Marketing & Ops Executive Commentary

  1. Using Tech The Right Way: 3 Retail Success Stories 12/22/2017

    It’s not easy being retail these days. Store rents are high, good staff is expensive, inventory management is trying, and online offers are tantalizing. But brick-and-mortar retailers are rallying and committing themselves to become destinations worth visiting. Here’s how three different stores are picking up the gauntlet.

  2. How To Get More From Your Remote Monitoring System 12/20/2017

    Effective utilization of remote monitoring can improve your company’s employee productivity and compliance, reduce your losses, and maximize your investment in camera systems.

  3. How To Make Gift Cards Keep On Giving 12/12/2017

    Gift cards are easy to sell and people want them. But how do retailers make the most of this platform as an entry point for new customers? How do you make sure the recipients of your company’s gift card do not become part of the 6 to 10 percent of gift card recipients who never redeem their card? When these customers do come in, how can you ensure they are not “one-and-done?”

  4. How To Use The Holiday Shopping Season To Bond With Your Customers 11/21/2017

    Unlike websites, stores can inspire their customers into loyalty with a single shopping experience. Great store brands capitalize on the holiday shopping season to build brand bonds with the power to extend well beyond January. Retail brands that will win this holiday season — and the rest of the year — employ many of the following strategies. By Deb Gabor, founder, Sol Marketing

  5. Why AI Isn't The Be-All And End-All Of Retail And Data Is 11/20/2017

    Everywhere you look companies are talking about using artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots, or virtual assistants as part of their ecommerce strategy. More often than not, these types of technologies are still in the “hype” phase: a lot of speculation, but not much implementation. By Jason Woosley, SVP Product and Technology, Magento

  6. Email Marketing: How Top Retailers Fare When It Comes To Effectiveness 11/16/2017

    Email remains one of the most valuable marketing tools for today’s retailers. In fact, most can tell you that if they stop sending emails, their sales will drop, and most watch their subscriber churn rates very closely. But beyond these measures, there’s been no real way to holistically view the general practices that can make or break a retailer’s email strategy — until now. By Nikki Baird, Managing Partner, RSR Research

  7. Why Your IT Department Should Focus On IT (And Not Marketing) 11/9/2017

    As marketing experts become more tech-savvy and IT experts become more business savvy, the roles of these two groups come closer and closer to intersecting or even blending. However, what is often overlooked is how different their goals, priorities, and expertise really are, especially in retail organizations. By Brian Rigney, CEO, Zmags

  8. Retailers' Next Big Challenge: Customer Fragmentation 11/1/2017

    It’s not only Amazon putting on the pressure. Meeting the changing, segmented needs of tomorrow’s consumers has become vital for retailers’ success. By Michael Brown, partner in the Consumer Products and Retail Practice, A.T. Kearney

  9. Empowering The Store Associate, Tablet PCs Enhance The Customer Experience, Guest Series Part 3 6/18/2012

    As consumers become more empowered throught the endless availability of information, retailers must identify new ways to keep customers engaged. In many cases there is more data available than ever before, but if it isn’t readily accessible, and up-to-date, then its value cannot be fully realized. You can still catch up with Part 1 and Part 2. By Mary Anne Gunn, director of corporate marketing, Motion Computing

  10. 5 Ways To Drive Customer Conversion Rates In Your Stores 7/18/2011
    Same-store sales are looking a little flat and you need to find ways to deliver better results. There’s still a scent of the financial melt-down lingering, but you survived that crisis and it’s time to start getting the sales needle to move in a positive direction. By Mark Ryski, founder and CEO, HeadCount