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Log In / Register | May 22, 2013

Four Big Cross Channel Questions

Posted Tue, 2013-05-07 00:20 by Nikki Baird

Last week I fielded an inquiry about the biggest questions retailers are asking in cross-channel right now, and I figured the answer was worth sharing.

EMV, NFC & Mobile: Opportunities or Disasters for US Retailers?

Posted Wed, 2013-05-01 07:38 by Nikki Baird

Last week I attended the CARTES North America conference. It is an event focused more directly on credit card issuers and the technologies that support them. So what was I doing there?

Walmart Blames Q1 Sales Slump on New Consumer Technology

Posted Tue, 2013-04-09 11:34 by Nikki Baird

Walmart’s woes continue as more leaked emails reveal a growing concern among company executives over a new consumer technology that promises to completely disrupt the mass merchant’s business model.

SAS' Retail Opportunity

Posted Wed, 2013-03-13 07:15 by Nikki Baird

It’s no secret that I’ve long held that SAS’ relative strengths in both merchandising and customer intelligence uniquely position the company to both navigate and enable the customer-centric transformation that omni-channel retailers are experiencing right now. 

When Shopper Convenience Is Second, Retailers and Manufacturers Lose

Posted Thu, 2013-02-14 02:31 by Nikki Baird

Last week, RetailWire ran a post on a new study by a professor at the University of Illinois. The gist of the study is that, in cases where “fit” is not a competitive factor in consumer decision-making, retailers should optimize retail floor space according to how much manufacturers will pay for it, even if that results in increased inconvenience for shoppers.

Being Context-Aware Is New Bar for Customer Service

Posted Wed, 2013-02-06 07:22 by Nikki Baird

I have to start this article with a couple of caveats. I’m about to share with you a customer service fail that happened to me in the week following the NRF Big Show.

2013, The Year of Measured Retail

Posted Wed, 2013-01-09 10:38 by Nikki Baird

PBS ran a documentary in the late 1990′s entitled “The First Measured Century”, where it described the phenomenal effort the United States undertook in the early 1900′s to begin measuring all kinds of things about Americans. (I highly recommend it.) 

Future of Payments Is Red Hot

Posted Fri, 2012-12-21 08:03 by Nikki Baird

Omni-channel retailing and customer centricity have been sweeping their way through the customer-facing side of the retail industry for at least the last five years. But one area that has languished in the portfolio of customer-facing interactions impacted by this wave of transformation is payments.

Why Technology Has Made Black Friday Irrelevant

Posted Tue, 2012-11-27 20:20 by Nikki Baird

I have fond memories of Black Friday from back in the days before ridiculous doorbusters at ridiculous hours meant risking life and limb.

What I Learned at the Mobile Marketing & Commerce Forum

Posted Wed, 2012-10-17 17:37 by Nikki Baird

Last week I attended the MMCF – Internet Retailer’s Mobile Marketing & Commerce Forum. I could attempt to organize everything I learned into some kind of story or structure and say that it all ties nicely together, but that would be really hard.