When does personalization become an invasion of privacy?

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

Without realizing it, you are creating a digital trail of your behaviors with every click and tap that you make. E-commerce has been using our cookies to track…

Transparency as a service requires role of the consumer

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

If "transparency as a service" is the new buzz term in marketing, we should remember there is such a thing as bad service.

Best Buy: Why in-store analytics are critical for survival

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

Best Buy is a case study unfolding before our eyes. It is quite literally a test of how today's omnichannel consumers will behaviorally respond to radical…

Turning a frown upside-down: How negative WOM can help your brand

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

The loyalty lie

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

Loyalty is an increasingly fleeting thing. In fact, the average Gen Y mother now defines "brand loyalty" as a window of allegiance lasting 6-12 months before…

Customer loyalty: Woody Allen vs. your local ATM

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

In my years as a customer service consultant, I've yet to hear a customer blurt out anything that sounds like this:

Netflix uncovers clue to customer preferences

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

Call it the case of the mysterious movie preferences.

How to optimize your store for summer

by Gary Edwards — Chief Customer Officer, Emathica

Now that summer is well underway, it’s time for retailers to turn up the heat. After spending prolonged time indoors during the cold weather, customers are…

Loyalty, rewards and the test of time

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

When it comes to measuring their program effectiveness, loyalty marketers tend to rely on what I like to call the big EAR: earnings, activation and redemption…

Five fundamentals required for 'ME-tailing' success

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

It's the "Age of the Consumer." That's not news. The lead articles on retail are chocked full of stories about how consumers are now empowered through their…

Starbucks reusable cups, a redemption story

by Lisa Biank Fasig — Director, JZMcBride and Associates

Will a reusable cup get people thinking about their reusable cards? Starbucks may soon find out.

The iPhone 5: Our best bet for clipping and saving trust?

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

Of the many features the newly released iPhone 5 can offer, one of the most compelling for the consumer is this: It eliminates the clip-and-save.

Mystery shopping professional conference coming this fall

by Kimberly Nasief — President, Measure Consumer Perspectives

Mystery shopping agencies, companies and mystery shoppers from around the country will be in San Diego, California this October in order to attend one of the…

Which retail brands do a good job at pricing?

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

Some days, despite your best intentions, you fumble the ball. Such was the case at the Retail Customer Experience Executive Summit when I was asked "Who [among…

Macy's novel approach to rolling out mobility in 800 stores

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

Unless you have been living under a rock lately, you'll know that showrooming is one of the hottest topics in retailing. Consumers are increasingly using their…

Loyalty means never having to say, "Eat that second doughnut"

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

Smart marketers know that the key to winning customer loyalty is through using personal data in a way that benefits both the company and the consumer.

Klout: More social influence equals a better customer experience?

by Colin Shaw — Founder & CEO, Beyond Philosophy

I was very interested to see that organizations are starting to provide a better customer experience to people that have more social influence. You may have…

Will consumers opt-in for the 'store of the future?'

by Cherryh Cansler — Publisher, FastCasual.com

Motorola Solutions recently launched a variety of solutions to help retailers deliver what it calls the "store of the future." Many of the company's solutions…

Social relevance as more than a pet project

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

Today, when merchants consider social media, many think of a few key terms: Listen! Word of mouth! Viral marketing! But the most important consideration to…

Buyers behave irrationally

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

Ruti Levy, in her Haaretz.com article "Building blocks of high prices," cited the fact that Israelis are paying 3 to 3.5 times what they would online for…