Consumers hungry for 3D printing, targeted notifications

June 6, 2017

A new Interactions survey on what shoppers want from retail technology reveals consumers are hungry for targeted notifications in the shopping experience and…

Kagan: Georgia Tech is helping transform retail

by Jeff KAGAN — Wireless Analyst, Telecom Industry Analyst

Georgia Tech has launched a $1 million-dollar retail technology initiative at its Advanced Technology Developers Center. The ATDC, launched in 1980, is the…

Graduation time is boom time for retailers

June 2, 2017

Consumer spend on graduation is predicted to hit an all-time high this year.

Can any traditional retailer survive the "Battle of the Bots"?

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

Chris H. Petersen says going up against Amazon is like taking a knife to a light saber battle. Why? Because the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Study: Consumers not happy with resolution experience

May 24, 2017

A new inContact study revealed that customers are not getting the 'fast resolution' expected in today's retail commerce environment and companies must improve…

House drops Durbin repeal; retailers ring up a win

May 24, 2017

The U.S. House of Representatives has dropped wording that would have repealed the controversial Durbin Amendment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Financial…

Human interaction key to customer experience, reveals research

May 23, 2017

Trading human interaction for total automation may save money but it's not going to win a retailer any points with consumers.

Warren Buffet: Retail is changing big time

May 17, 2017

Iconic investor Warren Buffett isn't very bullish on the retail segment. In fact, in his view, retail is now purely ecommerce.

Millennials love burger discounts, Gen X favors Mexican fare price cuts

May 16, 2017

A new national consumer report regarding restaurant and take-out dining habits reveals 53 percent have at least one food/mobile app on their smartphone and 7…

Flowers don't rule Mother's Day, but gift cards are welcome

May 12, 2017

A new study regarding what moms want for Mother’s Day debunks one of the top holiday myths — that flowers rule.

Mother's Day spend may be a record-setter this year

May 5, 2017

Shoppers will spend the most ever this year come Mother's Day, averaging about $186 on purchase, reveals a NRF survey conducted by Prosper Insights &…

Consumers eager to use electronic pay options

May 4, 2017

A new study reveals more than a third of Americans and Europeans are happy to trade cash for electronic payment options and 20 percent have already made the…

Consumers feel misunderstood by retailers, claims study

May 3, 2017

Just 61 percent of consumers believe companies understand their needs and that less than stellar percentage is leading to fading loyalty.

Kagan: New rules for success in retail

by Jeff KAGAN — Wireless Analyst, Telecom Industry Analyst

Retail will always be with us, but it will be different going forward. Now is the time to be experimenting and expanding your brand in the mind of your…

Starbucks CEO: It's a dire time for brick-and-mortar retailers

May 2, 2017

The new chief of Starbucks is making his view clear when it comes to what's happening with the retail brick-and-mortar sales environment, calling the changes…

Hungry for more conversions? There's an app for that

With the inherent convenience of ordering favorite specialty items online, come new demands from consumers, namely: the expectation of finding their favorite…

Small biz owners have a rosy outlook on growth

April 27, 2017

Half of small business owners are viewing current business conditions as good or excellent and predict conditions will improve in the next six months.

Retailers failing at personalization, claims study

April 26, 2017

Less than half of retailers are successfully driving a personalized consumer experience and even fewer are using advanced strategies to customize the shopping…

5 top themes for future retail success

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

In mature categories with declining volumes and margins, there are immense pressures on the c-suite to innovate. Consumers have already voted for a seamless…

Analyst: What Macy's needs to do to rally

April 20, 2017

Macy's needs to draw more mall traffic, adapt to changing shopper trends and get faster at customer service, according to a retail analyst.