A boutique approach to loyalty, in four steps

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

When it comes to competing against low-priced giants, specialty shops should ignore the specials and focus on the personals.

Study finds retailers shifting biggest share of marketing budgets to mobile

April 8, 2014

The number of retailers who expect mobile to be their top marketing priority will more than quadruple over the next five years, according to a new study by Yes…

Retail employment grows in March, according to NRF

April 4, 2014

The National Retail Federation today issued the following statements from NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay and Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz in response to…

Revenue from mobile-optimized retail sites up 168% over last year

April 4, 2014

Branding Brand, a mobile commerce platform, has released the results of its Mobile Commerce Index for March 2014. The exclusive data sample details a steep…

Five steps to a shopper-centric discovery experience

Online retailers need to put the person back in personalization.

Consumers say personalized interactions with brands drive purchase decisions

April 3, 2014

According to new research from Accent Marketing Services, the key to repeat customers is personalized communication from brands after purchases. Accent…

Convenience stores hit record in-store sales in 2013

April 2, 2014

U.S. convenience stores reached record in-store sales in 2013, with sales climbing 2.4 percent to $204 billion. Combined with motor fuel sales of $491.…

Selling into dead markets

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

I'm sure you're wondering, "Who in the world would do that?" More people than you might imagine. Here's what triggered this post.

Privacy-friendly location-based marketing: Giving customers the control

Crafting a non-invasive location policy is key to keeping customers from opting out of push messaging or location awareness.

Wegmans, Trader Joe's, Publix, Costco, Sprouts top Consumer Reports supermarket ratings

March 26, 2014

In Consumer Reports' latest survey, Wegmans, Trader Joe's, Publix, Costco and Sprouts earned the highest scores overall among 55 of the nation's major grocery…

Teen Vogue research explores social media and how Millennials shop

March 26, 2014

In order to understand how social media influences the ways millennials shop, Teen Vogue has identified the role social plays in driving beauty and fashion…

'Mobile Evangelist of the Year' Jack Philbin will headline 2014 CONNECT Mobile Innovation Summit

The self-professed "mobile geek" co-founded Vibes before text messaging was even possible in the U.S.

What not to do when you lose a customer

by Bob Phibbs — CEO, The Retail Doctor

A business owner's worst nightmare is learning they've lost their best customer.

SXSW: Preparing for the new omnichannel customer experience

With so many discussions about omnichannel at SXSW, it's easy to assume we're all talking about the same thing.

Report says 91 percent of women do online research before making a purchase

March 19, 2014

Marketing firm Interactions has released Retail Perceptions, a survey that reveals insights from consumers on their shopping behaviors as well as their…

Most Americans hold retailers responsible for data breaches

March 19, 2014

Security software firm Feedzai has announced the results of its nationwide survey of U.S. adults, which found that 60 percent of those who knew about data…

Changing prices, changing value?

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

A newscast recently reported that some companies are changing prices as often as 5,000 times a day. Why are they doing this? How well is it working? More…

Survey says Amazon Prime price increase has hurt the brand

March 18, 2014

Last week, Amazon announced a price hike for its Prime program, which gives members free two-day shipping and access to a burgeoning library of streaming…

Study says retailers face big challenges from multichannel

March 17, 2014

Organizational, operational and technology challenges are hampering retailers' efforts to meet customers' demand for a seamless shopping experience across all…

Millennial marketing lessons from Jimmy Fallon

by Jeff Fromm — Executive Vice President, Barkley

How do you rebrand a company and increase its reach to the Millennial demographic? Easy — hire Jimmy Fallon. Jimmy Fallon took over NBC's The Tonight Show in…