Mark Price

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...

The most common mistakes that occur with retail training are based on the assumption that the most important information that an associate needs is operational-how to run the register, stack and merchandise the shelves and clean the store. While this information is important, it really represents only the cost...

Original programming is not a silver bullet for Netflix; rather the silver bullet is customer-centricity and responsiveness. The loss of customers due to their business model "debacle," where they made several announcements on changes to their business model and then had to retract their position, cost them over 500K...

I believe that customers can be forgiving of online cancellations, if the customer experience is right. What you find from Best Buy is a combination of poor follow through, arrogance and a shirking of responsibility that has cost the company in reputation, if not in actual performance.

Even Best...

Remember that the changes we are seeing in customer behavior reflect a general average customer -- one that does not exist. Customers are not averages -- they represent specific combinations of preferences by category.

The key to surviving in this environment is to focus on building and reinforcing values...