There are items which, if IoT enabled, will make it easier for consumers at large to adopt the entire concept. I believe that it is not so much up to the retailers to entice consumers to purchase IoT products as it is for the product designers to come up with useful, practical applications of IoT […]
RTG In the News
A new business wants to reshape product returns – is this a viable model?
A start-up called Happy Returns takes the work out of the e-retailer’s hands by accepting customer returns in their multiple locations. This concept is very attractive for the consumer. But then the consumer isn’t paying for any of the myriad processes that ensue when she shows up with one or more returns. If one were […]
Retailers turn to text to connect with customers – a RetailWire discussion
As with anything else in the universe, the effectiveness of texting is relative. Any form of communication that is not excessive, and is useful to the consumer more often than not, is an acceptable form of communication. Read more…
The role of the store associate in digital transformation – Read our post
New complexities arise with the digital transformation. It is not so simple as buy it here here, ship it from there, etc. Store associates have to be trained in functions they didn’t perform before, and a a cost to the retailer. Read our thoughts.
Augmented Reality: Lowe’s takes AR immersion to the next level
See our views on the subject of this emerging technology and how it plays in certain categories.
On Retail Wire: Is social media taking over brand discovery?
There hasn’t been an Instagram most of my life (and I don’t use it now, either). Read more…
Store fulfillment is creating associate tension: read our comment.
First, let us agree that when this madness called BOPIS and BOSS started, it sounded like a very accommodating idea, which it is, but few if anyone paid attention to its unintended consequences. We have three dynamics at work here.
Are mass e-mail campaigns here to stay? And what would that mean to consumers?
Mass emails can be (are) annoying. The good news is that more and more retailers are getting to know who their customers are, their preferences, and can or will be able to target their emailing campaigns so that they are more relevant and less annoying. Read more of our Braintrust commentary on Retail Wire.
We commented on Retail Wire’s: Retail and the cashless society
The smartphone is the wallet of tomorrow.
What’s the holdup with EMV cards? We commented on Retail Wire
While we don’t have the least secure credit card system, we certainly do not have the most secure that is currently available and the real frustration is that, having mandated a fairly dramatic change to the process, we didn’t mandate the change to the best then-available method! Read on…