Research points to puny layaway figures

December 3, 2012

Retailers may have been excited about the potential benefits of revamped layaway policies, but according to an article in the Houston Chronicle, several recent…

Two simple ingredients of personalization that almost all retailers miss

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

Having lived in Canada, it is true that Thanksgiving is also celebrated there, albeit a month earlier than the US. The US Thanksgiving celebration has become a…

Is this the end of marketing?

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

Imagine a world without marketing. No really… imagine a world where no one tries to sell you anything. Not because they don’t want to but because attempting…

Thanksgiving and Black Friday spending round-up

This year's average ticket price spiked, thanks to less aggressive discounting.

Researcher finds the scent of retail is a simple one

November 28, 2012

Retailers hoping to attract customers with the luring smells of the season should stay away from complex combinations of scents and stick with simple basics.

Anchoring effect a tool for sales people

November 28, 2012

The anchoring effect, a psychological phenomenon describing the common human tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered when making…

Mobile users shop in record numbers

November 28, 2012

PayPal announced the final numbers for Cyber Monday, the unofficial start to the online portion of the shopping season, and as expected, the numbers are…

Four myths of the marketplace

by Harvey Mackay — Author, Mackay Mitchell

1. We don’t have any competition.

Multichannel and showrooming helped retailers that did it right

November 27, 2012

Booz & Co. chief retail analyst Thom Blischok said Monday on CNBC that retail companies did well if they successfully integrated their online and…

Black Friday foot traffic went up while one-day sales declined

November 27, 2012

Black Friday data shows that foot traffic in stores rose 3.5 percent over Black Friday 2011 while sales saw a 1.8 percent decline from Black Friday 2011. Why…

New survey app rewards consumers as it tracks their behavior

November 27, 2012

TrendSource Inc., a market research company, announced the launch of an interactive mobile survey app, wINput (Win By Giving Your Input), which is now…

The allure of low prices

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

I missed the irony on my first read of the email in which a marketing firm talked about pricing. The second reading left me laughing. It never ceases to…

Early promotions get credit for Thanksgiving online sales

November 26, 2012

According to analytics findings from IBM, U.S. shoppers once again took advantage of early promotions this holiday season, driving a 17.4 percent increase in…

Cyber Monday could see record number of shoppers

November 26, 2012

Cyber Monday is here, and if a survey for Shop.org by BIGinsight is correct, more than 129 million shoppers will turn to the Web today to search out retailer…

Tips for a safe and profitable Black Friday

From staffing and stocking to security, crowd management, and safety, the responsibilities are far-reaching.

Survey reveals consumers open to mobile payments at POS

November 20, 2012

According to a joint national survey conducted by Sybase 365 and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), mobile devices are playing a more crucial role than…

Mannequins may soon be the eyes and ears of retail

November 20, 2012

It sounds like a scene from the 1980s movie "Mannequin": The pristine face and absent eyes of the life-size model doll hiding some inner life, following people…

Report: For mobile shopping, personalization outweighs privacy concerns

November 19, 2012

Nearly three out of four (72 percent) of consumers aged 20-40 in the United States and the United Kingdom use mobile devices while in-store to compare prices…

Economist: 2012 will end with a disappointing holiday season

November 19, 2012

Retailers will not be getting a lump of coal during the 2012 holiday shopping season, but Santa won't be stuffing their stockings full either, says a Ball…

Four in ten retailers offering free shipping on Cyber Monday

November 19, 2012

Shoppers won't have to go too far to find great deals Thanksgiving weekend and Cyber Monday; in addition to the plethora of in-store promotions, many companies…