Walmart gas discounts: Will they change the fuel incentive landscape?

by Sharon Goldman — Senior Director, COLLOQUY

That value isn’t necessarily derived from lower prices — though, of course, price is a strong loyalty motivator for consumers. As a giant retail leader that…

Stop marketing already!

by Mike Wittenstein — Customer Experience and Service Designer, Storyminers

We live in an age George Jetson would consider futuristic (sans the flying cars, of course). We have pushbutton everything. Pushbotton marketing, pushbutton…

Rosetta Stone launches 'experience store' concept

July 11, 2011

A Business Wire story at MarketWatch.com reports that Rosetta Stone has opened two new concept stores in West Hollywood, Calif., and McLean, Va. Both stores…

Retail trends go under the microscope at August Summit

Consumer trend experts Vickie Abrahamson and Mary Meehan will share the findings of their latest research.

Oracle confers 2011 Retail Excellence Awards

July 10, 2011

Oracle announced its 2011 Retail Excellence Award winners recently at its annual Oracle Retail CrossTalk conference. The awards recognize outstanding…

Mercedes Dealers get top marks for retail experience

July 10, 2011

According to a report in MediaPost.com, Mercedes dealers received the highest satisfaction index rating for the third year in a row in the Pied Piper Prospect…

Avoiding your Napster Moment

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

In a previous post I talked about how companies are often blind-sided by what I call Napster moments. Napster moments are radical, game-changing innovations…

Safeway Borrows a Page from the Travel Industry

by Sharon Goldman — Senior Director, COLLOQUY

We’ve known for a while that Safeway, North America’s second largest grocery chain, has been on the right track when it comes to the Enterprise Loyalty…

Muzak extends partnership with Sports Authority

July 6, 2011

Muzak, a Mood Media company and provider of sensory branding services for business in North America, announced today that it has signed a new agreement with…

NIKE, Hurley and Converse open third Salvation retail store

July 6, 2011

According to a Business Wire story on MarketWatch.com, Nike continues to make retailing inroads into the youth-oriented action sport and culture market with…

You have got to hit the customer

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

No, not literally! Although while hitting customers would obviously be bad for business, it would give you a chance to build a relationship with Bubba the Bail…

Interactive window displays debut in UK

July 4, 2011

Hidden Creative, a Manchester, UK creative agency, has unveiled the newest in window displays: a fully interactive display that window shoppers control with…

Custom men's fashion meets the house call

July 4, 2011

A story in the Centre Daily Times from State College, Penn. highlights the growth of J. Hilburn, a men’s clothier that specializes in bespoke shirts and…

Help the front line right the wrong

by Jeanne Bliss — Founder, CustomerBliss

Alma Rettew bought a holiday gift for a friend, and asked L.L. Bean, whom she bought it from, to get it to her friend on a specific date (the company has a…

Boomtownrack.com now offers local apparel shopping by neighborhood and zip code

June 29, 2011

Boomtownrack.com is a local online marketplace focusing specifically on independent apparel boutiques in the Chicago area. Boomtownrack.com uses location based…

OpinionLab adds mobile, QR support to VOC program

June 28, 2011

OpinionLab, provider of voice-of-customer (VOC) listening technologies, has extended its mobile customer feedback tools to make it even easier for consumers to…

US Airways suing for lower prices

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

A recent Miami Herald headline - "US Airways sues Sabre over pricing." According to the article US Airways isn't the only airline, American has a suit pending…

Belk taps Oracle to transform its operations

June 27, 2011

Belk, the nation's largest privately owned mainline department store, has selected Oracle Retail Merchandising System to transform its business operations and…

Customer experience lessons from Red Bull

Here are four ways the energy drink brand uses unconventional thinking to stand apart from its competition.

Opinion: Retailers, manufacturers need to work on collaboration

Collaboration shouldn't be exclusive to a new product launch, promotion or supply chain initiative.