Amazon's FreeTime Unlimited geared toward kids with Kindles

December 19, 2012

Amazon has lured in adults with its Amazon Prime subscription service and is now setting its sights on children. FreeTime Unlimited is "part streaming media…

Motorola releases shopper insight survey

December 19, 2012

Findings from the Motorola Solutions annual holiday shopper study highlighted the impact on the shopper experience across various age demographics.

Cookies and the key to success in retail

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

For the holidays I took my friends, clients and business colleagues cookies. I bought them from a small coffee house and bakery in Toronto called Le Gourmand …

Outhouses and QR codes: Never assume the norm

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

New research from the NPD Group shows that nearly 100 million people (or about half of Internet users) listened to music online in the past three months. No…

Predictable results

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

In the world of pricing, results are more predictable than we might think. Recently a Fortune 500 marketing professional told me that his company had changed…

Under the Radar: Ten emerging marketing trends

Loyalty programs are becoming a commodity due to their ubiquity and lack of creative differentiation.

Commentary: The facts about card-linked incentives

A retailer's most loyal customers spend $1.44 with competitors for every $1.00 spent with them.

Analyst: Microsoft's retail strategy 'absolutely stinks'

December 17, 2012

Over at The Street, Rocco Pendola isn't pulling punches when he talks about visiting a pop-up Microsoft Store in Times Square this weekend, which he said was…

Report: Social integration drives consumer engagement, trust

December 17, 2012

Research firm Mass Relevance has released a new research study that quantifies the impact of social integration on customer engagement, brand preference and…

Web outages are costly nightmares for retailers

December 14, 2012

The days between Thanksgiving and Christmas mean big money for retailers, and with the increase in online shopping revenue, glitches in a retailer's website…

NPR discusses the future of retail

December 14, 2012

National Public Radio's Audie Cornish has been exploring the evolution of the American shopping experience and recently interviewed retail architect M.J.

Article discusses 3 ways to make showrooming an opportunity

December 12, 2012

One-in-five consumers are now showrooming, according to new research by Aprimo/Teradata and Forrester Research, which revealed that 96 percent of those…

Are deal-day monikers becoming overused?

December 11, 2012

It started with Black Friday. Then came Cyber Monday, which was later preceded by Small Business Saturday and Sofa Sunday, and followed by Giving Tuesday. Oh…

The retailer 'race to the bottom' brings pricing conundrums

December 11, 2012

As retailers become tangled up in price confusion in what a Forbes blogger calls a "race to the bottom," the consumer now has quite a few pricing styles to…

Small Business Saturday spending landed above forecast

December 11, 2012

A recent follow-up survey to the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey released by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and…

Can you add value?

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

If you think I’m asking about your organization’s capabilities, I’m not. Then where, exactly, does the ability to add value lie?

Multichannel makes shoppers take longer to make purchases, study shows

December 6, 2012

A new report from retail researchers Conlumino and loyalty specialist Webloyalty has found the advent of multichannel retailing has lengthened the shopping…

Hotel retail ditches the towels in favor of oddities

December 4, 2012

Hotel retail helps create an experience, according to an article on usatoday.com. While retail doesn't play a major role in revenue for hotels, unique retail…

Opinion: C-store retailers need convenient loyalty programs

December 4, 2012

An opinion piece on csnews.com explains the importance and benefits of loyalty programs for c-store retailers. The author cited a recent study from the NPD…

Indoor mapping gives power to retailers

by Natalie Gagliordi — Editor of KioskMarketplace.com, Networld Media Group

In-store navigation systems appeal to retailers looking to gain shopper insight and boost customer engagement.