Herb Sorensen, Ph.D.

I can't believe Ryan Mathews wrote a longer comment than me! Seriously, this entire thread (so far?) is basically right on!

This development has been coming for quite some time, and Europe is already further along than the US in terms of "social suicide." The blatant lies promulgated by "population bomb" alarmism parallel other frauds perpetrated by a political contingent that is basically anti-human - in other words, if it...

People may find this hard to believe, but back in the early '80s there was a Harvard Business Review article titled "Retailing Without Stores." Moving images like Amazon is using here were discussed in that article, along with a discussion of a pre-internet TV set-top box test deployed in...

I find this kind of discussion just so wrong - kinda like the faux consumerists who interview me and want to know how stores are tricking shoppers into buying. I know this is off-topic, but if a shopper wants to save money, STAY at home! Stores are where you...

In my opinion, Costco is the world's premier bricks-and-mortar retailer, in terms of relating to shoppers inside-the-store. They are well ahead of Walmart here, even though Walmart is obviously much larger. With the growing Convergence of Online, Mobil and Bricks-and-mortar (COMB) retailing, obviously Costco needs to push hard on...

Self-checkout will eventually evolve into NO checkout, as currently practiced. Rather each item will be paid for (checked out), by means of their smartphone, as the customer moves it from the display into their cart/basket/bag. Stop & Shop has the most advanced practical deployment of this, at least approaching,...

This article is pretty much right on, except that I don't think that retail is trending "away" from bricks as much as the IP of online retailing, including mobile, is moving IN on the bricks. Notice all the discussion here about Apple stores, Google stores, Amazon delivering in the...

The steps outlined for "delighting" customers are right on. However, it's a shame that proper handling of a complaint should be a delight, something beyond reasonable expectation by the customer. I'm sensitive to this because in my "Three Purchase States (Modes of Purchase Hypothesis,)" I identify "Surprise...

I don't think of this as "channel blurring" but as sharper focus on the customer. As I've often said, retailers should define themselves by the needs and wants of their customers, not the suite of merchandise that they may have historically offered. Although there is nothing wrong with that...

The fundamental principle here is that shoppers come to all stores to get their needs/wants filled. Retailers typically look to the merchandise on their shelves to define who they are. Forward thinking retailers look to their customers needs/wants to define who they are.

Adapting Maslow's hierarchy of need to...