Verlin P. Youd

There are a few clear examples of retailers succeeding in hiring/retaining great talent across the retail enterprise, i.e. Apple. However, for every success, there are dozens of retailers who don't seem to understand what motivates their target employees to join and stay, and the investments required to support deliver...

As some have commented, this is a bit of 'back to the future', although a bit more legitimate than "back of the truck" purchasing from the past. Bottom line, everyone is more time starved than ever. Taking a desired product to a target market cuts down on the time...

Makes total sense, and frankly should have been done sooner, probably as part of earliest releases of the solution. Seems to provide some additional value to counter the question that still remains, are retailers really motivated to implement foursquare when acquired points can be used at other retailers?

Smart move on Pepsi's part! The association with Michael Jackson had a significant impact on their success in the late '80s and early '90s. As others have said, they can now deal with a "known entity," as well as focus on the positives of that person's life. Seems like...

Seems like a reasonable decision for Target, based on a desire to strengthen their own offerings while not making business any easier for a key competitor. There are plenty of examples where partnerships last as long as they are beneficial for both parties, and many where partnerships are terminated...

Very insightful move by Walmart, showing they have segmented, analysed, and know their customers; and further are willing to invest to meet their needs. There is a substantial portion of the US population that does not actively use credit cards and in fact may not actually use a bank...

Short answer -- yes. The key to continuing to influence shoppers is to ensure that the ratings reliable, accurate, and current. Google has some interesting opportunities to create even more influence with some innovative application of technology in their partnerships with other retailers. Wouldn't it be cool to have...

"Website first" is a way to put a toe in the market. It is also important to note that today's global logistics infrastructure allows a retail to plant single stores in key markets, allowing them to take the next, and more important, step of determining if their value proposition...

As usual, Mike's suggestions are insightful and practical and any retailer would do well to follow them -- in fact any business serving customers could use the same approach, including airlines, hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues, etc.

Retailers could dramatically reduce the need to use this approach by focusing on...

Change is inevitable, particularly in retail as we have learned over the last 50 years. That being said, to echo a few others, physical retail is here to stay, albeit different from today. Recent studies (see IBM study on shopping 2011) forecast that a majority of purchases will take...