Customers are buying down, and opportunities are rising, part 3

by Mike Wittenstein — Customer Experience and Service Designer, Storyminers

Customer-centric experience design is explored in this final installment of "Where's the Opportunity?"

Walmart under fire for sick leave policy

November 2, 2009

Punishing workers for taking sick leave puts Walmart on track to be a major spreader of swine flu this fall, according to a new report by the National Labor…

Four strategies for a better retail holiday season

Retailers need to prepare for the upcoming season with carefully planned merchandise assortments, inventory levels and cross-channel promotions that drive…

Best Buy CEO: Low prices are 'table stakes' for retailers

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

October 25, 2009

Customers care about low prices, but they want a lot more from their retailers than just the best deal.

Opinion: The difference between clerking and selling

The Retail Doc explains why in-store staff should be moved beyond low-hanging fruit and into real selling.

Performance Bicycle selects 3point5.com for online retail training

September 20, 2009

Performance Bicycle, the nation's largest specialty bike retailer, announced that it has selected 3point5.com to provide online training for its retail…

Great customer service: Remembering the little things

Tough times mean retailers need to squeeze all the value they can out of their assets, and that includes the small touches that can make a big difference.

Kronos index shows signs of recovery in retail hiring

September 8, 2009

CHELMSFORD, Mass. — Kronos Incorporated has unveiled the first installment of its Kronos Retail Labor Index, a family of metrics and indices that analyze the…

Reader Q&A: How do I drive more traffic into the store?

A legendary retailer asks for advice on getting shoppers into the store, and Kate Newlin responds with some practical tips.

Breaking retail's addiction to discounting

When retailers emphasize price above all else, everybody loses. Author Kate Newlin offers some alternatives to "okay, available and cheap."

Why good customer service is like billiards

Retail Doc Bob Phibbs explains why customer service staff need to scatter around the customer, like pool balls reacting to the cue.

Retailers can weather economy by focusing on basics

Trusted brands and an enlarged pool of skilled workers provide leverage.

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…

Staples selects RedPrairie for supply chain, workforce management

July 1, 2009

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — RedPrairie Corp., a productivity software provider, announced today that Staples, the world's largest office products company, has selected…

Is customer experience relevant in tough economic times?

Certain trends lead to the growth in customer experience attention and investment.

Red Book reveals latest version of store execution management tool

June 16, 2009

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Red Book Solutions today revealed the latest version of Source-2-Source, a solution focused solely on store-level task completion. Paired…

Lack of training leads to data security threats

June 11, 2009

CIO: A large number of employees copy secure data to USB drives or turn off security settings in mobile devices like laptops, which could put a company's data…

Loyalty segmentation needs to extend into the store

When front-line employees are left out of the loyalty process, points programs miss the point.

Five underutilized features of the modern POS

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

Today's point-of-sale systems are sophisticated business tools, but many retailers are still using them as glorified cash registers.

Many retailers struggle, but Walmart is hiring

June 4, 2009

Forbes: While many employers are firing, Wal-Mart is hiring. The retailer says it plans to create 22,000 U.S. jobs this year.