Apology to BOA

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

...and to you.

Why Your Incentive Plan Might Be Killing Sales

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

New research into human motivation may hold some surprises for companies who have long held to the "carrot and stick" approach to incentives.  The truth is…

Five things customers hate about holiday retail

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

Repetitive music, crowded aisles are on the list of things that can send shoppers screaming from your store.

Post Holiday Success: Maximizing the Season of Me

by Doug Fleener — President and Managing Partner, Dynamic Experiences Group, LLC

Starting December 26th retailers move into what I call the Season of Me. Customers will descend on your store for the next two weeks armed with gift cards…

Unexpected Consequences

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

I must admit I never saw this one coming.

Service with a Capital You

by Lisa Biank Fasig — Director, JZMcBride and Associates

It always bugged me that almost every specialty store displays its small-sized clothes on the top rack, where small people cannot easily reach them, while the…

Survey reveals generational differences in holiday shopping plans

Mobile phones have become an integral part of holiday shopping, in a number of ways.

Independent We Stand emphasizes benefits of shopping local for the holidays

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

A new movement called Independent We Stand is taking to the net this holiday season with a message about why consumers should spend more of their gifting…

Survey: Most shoppers have half of their holiday shopping left to do

December 14, 2010

Hard to pass up holiday sales helped motivate holiday shoppers a little earlier this year, though most agree they still have quite a dent to make in their…

NRF revises holiday forecast up to 3.3 percent

December 13, 2010

After a solid start to the holiday season, the National Retail Federation (NRF) announced today that it is revising its forecast to 3.3 percent, up from 2.…

Four ways retailers can reach out for last-minute holiday sales

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

Location-based marketing, personal touch among the ways stores can squeeze every sale out of the season.

Most standard shipping deadlines for Christmas delivery expiring this week

December 12, 2010

Santa may only need one night to do his job, but online retailers need a little more time to get theirs done. According to Shop.org's eHoliday Survey…

Customers Only Care About Price

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

 Conventional wisdom or...

NRF: Six out of 10 holiday shoppers giving gift receipts with presents

December 8, 2010

Gift receipts are quickly becoming a standard for holiday shoppers, which is great news for retailers who typically see long lines of people waiting to return…

Survey: Holiday shoppers divided over bargains

December 8, 2010

The third wave of StrategyOne's Annual Holiday Shopping Index — examining the "Bricks vs. Clicks" divide — finds that 74 percent of Americans feel that the…

Survey: Smart phones are changing behavior for bargain-hunters

Couponing could become a more important part of the retail experience as smart phones proliferate.

Online shoppers more satisfied with price this holiday season

December 6, 2010

ForeSee Results' weekly benchmark of shopper satisfaction with online retailers during the holidays suggests that holiday shoppers are more satisfied with…

Study: 60 percent of consumers follow a brand via social media, mostly for coupons or promotions

December 6, 2010

Empathica Inc., a provider of customer experience management (CEM) solutions, has announced the results of its latest Empathica Consumer Insights research.

How To Politely Say, "You Suck" to a Retailer

by Bob Phibbs — CEO, The Retail Doctor

When you don't get a word from an employee at a store, call them on it with this simple tool to improve their customer service. 

The Best Price

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

Do you have the best price?Are you sure?I recently saw an ad that said "We offer the best...at the best price." What does that mean?  What is the best price?