Consumer advocacy groups up in arms over 'return profiles'

August 19, 2013

Although retailers claim it's a move to fight fraud, the tracking of customer returns is yet another retail technology coming under fire from consumers.

Report: Even the wealthy love loyalty programs

August 14, 2013

In a new survey of affluent consumers by the Luxury Institute, wealthy shoppers earning at least $150,000 a year share detailed observations and evaluations of…

Report: Card spending growth solid in July

August 12, 2013

First Data Corporation has released its First Data SpendTrend analysis for July 2-30, 2013 compared to July 3-31, 2012. SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer…

How to optimize your store for summer

by Gary Edwards — Chief Customer Officer, Emathica

Now that summer is well underway, it’s time for retailers to turn up the heat. After spending prolonged time indoors during the cold weather, customers are…

Yankee Group mobile wallet report examines slow adoption rate, offers engagement tips

August 7, 2013

Nearly 70 percent of consumers are interested in adopting mobile payments, but less than 14 percent have actually completed a mobile transaction in the past…

How long are shoppers willing to wait? Six minutes.

August 2, 2013

A new study by Omnico, which surveyed 1,344 U.K. consumers, says that British shoppers are willing to stand in line an average of six minutes before giving up…

Will customer reviews become a bigger influencer for retail purchases?

Despite the hype, online customer reviews appear to play only a small role in consumer purchasing decisions.

Customer behavior tracking doesn't always have to be creepy

August 1, 2013

Following consumer backlash toward Nordstrom after customers became aware that they were being tracked via their smartphone's media access control address…

Apple is going to business school

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

There is always a lot of press about Apple. There are Apple stock forecasts, new product predictions and literally hundreds of stories about their stores. But…

Logic vs. emotion in retail pricing

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

My thanks to Paula Jones, Craft and Hobby Assn. Canada, for sending me this January 22, 2013 Forbes article, Postscript On Retail Pricing: Avoiding the "Race…

7 ways to keep, and serve, Millennial customers

Customer service must evolve from being Baby Boomer-specific to Millennial-centric.

Deloitte's back-to-school survey finds frugality will rule

July 29, 2013

Although consumer confidence in the economy has increased, the back-to-school shopping season will see shoppers hold tight to their purse strings, according to…

Asda forecasts omnichannel for 2013 holiday season

July 29, 2013

The European grocery chain Asda expects that 75 percent of its customers will shop across bricks and clicks this Christmas, according to an article on Retail…

Amazon winning the price-comparison battle, study finds

July 26, 2013

A new study from Parago suggests that more than half of smartphone owners regularly use their device while in-store to commit showrooming, with Amazon as the…

Consumers don't think in terms of channels. Retailers do.

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

As I prepare to meet with a number of groups and retailers around the world, their No. 1 question is about predicting what must change in retail in order to be…

Loyalty, rewards and the test of time

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

When it comes to measuring their program effectiveness, loyalty marketers tend to rely on what I like to call the big EAR: earnings, activation and redemption…

Empathy, emotion and the customer experience

Eighty percent of companies think they deliver great experiences, but only 8 percent of customers agree.

Video game developer concerned with pre-owned game retailing

July 22, 2013

A head of the video game developer Ready at Dawn recently aired his grievances with the pre-owned game market — specifically calling out the negative impact…

Retailers can expect stiff competition for fewer sales this back-to-school

July 19, 2013

It's the second biggest spending season behind Christmas, so it's no surprise retailers (and shoppers) are already revving up for back-to-school. But according…

How do retail shoppers feel about surveillance?

The eyes in the mannequin just might be watching every move you make.