Jeff Bezos apologizes for Kindle/Orwell incident

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

July 23, 2009

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos knows his company raised a lot of eyebrows last week with its remote deletion of Orwell's "1984" and "Animal Farm" from Kindles of users…

AT&T completes makeover of 2,200 retail locations

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

July 20, 2009

The Apple Insider blog reports that the massive makeover of more than 2,200 AT&T U.S. retail locations is complete. The stores now offer netbooks in…

New research dissects what makes a 'wow experience'

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

July 8, 2009

A new survey from The Verde Group and the Retail Council of Canada says that most shoppers — just slightly more than 50 percent — have had a great retail…

Column: Younger generations expect less customer service

June 23, 2009

Kansas City Star: "Most teens and college students, I think, have become accustomed to dealing with salesmen whose only job seems to be ringing up your…

Blog: Apple's magical retail experience in its global stores

June 22, 2009

Information Week: A professional investor who's used PCs for 20 years relates the superb retail experience he had at the Apple Store in Tokyo, and emphasizes…

Opinion: The fine art of reading customers

June 18, 2009

Publisher's Weekly: Training staffers to read customers' signals can lead to much better, more successful experiences for both customer and retailer. Though it…

Hispanic foods moving out of the ethnic aisle

June 14, 2009

MSNBC: Several major chains are expanding their specialty offerings to capture business from Latinos, the country's fastest growing population and already…

Whole Foods offering free rides home — via rickshaw

June 9, 2009

Supermarket News: Whole Foods Market stores in Manhattan this week are offering to take shoppers home for free — via rickshaw.

Bloomingdale's veteran: We need to react to changing shopper attitudes

May 6, 2009

Retail Week: Retailers need to work harder to persuade shoppers to start spending again in what is the most difficult time in the sector's history. That was…

Office Depot offering free resumes, faxing

April 19, 2009

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Office Depot announced it is offering customers free copies of their resumes and free faxing from April 19 to May 30, 2009.

NRF, Shop.org Partner with Expo TV

March 17, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an effort to gain more insight into what consumers are feeling, why they make certain decisions and how the economy has changed them…

CEO: Retail entering a new era

March 8, 2009

Retail Solutions Online: Green Hills Market CEO Gary Hawkins offers an intriguing premise in a series of new position papers. He feels the retail industry is…

iCongo version 8 adds dynamic catalog creation, enhanced merchandising

March 4, 2009

MONTREAL — iCongo, provider of e-commerce and cross-channel systems, today announced a set of new features to its retail e-commerce and cross-channel system.

Store closings spell big opportunities for the survivors

March 4, 2009

The Associated Press: Retailers left standing amid the carcasses of their competitors are going after orphaned customers. They're using aggressive mailers…

Opinion: Don't confuse customer service with customer experience

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

February 23, 2009

Forrester analyst and prolific customer experience blogger Bruce Temkin writes about the need to keep a clear distinction between customer service and…

GK Software releases GK/Retail 12

February 22, 2009

SCHOENECK, Germany — GK SOFTWARE AG has announced the immediate availability of GK/Retail 12, the newest release of its Store Automation suite of products…

Independent booksellers hold tight to their niche

February 15, 2009

The Daily Herald (Chicago): They've battled the big guys, the Internet, the downward spiral of the economy. Now, in the tradition of all great drama…

Retail architect: Meet the new consumer

February 10, 2009

Jeffrey Hutchison, The Huffington Post: The current financial crisis has ushered in a new retail era which spells the end of shopping as we have known it…

Costco calls shoppers to warn them about recalled products

January 25, 2009

MSNBC: Jon Lowder usually disdains computer-generated telephone calls — "robo-calls," he grumbles — but when he got two this week from Costco Wholesale Corp.…

New research reveals the best retail customer experiences of the year

January 19, 2009

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Retail Customer Experience magazine announced the publication of its inaugural Best Retail Customer Experiences report, a comprehensive…