The future of retail: Thinking small

Leading retailers are beginning to make sweeping changes to keep up with consumer demands. In the past six months retailers like Amazon, Target and Kroger have…

Humanizing the retail experience: Experiential shopping lives offline

These are the days of sharing, group think and the herd mentality… who knew the 90s-era mall rats, a generation of teens known for simply hanging out in…

4 ways to retain infrequent retail customers

As most business owners know, the cost of acquiring a new customer is much higher than retaining a current buyer. It's why companies put a lot of effort into…

Loyalty marketing in a Trumpian world

Brands associating and disassociating with a polarizing President are going to tap into at least some of that emotion. So as a brand leader, it’s imperative…

Kagan: Fixing your app to improve customer experience

by Jeff KAGAN — Wireless Analyst, Telecom Industry Analyst

Bottom line, smartphone technology and apps are an incredible way to reach customers in new and creative ways. Use technology in new ways to give the customer…

Forget just selling products: Customer experience is king

In a world where anyone can whip up an e-commerce site and begin selling in a matter of hours, merely taking products to market just isn't good enough anymore.

Easing the pain of shipping: 5 tips to optimize shipping solutions

For many customers, online shopping is exciting (or, at the very least, more enjoyable than leaving the house to visit a store). Actually, receiving the…

Why a customer-centric retail model is key to beating digital competition

Rental car companies can effectively respond to competition by adopting the successful strategies and best practices digital retailers use to engage customers…

Engaging millennials: Value trumps message

Millennials aren't the only ones feeling overwhelmed by the barrage of advertisements. A 2016 HubSpot survey showed 91 percent of respondents feel today's ads…

Sorry Jim Cramer, malls won't ever be ghost towns

by Judy Mottl — Editor: RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com, Connect Media

During his flamboyant declarations about malls and their impending doom, Jim Cramer asks another financial analyst if he's been at a mall lately. The analyst…

Reinventing the in-store customer experience

In-store shopping has fallen on hard times. Many retail categories — such as electronics and music — have largely disappeared, victims to the convenience and…

5 key distributor opportunities in an omnichannel world

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

For today's consumers, omnichannel is their "new normal." They now shop and purchase anytime and everywhere. What this means for traditional retailers is that…

Why retail Is the ultimate social platform

The impulse to socialize at the market lives on — witness the late 20th century phenomenon of "hanging out at the mall," or the 21st century rise of farmers…

The art of balancing workplace automation

The buzz about bots is on the rise. No, not the all-knowing Isaac Asimov supercomputers. The 1-800-number variety that never seems to detect any urgency in the…

Amazon's Treasure Truck banking on retail consumer whimsy

by Judy Mottl — Editor: RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com, Connect Media

While the New York Times describes Amazon's Treasure Truck as another of Amazon's "puzzling retail experiments," it can be viewed as Amazon's continuing effort…

Donald Trump, Nordstrom, Ivanka Trump: How politics now play into the retail customer experience

by Judy Mottl — Editor: RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com, Connect Media

In simple terms, social media and the internet have given consumers the loudest and biggest mouthpiece to project their views and feelings and actions. But it…

The 1 thing forgotten at the world’s largest retail event

There is no doubt, that in the current age, information is critical. When everything online is connected to a cloud and data is accessible in real time…

7 under-the-radar retail trends for 2017

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

Will men and artificial intelligence define retail in 2017? Possibly. Considering the activities in retail today, several experts shared what unexpected trends…

Harnessing mobility in retail: 5 challenges to overcome

Retailers have a number of digital sales channels and a plethora of mobile marketing technologies to choose from. That said, when building a mobile marketing…

2017 & beyond: Prognostications for retail technology

Shopper behavior and expectations have clearly changed and become more sophisticated. Retail stores need to evolve to meet consumer demands, and the influence…