Connect with charities to brand and build your business

by Laurel Tielis — Author and Professional Speaker, Laurel Tielis & Associates

Whether it's in your business or your personal life, you can't have too many friends. A great way for all businesses to create friendships is by teaming up…

Pepsi Throwback

by Jim Joseph — President, Lippe Taylor

The cola wars are undoubtedly one of the most fascinating categories to watch in marketing - probably ever since the '80s.

NCR gobbles up Radiant Systems

July 11, 2011

NCR Corp. and Radiant Systems Inc. today announced a definitive agreement for NCR to acquire Radiant Systems, a provider of multichannel point-of-sale and…

Ten best practices for implementing mobile into retail operations

Mobile is the Internet of this decade, and devising a strategy to leverage it is a necessity.

Cash-flush retailers will spend on IT

July 11, 2011

Retailers have extra cash and nearly half of the top 100 plan to lay out some of it on technology, a Reuters news story reports.

Rosetta Stone launches 'experience store' concept

July 11, 2011

A Business Wire story at MarketWatch.com reports that Rosetta Stone has opened two new concept stores in West Hollywood, Calif., and McLean, Va. Both stores…

Retail trends go under the microscope at August Summit

Consumer trend experts Vickie Abrahamson and Mary Meehan will share the findings of their latest research.

Kamal Osman Jamjoom upgrades Oracle retail applications to support growth

July 10, 2011

In a move intended to improve merchandise management across its franchise and private label brands, Middle East retail group Kamal Osman Jamjoom has upgraded…

Some supermarkets rethink self-checkout

July 10, 2011

Ten years after its introduction, some grocery chains are beginning to replace DIY checkout lanes with speedier or more customer service-oriented formats…

Oracle confers 2011 Retail Excellence Awards

July 10, 2011

Oracle announced its 2011 Retail Excellence Award winners recently at its annual Oracle Retail CrossTalk conference. The awards recognize outstanding…

Mercedes Dealers get top marks for retail experience

July 10, 2011

According to a report in MediaPost.com, Mercedes dealers received the highest satisfaction index rating for the third year in a row in the Pied Piper Prospect…

Why Self-Checkout Lanes Are Increasingly Getting Checked-off

by Annamaria Turano — Executive Director, MCAworks

About a decade ago, retailers demanded greater profits – leading to the roll-out of the self-checkout lanes. The introduction of self-checkout lanes was viewed…

Top 100: 30. iTunes

Although the new logo replacing the old CD imagery with a bulbous double-clef note in a blue circle may have received the most immediate attention when version…

It's alive! Google Wallet gets turned on

July 7, 2011

According to the site SprintFeed, citing an internal memo from SprintNextel Corp., Google's Nexus S 4G smartphone on the Sprint wireless network is set to get…

See the 'Virtual Assistant' in action (Video)

by Christopher Hall

The Virtual Assistant deployed at Duane Reade in New York had a predecessor at a UK airport. See her greet passengers here.

SingTel flagship store sets the bar for an interactive retail experience

July 7, 2011

Asian communications giant SingTel and digital self-service specialist Yeahpoint have announced the opening of the new flagship SingTel retail store at…

Avoiding your Napster Moment

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

In a previous post I talked about how companies are often blind-sided by what I call Napster moments. Napster moments are radical, game-changing innovations…

Stock Up on Customer Engagement

by Lisa Biank Fasig — Director, JZMcBride and Associates

It might not be a miracle, but Macy’s may reach a 34th milestone by Christmas.

How Early is Too Early?

by Annamaria Turano — Executive Director, MCAworks

Retail analysts indicate that back-to-school (“BTS”) sales are getting earlier this year – and probably the earliest ever. The National Retail Federation…

Safeway Borrows a Page from the Travel Industry

by Sharon Goldman — Senior Director, COLLOQUY

We’ve known for a while that Safeway, North America’s second largest grocery chain, has been on the right track when it comes to the Enterprise Loyalty…