Five predictions for customer experience in 2014

by Mike Wittenstein — Customer Experience and Service Designer, Storyminers

Happy near year! Here are five things that I believe will impact customer experience in the coming months:

The problem with 'Priced to sell'

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

Priced to Sell, an article that appeared in Bdaily Business News, touts the use of auctions to "achieve maximum value" from sales. According to the author…

Shorter shopping season cuts into online sales, comScore says

December 27, 2013

E-commerce spending from desktop computers is up 10 percent over a year ago, according to comScore. Shoppers spent $42.8 million during the first 52 days of…

Retailers hope day-after sales drive post-Christmas surge

December 26, 2013

You might wonder who has any energy left to go shopping. Retailers will find out today.

Three ways to improve local customer experiences during the post-holiday rush

For many retailers, the post-holiday rush can be just as challenging as the holiday shopping season.

Report says Millennials find holiday promotional 'games' deceitful and manipulative

December 20, 2013

It's an opportunity for progressive retailers to connect in a more relevant manner to a new generation of shopper. Consumer attitudes about holiday retail are…

Study says shopper satisfaction up 23 percent since 2008

December 20, 2013

Motorola Solutions has unveiled the results of its seventh annual Holiday Shopping Study which found that overall in-store satisfaction has grown 23 percent in…

Report suggests that private label, national brands must work together

December 18, 2013

About one year ago, Information Resources Inc. predicted that private label in the United States had hit a proverbial glass ceiling. This prediction has proven…

Eight in 10 retailers to end standard shipping deadlines before Dec. 20

December 18, 2013

It's the final stretch for holiday shoppers, and retailers are preparing for the ultimate shipping rush that's very likely to occur in the coming days.

Marketing budgets focused on increased customer engagement in 2014

December 18, 2013

New research from StrongView shows that marketers plan to increase their budgets on activities that increase customer engagement in 2014. However, according to…

Saying no, thank you, to bad customer relations

by Lisa Biank Fasig — Director, JZMcBride and Associates

Consumers today are accustomed to earning points for their purchases, but coins for being courteous? How Nice.

Declaring that you are omni-channel does not make it so

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

You have to be living under a rock if you haven't seen the seismic shift in consumer shopping patterns. While US retailer stores did OK on Black Friday…

Kohl's, JCPenney, Nordstrom top Google's 2013 most-searched apparel brands and retailers list

December 17, 2013

Google's Zeitgeist feature, which lets users browse dozens of different interactive lists that detail online activity, offers up this year-end list of the…

Heavy snowstorm brought down retail traffic, sales last week

December 17, 2013

The time to procrastinate is nearly over for holiday shoppers. ShopperTrak, the world's largest counter and analyzer of retail shopper traffic, reported GAFO …

Four customer experience management predictions for 2014

Geofencing, A/B testing in real life are on the way in the coming months.

Half of holiday shoppers plan to wrap up lists online, highest in NRF survey history

December 17, 2013

According to NRF's latest holiday survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, nearly half (49.9 percent) of holiday shoppers indicate they plan to do…

Four differences between U.S. and European loyalty programs

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

My dollar may be worth just 70 cents in Europe, but my loyalty rewards, and lessons, run in the multiples.

Retail haggling is making a comeback

December 16, 2013

NBC News reports that this holiday season, retailers are seeing the return of a practice once mainly relegated to single-location stores, flea markets and…

With clock ticking, retailers and consumers prepare for a very big holiday shopping weekend

December 13, 2013

According to the National Retail Federation's latest holiday survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, as of Dec. 9, the average holiday shopper…

November SpendTrend analysis shows hike in prepaid use

December 13, 2013

First Data Corp. SpendTrend analysis for Oct. 31 through Dec. 2. charted a dollar volume growth of 4.4 percent — a downturn from October growth of 6.8 percent.