James Tenser

From my perspective, it's not the tech, per se, it's the practice that matters. Employees succeed better and show more self-respect when they are well enabled. That means training, sensible policies, freedom from unnecessary stress, and yes, technology tools that work.

It's relatively easy to trim the weekly payroll expense...

Based on the scant information available, I conclude that the new Wild Oats will be like a new-age Aldi—all private label, but with an organic, upscale spin. Oh... isn't that Trader Joe's?

One concern would be that the 200 locations may not match up well with the type of shoppers...

You've gotta love the stated intention here. I'm rooting for Cumberland Farms to win big with this policy, because it would be an excellent benchmark for other retailers.

It has a good chance of succeeding, if the firm hires with care and forms a caring bargain with its full-time employees....

Let's add one more big "C" to the list: Conversion.

All the other practices listed here should be aimed at maximizing this metric.

Oh - and here's another one: Conceptual Framework. Without which it would be hard to have meaningful conversations about all this marketing stuff.

Satisfaction is (as consumer behaviorists like to say) a summary construct. We can be generally satisfied with something even though some of its component factors are less than perfect.

AS the data show, online shopping is certainly growing. The state of the art for online and omni-channel retailers is generally...

The use of social tools for business purposes is likely to continue to expand. In this sense, Microsoft is correct. This is a bell that cannot be un-rung. New collaborative business methods may ensue. Some may add significant value.

But no organization wants to encourage employees to divert time, energy...

To understand the potential for online grocery ordering, pickup and home delivery, it would behoove us to examine two entities that are already making a go of it: Peapod (Ahold) and MyWebGrocer.

The latter is embedded as the ordering and selling platform in 130 supermarket chains, including Kroger, Winn-Dixie and...

The state of the pop-up store was one of several fascinating topics addressed at the recent ReCON conference (ICSC) in Las Vegas.

I was privileged to participate on a panel which included Daniella Yacobovsky, a co-founder of BaubleBar.com, an innovative online jewelry seller. Her firm has deployed the...

Well if we are going to have a productive discussion about this, we had best begin by clarifying the crucial difference between very large data marts and "Big Data."

Of course relational databases are expanding in size. Transactional and shopper data pour in every day. Data mining and modeling techniques...

Let's be careful not to interpret smartphone shopper behaviors as an excuse for investing even less on customer service staff and sales training. For one, we can teach our front-line people to recognize that shoppers peering at smartphones are highly engaged in a decision process, and that may signal...