Mark Price

Given that poor customer experience is endemic in the retail industry, building a link to the store associates and permitting those associates to network with each other could hold significant benefits for retailers in the future. In order to deliver on a superior customer experience, associates must feel cared...

I am not terribly optimistic about the future of smart kiosks and digital signage in the retail environment. The challenges involved in traffic flow and translating these kiosks into incremental revenue have prevented such technology from taking hold, to date.

At the same time, these kiosks do offer significant...

This service has some specific capabilities that may appeal to consumers in the US. I am not sure that additional recipe sharing and social networking is really what consumers need any more; there are so many ways to connect and share that typical consumers feel overwhelmed rather than in...

Many changes have occurred in retailing over the past 10 years. Clearly, retailers have become much more aggressive with their promotions in direct mail, e-mail and on their website. In addition, most retailers have recognized the impending challenge that comes from mobile commerce.

At the same time, there are...

The greatest issue for retailers revolves less around the redemption rates of the offers, and more around the types of customers that were attracted to those sites, and hence those offers. Research showed that consumers who are heavy Groupon users are much less likely to return and be loyal...

Given the ability of consumers to touch product in-store but order online, retailers will be under increasing profit pressure. The over-store-ing of suburban America creates a cluttered environment which further exacerbates the situation.

Smaller stores can be strategically placed in opportunistic locations, providing the right consumers with the most...

The dramatic growth of smart phone adoption and tablet purchasing in the United States has led many retailers to assume that customers would prefer to purchase using these devices rather than in the retail environment. In this case, those retailers are exactly half right.

The smart phone provides little...

Independent stores clearly have an opportunity to differentiate themselves from larger chains through two key strategies: personalization and customer experience.

Since independent stores deal with dramatically fewer customers than larger chain organizations, they have the potential to deliver personalized information and offers to individual customers based on their purchase...

Aeropostale's program is a fantastic start to leveraging new technology, particularly mobile, in engaging younger associates at the retail level. The ability to manage schedules and timesheets will reduce stress and improve job satisfaction. A satisfied worker is a happier worker, which will lead to an improved customer experience....

While eliminating coupons may be an academically correct approach to restoring customer perception of value, in this economically challenged environment, the answer may be more complex.

The easy answer is this: decrease your couponing and increase the points rewards from your loyalty card. In this way, you make sure...