What is the online marketplace opportunity for retailers?
Online marketplaces are predicted to drive much of e-commerce’s robust growth in the decades ahead. And while Amazon.com and Alibaba are retailers and formidable competitors, they have also created the...
View ArticleAre these the best or worst of times for consumer brands?
Brands now have unprecedented opportunities to reach consumers, yet they’re facing massive disruption to their historical retail models. Would you lean more toward saying this is the best or worst of...
View ArticleWhat does Ring mean for Amazon?
Amazon.com in late February acquired Ring, a maker of internet-connected doorbells and cameras, for about $1.1 billion. What do you think was behind Amazon’s acquisition of Ring?
View ArticleCustomers want to be left alone while shopping
A new customer survey by HRC Retail Advisory reports some rather startling findings: 95 percent of shoppers want to be left alone while shopping. How should stores balance technology investments that...
View ArticleLessons in goodwill and the power of feelings
Customer experience continues to be a hot topic in retail. But when you talk with customers, there is something more. Something much deeper. Customers often describe their best experiences in terms of...
View ArticleThe question for today’s retailers: What business are you in?
In one of his best-known works, “Marketing Myopia” in Harvard Business Review (HBR) from 1960, Theodore Levitt focused on a single strategic question: “What business are you in?” Is it a common flaw...
View Article‘Less is more’ when competing with Amazon
When is too much choice a bad thing? Brain scientists and psychologists have discovered that too many choices overwhelm our brain. Too many choices become intimidating, frustrating and can result in...
View ArticleAre big box retailers going too small with new store concepts?
Before the age of Amazon, “big box” stores were the category killers that created the destination locations to draw the masses. Today, the big retailers are focusing on shrinking stores. The downsizing...
View ArticleWhy do retailers practically ignore existing customers to go after new ones?
Studies repeatedly show that second time buyers are more valuable and more profitable. So why do so many retailers focus heavily on sales transactions and fail to measure the KPIs of "the second sale"?...
View ArticleShould all retailers offer subscription services?
Consumers worldwide are turning to the convenience of subscriptions across many categories for a host of routine consumable products that can be delivered to your door on schedule. Indeed, the very...
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