GameStop is safe (for now): PlayStation 4 won't block used games

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

The multi-billion-dollar video game industry is currently between generations — that is, most of the major hardware manufacturers haven't put out a new machine…

Retail survival will require both consumer and product centricity

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

The term "consumer-centric" has been bandied about in retail a lot recently. What does it really mean to be a consumer centric retailer? Obviously, it means to…

Do your customers say they love you?

by Jeanne Bliss — Founder, CustomerBliss

Are customers saying they love you?  At yelp, epinions, Twitter and hundreds of websites every day, customers who are treated well are not bashful about…

Bank of America's CEO: Brave or naive?

by Colin Shaw — Founder & CEO, Beyond Philosophy

I have seen so many proclamations like the one Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America sent to his 270,000 employees recently stating they needed to improve…

Customer service will transform your business ... starting today

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

Customer service–exceptional, consistent, customer-centered service–can transform your business more quickly than nearly any other advantage.

The future of the retail store

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

Retail is dead! At least, that’s how Marc Andreessen sees it. The entrepreneur and tech investor was recently quoted saying that all physical retail stores…

Stage, actors, script: Great theater and retail

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

One only needs to peruse the retail headlines to see the wide ranging discussion on the importance of customer experience in retail. In IMS Retail University…

Giving shoppers what they don't know they want

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

The National Grocers Association and Supermarket Guru released some teaser facts from their Consumer Panel Survey that will be released at the annual…

An amazing customer experience from TSA?

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

Last Friday I was in line for security at Logan airport. I noticed that there was only one agent checking IDs, so I figured this was going to be a long and…

What if Best Buy charged admission?

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

O.K., suspend your disbelief just for a moment and hear me out…

When retail associates hold their head up

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

During a panel discussion this morning at the NRF 102nd Annual Convention & EXPO, the conversation turned to hiring and keeping employees that are willing…

The Retail Revival has begun!

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

Are you creating value?

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

Three calls is all that it took to identify a futile effort and how wasteful the investment in an innovation effort had been.

Did you just spell your customer's name wrong?

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

"They spelled my name wrong again!" sings Loudon Wainwright III, the incomparable (if hard-to-spell) singer-songwriter.

Leverage others' experience instead of wasting time on pure invention

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

From the first days of school, we are taught that "copying others is bad." In the process of teaching students to think creatively, we create a lifetime…

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…

Autonomy vs. standards: in business, customer service and the customer experience

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

As a business keynote speaker, I spend a lot of time speaking about the need for employee autonomy in customer service and business operations in general. And…

Paraprosdokian phrases for life, and retailing today

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

Perhaps Yogi had it right all along: Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

The one simple thing your retail associates should be doing, but probably aren't

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

As Dale Carnegie's sixth principle teaches us, the sound of a person's name is the sweetest and most important sound to that person. It is an immutable truth…

Why build a great customer experience if you have no competition?

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

What if you didn’t have any competition? Would the customer experience you create even matter–if, for example, you ran a government agency or were otherwise…