Software

There’s an experience familiar to nearly anyone who’s downloaded a game on their smartphone. Try as you might to conquer the latest level/village/candy, your thumbs lack the speed/agility/candy to get you through. With deep regret, you purchase an item or expansion pack to continue your long march toward distraction. If every time you do this…

The use of handheld RFID readers for retail cycle counting and inventory management is exploding — and for good reason. They’re inexpensive, tangible and convenient, and provide a familiar form factor for store associates. However, while handhelds are well suited for initial retail pilots, deploying them in scaled-up enterprise environments requires careful thought and planning.…

M.Fredric is a California-based apparel retailer that sells its products via nine brick-and-mortar stores and an e-commerce website. Like many omnichannel brands, managing inventory levels in real time to prevent out-of-stocks and overstocks was a challenge for M.Fredric. In addition, a lack of real-time sales data meant buying decisions were delayed, a serious inhibitor for…

Patience is a virtue, but unfortunately it’s not one that that e-tailers can count on from their customers, especially when it comes to peak digital shopping events like Mother’s Day. Consumer impatience and demand for consistently high performance and speed is a well-documented fact in today’s digital economy. The so called "Google effect" has drained…

Sometimes marketing can feel a little bit like a science experiment. You get an idea, make a plan, put it in action, test it, and see if it you’ve found the secret formula. Of course, the truth is there’s no secret formula. In reality, the biggest X factor in achieving success through your A/B testing…

Listen in as these movers and shakers discuss their digital retail startups and how they’ve broken through the boundaries of tradition.

Hear a study in short-term versus long-term marketplaces strategies and how one company has made it a driving force for their sales.

It's a scenario that's unfortunately all-too-common for retailers: You create an exciting sale or product event during the busy holiday season, and a flood of shoppers come online to scoop up the deals. But soon after the merchandise is posted, your site begins to waver and then crash due to the weight of the increased traffic. How can you ensure consumers enjoy a secure, fast and engaging shopping experience — and one that doesn't crash — on your website this holiday season? To find out, I spoke with Gopal Brugalette, the applied architect for Nordstrom's performance engineering team

I'm at the Shop.org Annual Summit in Seattle and having a great time catching up with old friends and colleagues, meeting new contacts, and learning about new digital marketing strategies and technologies. Also, as usual, as I walk through the exhibit hall I'm being greeted by smiling vendors, eager to share with me information about their latest and greatest shiny new objects. For the most part, I actually enjoy talking with vendors and learning about their wares. But I have noticed many folks — retailers, probably — with their badges turned the other way or tucked into their jackets, and I know why: they don’t want to be singled out and aggressively sold to by vendors.

Listen as we map out simple customer service best practices you can implement today, and keep customers coming back time and again.