Bob Phibbs

"We want lower prices" is what Penney's heard.

What customers were apparently saying was, "We want the illusion of lower prices."

There is much to be gained from this and the good news is it has nothing to do with the buzzwords "pricing transparency" and everything to do with PT Barnum.

Very smart; one of these "D'oh" moments. You wonder why it wasn't done sooner or with every retailer.

It would be nice to instead of training them to be security guards who suspiciously examine the 90% of shoppers who are honest to catch the 10% who aren't, to train them to be helpful. We've all gone to a self-checkout kiosk expecting it to be quick then the...

You beat me to the punch; I'm writing a blog on this important topic. Cutting commission sales is a sign of weakness, not customer service. The best employees are motivated to sell the premium merchandise because they get a reward if they do. This idea that kumbayah employees will...

I went to Nordstrom to buy a Robert Graham shirt for my birthday. They only had a bunch of "safe" designs at a suburban location in their flagship store in Seattle. I tried their "app." Nothing. Figuring Amazon wouldn't have something, I checked anyways. They had one and it...

Bravo! Many webinars and reports I'm seeing talk about "arming employees" with tablets to do more -- as if technology can cover poor selection and training of employees. Sears recently talked about alerting associates on iPads when a mobile enabled customer entered their department. Really?

If they can't or...

Another example of how Amazon is looking to bring everyone to their shopping cart. Starbucks was on this for awhile before dropping it as not their core business.

At this point, what "isn't" Amazon's core business?

It's time for all retailers to wake up and look at how they are contributing to Amazon's bottom line -- at their own peril. I think it is a smart move masked as a "seasonal" adjustment. Right.

Value-seeking is not a new trend. What's changed is that retailers have largely given up showing what the value is to a customer between say a $26 garden hose and the promo model at $6.

In a point-and-click world, this approach will lead to the most profitable, best solutions...

This is something I've taught for years in a simple formula http://www.retaildoc.com/blog/how-to-handle-a-customer-complaint-in-four-easy-steps/

Giving yet another discount encourages "unhappy" customers. Why is this the answer to everything in retail from marketing to social media to making a happy customer? It's not the answer, it's the problem.