Is mobile retail starting to grow up?

It really takes two things for mobile retail to become the norm…it has to be high on the agenda of the major brands and it has to be an expectation of the consumer. We’re making progress on both fronts. A recent survey by Internet Retailer shows that 79% of retailers now find mobile commerce important, […]

Suddenly, mobile location got really, really easy

We all know retail is being transformed by mobile technology and big data…that story is being told pretty much everywhere.   Some of the biggest changes, however, are the ones happening very quietly and without hype. The recent release of Apple’s iOS7 gave us iBeacons, something Apple didn’t shout about publicly but is clearly the reason […]

Can predictive analytics and Big Data help salespeople improve outreach?

While doing my morning reading, I came across Jeanne Roué-Taylor’s article, What good is marketing insight without action? In the article, Jeanne notes that, “A great model brings together data from several sources, feeds analytics, makes predictions, enables test-and-learn scenarios, and allows the organization to adapt as data, channels, and other factors change over time. […]

You had me at “Would you like a grande latte?”

My local Safeway isn’t what I would call a very modern store. And the employees are either high school kids bagging groceries and collecting carts or middle-aged cashiers, bakers and butchers. It was a big step forward a few years ago when I could sign for my credit card purchase on an electronic device. I […]

The fundamental, data-driven shift in retail

Retail is undergoing an enormous change that is just getting started. If you’ve been to Best Buy lately, you’ll notice that selection on the shelves is decreasing and that the chain is moving more toward a two-pronged selling approach. The first is to stock the store with popular items that attract consumers wanting or needing […]

Organizations need to be anti-fragile

Many large, successful organizations are more fragile than they seem. They break under stress. Remember the travails of Kodak, Digital Equipment Corp., and Washington Mutual? In their heyday, they were dominant players in their sectors. All disappeared. Why do relatively few companies prove resilient and withstand stress? And why are even fewer “anti-fragile” — that is, […]

Stop relying on luck for a good shopping experience

The following is a guest post by Sean O’Shaughnessey. Recently, my daughter was in the market for a dress and her experience with the retail store was so positive, she became a fan. Her particular experience was due to a one-in-a-million, perfect store clerk with a photographic memory. Yet now, technology is capable of consistently reproducing […]

Loyalty beyond the punch card

The following is a guest post by David Rosen. This is the beginning of our blog series on loyalty for SMBs. We spend a tremendous amount of time with owners of small to medium sized businesses – restaurants, pharmacies, retailers – discussing how to build loyalty. One of their most basic challenges, hard as it […]

Personal Connection is Coming Full Circle

This is a guest post by Ted Rubin. Personalization is the new black. The marketing and selling story of today involves knowing and seeing your customer the moment they arrive on your physical or virtual doorstep, and being able to provide differentiated service based on their preferences, history and loyalty. Knowing who they are, listening […]

Do you really think you have a privacy right when you shop ?

This week a US Senator wrote to a tech firm which tracks and monitors consumers and asked them to change their practices. Euclid Analytics uses technology and data to help retailers build a consumer relationship by turning in-store behavior into insights and recommendations for improving marketing, merchandising, and operations. They do this by using the […]

Blurring of the Marketing/CRM Line

There is a significant blurring of the line between marketing and customer relationship management.  This blurring has enormous impact on the way we operate our businesses and engage with our customers. We need to stop thinking about functions and start thinking about fans. Traditional silos Traditionally, marketing has been about defining market segments and delivering […]

Here comes the ‘business in a box’

Square, the “service that enables anyone to accept credit cards anywhere” has just launched what they’ve labelled as a “Business in a Box” which they say will simplify setting up point of sale for small companies. With a couple of Square readers, iPad stand and a cash drawer you have all you need to get […]

Meeting your customers where they are, anytime, anywhere

Many made predictions as 2013 kicked off, but one caught my eye. Forrester’s Nigel Fenwick called this new year the Year of Digital Business. As Fenwick points out, there has been a communications evolution that has many retailers scrambling to find ways to get closer to their customers with innovative new technology to beat the […]

High Street is dead and it’s all your fault

Within a week three big and well established UK retail chains will more than likely disappear for good. For Jessops that’s already happened, for HMV and now Blockbuster it’s about to. It continues the trend from the last couple of years that the High Street is dying and dying fast, for goods that can be […]

Order-ahead, pay-ahead from your cellphone: The race is on

Just today PayPal announced that they added more retailers to their in-store payments application and are now at 18,000 retail outlets in the US. Amazing how technology that everyone expected would help break us free from brick and mortar is now squarely (pun intended) on making mobile payments to local stores much easier. If you’re […]

Location, location, location: There will be no coincidences

A few years back we were walking through London’s Heathrow and just happened to run into a good friend we never expected to see. Millions pass through that airport every year and we’re certain that we’ve narrowly missed an acquaintance many times before. Coincidence was king before our modern times. The world is increasingly becoming […]