Max Goldberg

Online merchants should streamline their sites so consumers can quickly find what they are looking for, make checkout a fast, simple experience, offer package tracking, and follow up after the sale to see how the each facet of the experience could be improved.

Brick and mortar stores should design the...

Time is finite. Offering rewards that save time have value, sometimes more value than saving money. The article highlights some excellent examples.

Time saving rewards do not have to replace monetary rewards. Both can be offered. Consumers could choose the reward that they find most valuable.

To be successful, reward programs...

Remember the late 1990s when many companies with deep, deep pockets jumped into online grocery businesses? Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent. And where did Webvan and the like wind up? In what TechCrunch calls "The Dead Pool."

Online grocery is not for the faint of heart or those...

Facebook "likes" do have value for a brand. For some reason a consumer chose to visit that brand's FB page and interact with the company. The key for a marketer is to discern why and to provide the consumer with reasons to visit again and again. The reason may...

Just what Penney needed, another pricing problem. Every retailer can set its own pricing scheme, but please be smart enough to make it invisible to consumers. In many ways, the current scandal could be worse for the chain than Johnson's EDLP strategy. And the way that Penney is defending...

It all sounds great until consumers have a question or need something that is not readily available, then they need a human, rather than a machine. Or have consumers become too uncomfortable dealing with each other face-to-face?

We should look at the current state of retail. Have retail employees become...

Every company needs to examine its return policy to see if it is negatively impacting bottom line results. Enough customers abused REI's policy that a change was needed. A year seems like the right amount of time, especially if REI continues to offer quality gear, knowledgable salespeople and a...

How much will Los Angelenos pay for convenience? Looking at the prices that Amazon is charging in Seattle and comparing them to prices in LA, Amazon is significantly more expensive. With the myriad of grocery options currently available in LA, it may be difficult for Amazon to establish its...

Cheap gas, better meat and produce than most supermarkets, house brands that are equal to national brands, and an unwavering commitment to great customer service make Costco a preferred destination. Few other retailers can charge consumers a fee just for the privilege of walking in the door, and get...

The merger of TV and e-commerce will benefit retailers whose websites are set to handle the traffic, have excellent customer service (after all, what looks good on an actor, might not look so good when you try it on at home) and offer free shipping both ways. TV shows...