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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Do Pizza Hut’s 140-Second Interviews Fit the New Digital Dialogue?
Pizza Hut is choosing a new “Manager of Digital Greatness” based in part on 140-second interviews being conducted during South-by-Southwest (SXSW), the 11-day tech, film and music festival now taking…
Couches and Tablets Make Perfect Shopping Tools
Even though the first iPad only came out in April 2010, tablets’ share of web traffic has already exceeded smartphones, according to Adobe’s latest Digital Index. The gains were reportedly…
CPGmatters: Barilla America Offers Digital Deals to Monetize and Measure Online Media
While recognizing that distribution and redemption rates are still small for digital coupons, Barilla America is looking to them to start learning more about its consumers as well as to…
Disney Store Makes Digital Magic
In her presentation at this week’s eTail West event, Disney Stores’ VP of ecommerce and marketing, Elissa Margolis, noted that, even though the Disney Store division represents a smaller piece…
Americans Won’t Pay For Same-Day Delivery, Or Will They?
A number of companies are tinkering around with same-day delivery in the U.S., believing there is a market opportunity even though the primary reason people abandon their shopping carts online…
Will Digital Marketing Bring New Consumers to Luxury Brands?
A new survey from Luxury Interactive and ShopIgniter shows that 63 percent of luxury marketers predict that by 2015 digital marketing will be the most important form of marketing for…
Are Geeks Out of Place in Target’s CE Departments?
Target’s deal with RadioShack didn’t work out, but early indications are that its test with Best Buy’s Geek Squad last year is working out well enough for both companies to…
From Which to When: Marketers Mine New Synergies in Social Media
Not that long ago, social media was regarded a simple game of multiple choice, but presentations at last week’s eTail West conference illustrated just how much marketers’ mindsets have changed…
Does Tech Have a Fashion Disconnect?
On the last day of New York Fashion Week in mid-February, Decoded Fashion held a four-hour Fashion Forum programmed to help designers catch up with the latest technological advances, and…
What Will It Take to Improve the Mobile Shopping Experience?
The eye-popping statistics that permeated last week’s eTail West showed that growth in mobile has exceeded just about everyone’s expectations. Yet many companies are only now discovering its unique challenges…
Why Are Retailers So E-Mail Challenged?
Research reports have shown that most consumers prefer to get their electronic communications via e-mail. The surprising thing is that retailers know this, have known it for some time, and…
White House Supports Petition to Unlock Cell Phones/Tablets
The Obama Administration has publicly signaled its support to reverse a recent ruling by the Library of Congress that prevents cell phone owners from unlocking the devices so they may…
Can Online Shopper Metrics Be Brought to Stores?
E-commerce sites provide extensive data around items shoppers like. Now, new visual and mobile technologies are promising to bring those measurements to brick & mortar. Will online shopper metrics likely…
Should Rent-to-Own Stores Reveal Fees Charged?
There goes your transparency. In Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker has added provisions that exempt rent-to-own companies from that state’s consumer protection act requiring lenders to disclose interest rates. Do you…
Rite Aid Adds Doc in a Box Technology to More Stores
Like competitors CVS and Walgreens, Rite Aid sees an opportunity in providing basic medical care in stores to its customers. But unlike its two larger rivals, Rite Aid has chosen…
What’s Next for Daily Deals After Groupon CEO’s Ouster?
Last week’s firing of Groupon founder and CEO Andrew Mason set off a fresh round of speculation over the future of online and mobile deal coupons. What do you think…
Marks & Spencer Looks to Create Innovation in a Lab
Marks and Spencer has launched a “digital labs” division to lead innovation in-store and online, which will trial new technologies, build prototypes and develop concepts for implementation at scale. Should…
CSD: What Will Be the Future of Convenience Retailing?
Looking out over the next 10-to-20 years, one thing is clear. The primary value proposition of the convenience store industry will have to be radically redefined or the industry will…
Does Walmart Have Restocking Problems?
There are all kinds of reasons, human and technological, why retailers fail to fill open spaces on shelves. Regardless of the causes, empty shelves can lead to lost sales. What…
Will Google Cut Amazon Down to Size?
Google is coming after Amazon.com, just not with brick and mortar stores. Google’s search engine technology is the weapon that a wide variety of companies are using in attempts to…
How Can Retailers and Vendors Build Win-Win Relationships?
When Refrigerated Foods Hall of Fame member Johnny Harris started in this business, his boss told him, “Johnny, it is important that we have great vendor relations.” Which of the…
