User Experience

Now that the new year is well underway, the next holiday season seems like it’s lightyears away. However, if you want to create captivating and efficient online shopping experiences for your customers, the time to start putting those plans in place is now — don’t wait until you’re scrambling at the last minute to prepare.…

Retailers and e-commerce players struggled with everything 2021 had to offer, from supply chain issues, delayed inventory, empty shelves, and a scarcity of talent. Based on close work alongside e-commerce and retailers and market observations, here’s how to approach 2022 with smart and tried strategies, with the focus on digital experiences and customer journeys. Large…

In a world of struggling supply chains and pandemic fatigue, providing an unparalleled digital customer experience (CX) is more important than ever. Improving CX became a top five initiative for 54 percent of marketing organizations during the pandemic, particularly in the retail sector, with CX budgets increasing by 10 percent on average since the early…

As a quintessential component of e-commerce, retailers must prioritize a convenient and enjoyable digital experience for their customers. Just as an attractive window display and a clean, stocked store is important for brick-and-mortar retailers, it's equally important to provide a streamlined, enjoyable and secure experience online. This first impression for online retailers begins at login.…

The surge in e-commerce over the last couple of years contributed to a noticeable shift in consumer behavior — there’s no denying that. Instead of being drawn to in-store ambiance with décor and lighting or influenced by physical experiences with products, shoppers now make purchase decisions after engaging with imagery, video and other visual elements…

The future of retail is more human and more digital. Customer experiences continue to be a brand’s most valuable currency in 2022, with a values-driven CX approach shaping the trends for the industry as we head in this new year. The relationship between brands and their customers has radically changed, creating an amazing opportunity for…

If we’ve learned one thing over the last two years, it’s that predicting the future is nearly impossible. After all, few of us could have anticipated a need to stock up on face masks and basics such as toilet paper before March 2020. While the specifics are difficult to foretell, there are trends that we…

In late October, I had the opportunity to moderate a panel at the Retail Gift Card Association Forum (RGCA), the premier annual event in the gift card industry, where senior executives from Panera, Disney, Inspire Brands, and Best Buy joined me in discussing the fast-changing gift card landscape. It was a spirited conversation about trends,…

We’ve gotten used to people saying that every holiday season is going to be a season like no other. This year, it’s not hype. This season will be like nothing any of us has seen. The ripple effects from COVID lockdowns and the ongoing uncertainty that the pandemic continues to foster have retailers working smarter…

With the supply chain crisis causing headaches for retailers, brands must not pass their inventory problems onto holiday shoppers. Due to various factors, including the pandemic, countries changing trading status creating port backlogs, and unplanned fluctuations in demand, brands can be affected by supply chain snags and stock-outs. If a retailer doesn’t have a current…