg-ceptional' customer dilemma

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

Retail foodservice faces a big customer experience hurdle due to the shortage of eggs thanks to an Avian flu outbreak.

Retailers lower the boom on Confederate merchandise online and offline

June 24, 2015

There is a bit of a civil war brewing in the retail sector over the push to pull Confederate Army products off shelves in light of a movement to retire the…

Why cost cutting strategies require putting the customer first

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

Retailers, like every business niche, are continually striving to save money while making more money, and if you’ve been reading the national business…

Alibaba going mobile to reach consumers no matter where they're shopping

June 23, 2015

A new shopping and dining service, called Koubei, promises to speed up online retail delivery services for China’s biggest ecommerce player.

Instacart expands personal delivery into Miami communities

June 23, 2015

Grocery patrons in northeast Miami-Dade county will now have another food shopping option given Instacart expanding its delivery operations, according to a…

Are you 'CONNECTING' with your customers?

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

The CONNECT 2015 Mobile Innovation Summit will teach restaurant operators and retailers how to provide customers with mobile connections to help build a loyal…

Pepper robot boasts record sales, may be the retail assistant of the future

June 21, 2015

Retail assistant of the future flies off sales shelves

Amazon revamps rating process to make reviews more valuable

June 21, 2015

The world’s biggest etailer hopes to make product reviews more valuable, and more trustworthy, for consumers by revamping and re-weighing actual reviews.

Ensuring a ‘pop-up’ effort pops for consumers and doesn’t flame out in failure

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

The ‘pop up’ customer engagement experience isn’t brand-new, but it certainly isn’t old hat as many a retailer is embarking on either the first ‘pop up’ effort…

Why upscale, newer brands can escape negative Groupon effect

June 19, 2015

Some experts caution that restaurant brands may come across as desperate when they offer daily deals, but a new study from the University of Maryland's Robert…

Interactive customer experience technology has to provide value

Consumers with a natural sense of curiosity want to engage with technology, says Eric Vazquez, project manager for Encore Event technologies, but will the…

'Living Services' promises to radically change retailer-consumer interaction

June 19, 2015

There’s a tsunami of change coming toward the retail business environment and interaction with the customer that may turn today’s approaches and strategies in…

Boosting sales on hot summer days requires cool customer engagement approaches

As school days wind down, and beach trips and vacations ramp up, enticing consumers into stores gets a bit more challenging, especially once the shopping mania…

Gap store closing may spur new customer experience for brand fans and Old Navy, Banana Republic shoppers

June 19, 2015

Retail giant Gap Inc. may be closing down 175 North America stores and laying off about 250 workers but there may be a huge silver lining for another brand…

Drone delivery scheduled for take off in just one year

June 18, 2015

Drones in retail delivery could be a reality within the next year as the Federal Aviation Administration is finalizing rules regarding unmanned drone…

Apple Watch debuts in retail locations worldwide

June 18, 2015

Apple is now selling its first-ever wearable, Watch, in its retail stores and is making progress in pushing out the device to consumers who have been waiting…

Starbucks shuttering all 23 La Boulange bakeries, 14 San Francisco locations to close

June 17, 2015

Just three years after buying up La Boulange as part of its strategy to be a bakery brand, Starbucks is shuttering all 23 La Boulange bakery café locations and…

Foodservice industry has 3 years to cut the fat

by Nicole Troxell — Associate Editor, Networld Media Group

A FDA decision gives the industry until 2018 to remove trans fats from all foods, which the federal agency estimates causes 20,000 heart attacks and 7,00…