NRF: Holiday retail sales rose 4.1 percent

After a season full of peaks and valleys, retailers' 2011 holiday sales beat expectations.

President Clinton, new technologies headed to NRF 2012

More than 22,000 attendees will explore the latest technologies to help improve their customer experience.

So you aren't Johnny Depp ...

by Harvey Mackay — Author, Mackay Mitchell

Do you lack the dazzle of Angelina Jolie's lagoon-blue eyes or the regal command of Meryl Streep's screen poise? Come up short on George Clooney's suave or…

Verizon's 4G helps 3-D kiosks personalize shopping experience

January 10, 2012

A new breed of mobile commerce applications from TelePresence Tech, a 3D telepresence innovator,  Verizon Wireless and Alcatel-Lucent is on display this week…

1 million Facebookers printing from Kodak kiosks

January 8, 2012

More than 1 million people will have printed photos from Kodak picture kiosk by the end of month, according to a company press release.

GUESS deploying iPads to better serve shoppers

January 5, 2012

GUESS Inc. is using iPads to put its products in front of shoppers by implementing the VeriFone GlobalBay iPad Retailing solution inside a dozen stores in the…

What are your 2012 retail resolutions?

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

I know how busy you have likely been for the last few weeks, so I've taken the liberty of putting together some potential resolutions for you and your team in…

Best Buy CEO, FCC chairman among speakers at CES

January 3, 2012

Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn will discuss the state of the retail industry Jan. 11 at the Consumer Electronics Association's 2012 International CES in the Las Vegas…

Online retailers must provide better service

January 3, 2012

Although Cyber Monday 2011 set a record for the most online retail spending in a single day, and the weekend before Christmas was the second heaviest weekend…

Employee turnover: Are you causing it or preventing it?

by Harry Friedman

There are many causes for turnover, but the single biggest reason for turnover in retail stores today is the inability of the sales staff to be successful. But…

Survey announces 10 worst online retailers

January 2, 2012

Is it brand perception or actual high-quality service that gives online retailers their reputations? That's a question that 24/7 Wall St. set out to find by…

Sears CEO: Technology key to revitalizing company

January 2, 2012

Sears' chief executive officer, Lou D'Ambrosio, plans to turn around his company's performance by implementing technology and spending more money on stores…

Re-assuring the assurance factor: Why smiles and happy faces aren't enough

When providing customer service, courtesy is not a substitute for competence and skill.

Teamwork Retail using iPads to manage stores

December 29, 2011

Employees in Teamwork Retail stores are using iPads to ring up purchases and look up product info on the retail floor,

3 things shoppers care more about than price

December 28, 2011

American consumers were less concerned with costs during the 2011 holiday shopping season than last year, according to the Foresee E-Retail Satisfaction Index…

Big boxes going condo is a "material" change

by Mark Murray — Director, The Store Channel

The most noticeable change for mass-market retail in the year ahead will be the introduction of new architectural materials and flooring. As "stores" evolve…

What is 'knock your socks off customer service'?

Research finds that it costs five times more to attract a new customer than it does to keep one you already have.

Barneys NY using mobile POS

December 21, 2011

Barneys New York is going mobile this holiday season with MICROS-Retail's miStore mobile point-of-sale in its flagship Manhattan store.

It's Amazon's world, we're just living in it

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

It doesn't seem like all that many years ago when Amazon.com was touting itself as the "world's biggest bookstore." I remember listening to its radio ads in…

Six trends that will cause brick-and-mortar retailers to lose sleep in 2012

by Bob Phibbs — CEO, The Retail Doctor

It's customary to look ahead at the retail trends that will shape 2012 and the buzz, profits and challenges to profitable retailing. Here then are the good…