GNC upgrades phone app to enhance store experience

April 9, 2012

GNC Holdings Inc., the nation's largest specialty retailer of health and wellness products, has enhanced its new iPhone app and has also made it available to…

Study: French e-commerce growing despite delivery kinks

April 6, 2012

Although 91 percent of French consumers shopped online over the past year, 27 percent asked for a refund at least once because of delivery hassles, according…

Roundup: How to deliver 'knock your socks off' customer service

Enjoy these excerpts from the customer service classic that recently turned 20.

The Container Store adds 'real-time listening' via OpinionLab

March 29, 2012

OpinionLab today announced that The Container Store, retailer of storage and organization products, is using OpinionLab multichannel feedback solutions to…

For retail, honesty is the only policy

Misleading customers leads to far worse problems than telling them something unpleasant they need to hear right now.

Biometrics makes tanning quick, easy at NY salon

March 19, 2012

Customers of Zoom Tan, a tanning salon chain in New York and Florida, can pay for sessions and sign in with a touch of a finger now that the salon has…

Are independent hardware stores ready for a comeback?

by Bob Phibbs — CEO, The Retail Doctor

Do you remember being at a bowling alley or supermarket and seeing the old claw game? The one where you navigate the joystick in hopes of manipulating the claw…

Video game retailers merge to dominate Canadian market

March 15, 2012

Play N Trade, the world's largest video game retail franchisor, is expanding in Canada through a merger with Canadian-based Dimensions Games Corporation.

Why timeliness and responsiveness are crucial for retail

The best time for anything is the time that is best for the customer.

Follow-up for success

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

A few years ago I presented a seminar to around one hundred retailers. These people run stores whose products have a fairly high price point; they often offer…

Why you should never ask customers how much they're looking to spend

by Harry Friedman

You go shopping. You're looking for a gift. A salesperson, trying to deter­mine what merchandise to show you, asks, "How much do you want to spend?" You say…

Retail Bracket Madness - cast your vote!

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

Which retailer provides the best customer experience? Cast your votes today!

Walgreen may hire more disabled workers

March 9, 2012

Walgreen Co. is piloting a program to hire cognitively and physically disabled employees in its stores across the country, according to a story on…

Loyalty Limelight: Bloomingdale's rewards customers without credit

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

The program: Bloomingdale's Loyallist Program

The fundamentals of employee feedback

by Peggy Carlaw — VP, Impact Learning Systems

Giving feedback to your employees is one of the most important things you can do for each of them individually, and your team as a whole. Oftentimes, managers…

Speakers, agenda announced for Retail Customer Experience Executive Summit

The third annual event is set to convene at Hotel Sax in Chicago on August 6-8, 2012.

Study: 'Racioethnic consistency' between retail employees, customers boosts profit

February 28, 2012

According to a new study from Temple University, retailers can significantly increase their revenue and profitability by better mirroring the "racioethnic…

AT&T opens high-tech, bilingual store in Queens

February 27, 2012

New York Yankees pitcher Dwight Gooden was on site today to help AT&T celebrate the grand opening of its largest and newest store in New York.

Teenagers have changed: Here's what it will take for them to succeed in retail

by Bob Phibbs — CEO, The Retail Doctor

In the Wall Street Journal article, "What's Wrong With the Teenage Mind?" Alison Gopnik takes an in-depth look at two trends affecting the maturation of…

Study: Retailers must engage employees to please shoppers

February 22, 2012

Employee engagement in the U.S. retail sector has sunk to its lowest levels since 2009, according to a new study claiming that employee engagement is directly…