Retail customer engagement comes into focus at NRF Big Show

by Will Hernandez — Editor, NetWorld Media Group

Panelists discuss the need for merchants to build great experiences in physical enviroments and use mobile to enhance interaction.

December shopping activity up from November, but down from last year

January 8, 2015

Although traffic dropped year-over-year as the shift toward online shopping accelerated, it was buoyed by a highly promotional month.

Mobile device usage linked to email open rate increase

January 8, 2015

In Q3, North America saw a 6.5-percent year-on-year increase in email open rates and a modest decline in clicks, both linked to the increase in mobile device…

SCORE research says most smaller e-commerce sites have no call to action

December 30, 2014

SCORE, which has provided mentoring services to small businesses since 1964, has gathered statistics concerning how much online activity consumers engage in…

Can you charge your customers for loyalty?

by Shep Hyken — CAO, Shepard Presentations

Are you so good that your customers are loyal to you even without the incentives of a loyalty program? Good enough that they would be willing to pay to belong…

Study says luxury brands fundamentally misunderstand their audience

December 29, 2014

Luxury brands mistakenly believe their customers are typically female and on average 45-years old with a net worth over $1 million, the study found. However…

Seventy percent of shoppers buying gift cards this year

December 23, 2014

Although other holiday retail signals are mixed, gift card spending is on the rise.

Why most retail loyalty programs are failing

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

In reality, most retail loyalty programs are little more evolved than a basic paper coupon.

Survey explores how the "pester power" of children drives retail sales

December 19, 2014

Advertising can work to build demand for devices, but despite the large advertising budgets involved, success isn’t guaranteed.

Retailers estimate holiday return fraud will cost them $3.6 billion

December 19, 2014

More than three-quarters of those polled cite organized retail crime as impacting return fraud rates.

Global mobile NFC payments to exceed $130 billion by 2020

December 18, 2014

This equates to 254 million mobile users making five payments per month at an average of slightly less than $9 per transaction.

Second consecutive week sees $5B weekdays of online desktop spending

December 17, 2014

The online desktop spending season-to-date remains up 15 percent, still ahead of forecast.

How to ensure stellar customer engagement for 2015

by Jeannie Walters — Chief Customer Experience Investigator, 360Connext

Getting retail employees to engage with customers is tough. Here are four things you can do to help them succeed.

Study says more people buying beauty and personal care products online

December 16, 2014

The research found that Beauty and Personal Care, an industry traditionally rooted in the ability to touch, smell, sample and experiment with products in…

Survey says online shoppers lack trust in credit cards

December 16, 2014

Connexity's Bizrate Insights finds U.S. shoppers most trust their personal bank, PayPal and Amazon.

Using data to spike holiday shopping traffic

Three ways retailers and manufacturers can accomplish greater loyalty and sales during the busy holiday season.

A retail marketing wish list, from wise men to golden rings

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

Who knows? Someone may be watching.

Millennials twice as likely to spend more this holiday season

December 12, 2014

The idea of not spending more this holiday season was consistent across age, income and education levels, but millennials had the lowest propensity to hold…

Three-quarters of all online purchases made within the first 60 minutes

December 11, 2014

Within the first minute of an online shopping session, brands lose 30 percent of their site visitors.

Retail sales increase 0.6 percent in November

December 11, 2014

Gains were consistent with NRF's holiday sales forecast, which anticipates an increase of 4.1 percent over last year.