In my opinion, retail industry executives and experts give Retail Times readers their views, insights, and analysis on the latest retail trends.
Despite an ever-changing retail climate, the North is proving as resilient as ever as businesses based in this region are getting to grips with new digital strategies help weather the storm. Ahead of the company’s Catalyst 2017 e-commerce event in
New research out from CapGemini revealed that a third of consumers surveyed would rather wash dishes than go shopping. Before you dismiss their responses as possibly being a bit sarcastic, consider this: washing dishes can be a tedious chore, but
Catching and re-engaging customers whose shopping habits are slowing down or are at risk of stopping altogether is both easier and more cost-effective than recruiting new ones, argues Peter Ellen, CEO and founder, Big Data for Humans
The majority of retailers may assume that the biggest threat to their profitability is consumer theft. In fact, the biggest risk arises from the retailers’ own staff. So what can you do about it? Weynand Haitjema, region managing director EMEA
In taking to the air Amazon must also ensure sufficient fulfilment cover on the ground, says Jonathan Bellwood, founder & CEO, Peoplevox
Retail can learn from the highly personalised matching used by dating sites, says Emil Eifrem, CEO of graph leader Neo Technology
The festive season is well and truly upon us. It’s the time of year that retailers have been both eagerly anticipating and dreading. Events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday have kicked off the busy retail period this year,
With another Black Friday behind us, retailers will no doubt be wondering whether this year’s sales bonanza has been as profitable as years gone by. As many retailers will know, the post-purchase remorse that kicks in the week following Black
By Paul Scholey, vice president EMEA and APAC, Pentaho There’s endless hype over and interpretations of digital transformation so it’s easy to dismiss it as just another technology fad. Those people, companies, industries, governments and even whole countries that do,
Cybertill CEO Ian Tomlinson talks omni-channel retailing: blurring boundaries, converging sectors and convenient choices. Here are five things to consider in 2017 In May 2013 the Retail Research Centre forecast a bleak high street by 2018 with a very much reshaped
How can retailers deliver what customers want as quickly as possible? For Sanjeev Sularia of data analytics leader Intelligence Node, the prize of fast fashion can only be won by better use of technology sanjeevsularia_sm-249x300 Fast fashion: the way brands like Zara,
Retail isn’t just changing; it’s traversing ‘through the looking glass’ to a place where everything is different. New technologies, the global economic crisis and changing shopping habits have fuelled this journey. Omnichannel, for years a fashionable buzzword, is now manifesting
VoiceSage’s Steve Robertson says recent analyst insights echo the breakthroughs of his own firm’s retail customers in an important aspect of customer outreach
Many companies still treat online and offline worlds as separate entities, hampering any chance of success, warns Intelligence Node’s Sanjeev Sularia
2016 has so far been a year of significant change in convenience retail. Convenience multiples (+10.6%) and supermarket multiples (+4.0%) grew the fastest of any convenience sector players, growing by almost 13,000 stores to date, while over 18,000 unaffiliated convenience stores closed.
As cost-conscious consumers look for easier ways to pay off big purchases over a longer period, retailers not offering point-of-sale finance risk losing out, says Gerald Grimes, managing director of Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance
Having a single view of the customer and their purchase journey can provide a retailer’s sales, customer service and marketing teams with the latest interactions, enabling them to proactively troubleshoot issues and ensure the customer receives a seamless experience across all shopping channels,
Luxury brands need to continually innovate to improve the customer buying experience, say premium bedding brands, Nimbus and The Fine Bedding Company
Mobility is influencing customers and changing their expectations from retailers. It is integrated into their day to day lives and they want to expand it to every shopping experience. Nassar Hussain, managing director Europe and Africa at SOTI, looks at
VoiceSage’s Steve Robertson on why reports of the death of texting don’t really stack up For some, the mobile world’s debate about how the Rich Communications Services (RCS) protocol will provide experiences beyond voice and SMS (http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/02/23/google-plans-to-replace-sms-with-a-new-type-of-instant-message-called-rcs_n_9297140.html) spells the imminent end
Jeff Abramowitz, president of Cloud4Wi, says successful guest Wi-Fi has the potential to reshape the retail landscape, benefiting both shoppers and the business, but staff training is key to realising that goal
Major drivers of change are re-shaping the global grocery sector, warns Intelligence Node’s Sanjeev Sularia – and you’ll need to use retail analytics to gain a deeper understanding of shopping patterns to survive
Digital payments apps are nothing without an integrated loyalty scheme, says Steve Rothwell, founder Eagle Eye Solutions
Amazon you know about – but adidas Group and Walmart are also signature brands using graph database techniques to mine data relationships and offer customers a superior experience, says database expert Emil Eifrem We’re all very familiar with Amazon’s, ‘Customers who
While the UK has experienced its warmest winter in 70 years, retailers have taken a substantial hit due to lower-than-average sales for seasonal merchandise as well as high return rates for winter wear. As a result, retailers have been left
