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…

Apple to open store in Russia

August 22, 2012

Rumor has it that Apple may be setting up shop in Russia. Russians, some of the world's biggest consumers of Apple goods, now mainly buy via eBay, but Apple…

Positioning on a price point: Dollar Tree

by Annamaria Turano — Executive Director, MCAworks

Dollar Tree continues to harvest success from its unique positioning built on its value-oriented price point. According to a recent company press release…

Retailers try to outbribe one another to target back-to-school shoppers

August 17, 2012

The bribes are plentiful this back-to-school season as retailers vie for a piece of the $83.8 billion that the National Retail Federation expects Americans to…

NRF: School, college shoppers still have a lot left to buy

August 16, 2012

Even though they began shopping for back-to-school and college items earlier than ever this year, families with school and college-aged students as of Aug. …

When will the penny finally drop for J.C. Penney's Ron Johnson?

J.C. Penney showed a big 2Q 2012 loss, down another 23 percent, which is much bigger than expected.

The most common mistake made during a customer experience change, and how to overcome it

by Colin Shaw — Founder & CEO, Beyond Philosophy

I was once called into see a new client who had a problem they wanted to discuss: "We undertook research about 18 months ago on how we could improve our…

Putting romance back into retail

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

Retailing has changed more in the last 3 years than in the past 3 decades. Actually, it is the consumers who have changed. They are shopping 24/7/365 anywhere…

Everything that's wrong with retail summed up in one question

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

During my presentation last week at the Retail Customer Experience Executive Summit, a question was asked that sums up everything that's wrong with retail…

Hello Kitty goes high fashion in Asia

August 13, 2012

Hello Kitty's first and only high-end fashion brand is heading toward its roots in Asia with the opening of 15 stores across the continent. Pynkiss boutiques…

How to get your customers to picture regret

by Bob Phibbs — CEO, The Retail Doctor

I was speaking at the Sturbridge Inn & Convention Center recently and had to print something at the business center. A guy was on the one computer checking…

Ur missing teens' biz if u don't text

August 3, 2012

Brands trying to reach younger shoppers have turned to text speak to entice them. For example, Charlotte Russe last week invited young shoppers to a happy hour…

RCE Podcast episode 6: The Chick-fil-A debacle and how retail is becoming more political

Wednesday's "appreciation day" set sales records at Chick-fil-A, and polarized an awful lot of people in the process. Meanwhile, other retailers have come out…

Why Target’s ‘gay couple ad’ is in the spotlight

by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

One of Target's banner ads promoting its wedding registry has gained significant attention this week. The ad, which has been running since April at the top of…

JCPenney: Not a pricing failure

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

There's a lot of talk about JCP's failed pricing strategy, but is it really the pricing that's off?

Retailers trucking into the fashion world

August 2, 2012

Remember when food trucks were the cool "new" thing? Now, the trend is all about fashion. A few retailers in New York, Boston, L.A. and Portland have taken…

London retailers marketing around Olympics

July 30, 2012

British retailers are taking advantage of the world's focus on London during this Olympic season. Department stores, including Selfridges, Harrods, Harvey…

RCE Podcast episode 5: Amazon profits plummet, more JC Penney news, and whether 'Made in America' still matters

Amazon made an awful lot of money in the second quarter - but kept only a fraction of it. We run the numbers in this episode, then talk about all of the news…

NRF releases infographic with top back-to-school trends for 2012

July 26, 2012

The National Retail Federation has released a new infographic filled with data relative to the upcoming back-to-school season.

Augmented reality is part of IKEA's 2013 catalog

July 25, 2012

IKEA is taking the catalog experience up a notch, using augmented reality to grab readers' attention. After downloading the IKEA app to smartphones or tablets…