Bryan Pearson
Experience, Relevance, Resilience: 7 Ways Consumers Haven’t Changed
If retailers think customers engagement was easier back in 1992, it’s because they didn’t know what they didn’t know. Back then, Amazon was just a sparkle in Jeff Bezos’ eye. People happily crowded indoor shopping malls. No one owned a smart phone. And most retailers...
Is Alt-Health Retail’s Next Big Growth Opportunity?
Ness may represent a legendary monster in Scotland, but it’s also waking a slumbering need in healthcare, and it’s a need retailers might want to set their alarms to. Ness, a financial-tech company, has developed an app that issues reward points to users for healthy lifestyle...
Gas Prices Raise Costs In 8 Surprising Ways
There’s a reason the price of chewing gum is up 7% from last year, and it’s not all related to supply and demand. It turns out that chewing gum is a crude habit, regardless of personal opinion. The average 42-gallon barrel of oil historically has produced nearly...
The Big Spending Chill: 5 Ways Gen Z, Millennials Differ
Imagine a crowd of 10- to 25-year-old consumers at one of your stores and a crowd of 25- to 39-year-olds at another. How would each store differ in its merchandise, in-aisle communications and payment options? This is something about which retailers should be thinking. The...
Americans Plan To Spend Less, But In What Categories?
Welcome to spring 2022. The luxury bag may be out. Backpacks, however, are in. Reports indicate that some retail spending will decline in 2022 as Americans re-evaluate their priorities. One survey, by Principal Financial Services, reports that 38% of consumers resolve to spend less in 2022. Left…
Mature Influencers Are Hot, For 4 Timely Reasons
Who wore the Atelier Versace gown best – Carrie Bradshaw at 37 or Carrie Bradshaw at 55? That this is a valid question may be more remarkable than the $80,000 gown itself. But age and influence are enjoying a lucrative co-existence in the fashion and...
Why Six Big Retailers Are Entering The ‘Service’ Sector
When the customer is your toughest competitor, it’s crucial you get everything right. This may be the thinking of many retailers now packaging up and selling their own in-house innovations, from last-mile fulfillment processes to touchless checkout technology. Recognizing the value of these competitive advantages,...
In 2022, Will The Future Of Retail Customer Experience Be Super Dark Stores?
If an order is called into a dark store and there are no customers to hear it, you can bet your bottom dollar it still adds up to big money. Nearly $6.5 trillion in big money, according to industry estimates. This is what ecommerce sales...
Covid Worker Shortages: 5 Customer Experience Fixes Retailers Are Trying
Retailers ended 2021 scrambling to cover for a worker shortage, and food sellers likely felt the worst of the squeeze as shopper demand at the grocery climbed. Self-checkout helps, but stores need workers to answer questions, stock inventory and prepare foods. This has inspired...
5 Retail Tech Ideas That Should Thrive In 2022, And 2 On Hold
Being out-of-touch is totally in, QR codes are quickly finding a new home and robots are strolling the line between novelty and value. This is what retail innovation will look like in 2022. Funding for retail technology reached a record $29 billion in the first...
Looking Back And Ahead: What We Learned From 2021 Retail
If retailers and consumers think price tags are high today, consider all the non-dollar costs that will influence purchase decisions tomorrow, such as time, convenience and (importantly) experience. Any one of these factors could change a shopper’s choice. Every one of them can coalesce...
What’s On Trend for Retail in 2022? 5 Predictions
If the past two years have taught the retail industry anything, it’s to meet the unexpected, eye-to-eye, with more of the unexpected. Unexpected as in surprising channels, unpredictable brand partnerships and even a dose of the expected. Because consumer desires have not changed; they still...
4 Rules – Retail Media Networks And Privacy
Retailers are finally sharing their customer data with other companies in ways that should deliver higher return on investment with each insight. But when opening their doors to buyers, are retailers creating the right experiences by inviting their customers in, as well? The looming demise...
Luxury Resale’s High-Class Challenge: Solutions to ‘Frankengoods’
An outsized demand for five-figure watches would seem to mark a good time for the economy, until one follows the chain of fulfillment. Take the Rolex. A second-hand market for it and other luxury watches is mainstreaming fast because, despite rising global demand, the makers...
What Does Outsized Demand For A 12-Foot Skeleton Tell Us About Customer Experience?
In this story, there are no skeletons in the closet. They are, instead, on display for all to see. Back in July, Home Depot did something unusual: It pre-released its Halloween lineup online, and almost immediately, it sold out of everything. It may have its...
What Customer Experience Will Generation Alpha Expect From The Mall?
The most important future shoppers can’t yet drive. But they buy. Can retailers steer them to the store? The oldest members of the next generation of consumers, Generation Alpha, were born in 2010, yet in just a decade they’ve learned to become smart online shoppers. In...
Lessons Learned From The Dollar Chains’ Expansion Plans
Regardless of a retailer’s initiative, even regardless of opportunity, factors such as inflation could reel back a merchant’s expansion plans as fast as a shopper can spend a dollar. Or, in today’s prices, about $1.07. This could become the scenario for the nation’s three leading...
Matching Price To Shopper: 5 Ways AI Can Help, Now
Who invests a database worth of intelligence into the price of a chocolate bar? Turns out, it could be more than half of all retailers. In 2020, 58% of top retailers said they planned to implement some form of AI pricing technology by the end...
Will Vaccines Be A Shot In The Arm For Retail Recovery?
Vaccine mandates may not be a popular topic at some kitchen tables, but when the tables clear, those mandates could determine where consumers spend. Most people are back to shopping in stores, and of them, 53% are likely to choose businesses that require employees be vaccinated...
4 Answers To The Hardest Problems in ‘21 Back-To-School Retail
Committed workers are the latest in fashion this back-to-school season. And for many retailers, the accessories that will pull their operational outfit together are trending beyond the predictable pay and benefits. In April, a reported 650,000 workers quit their retail jobs – the largest figure in more than...