User Experience

“I LOVE this shop,” my wife said when she came across a new dress shop in our local town. Love is a strong word, but that's exactly what retailers are trying to inspire in customers when they endeavor to build an emotional connection with them. The Harvard Business Review says that customers are emotionally connected…

In mid-August of last year, warning signs at the Seattle headquarters of Nordstrom Inc. first became apparent. Up to that point, the upscale apparel retailer, with $14 billion in annual sales, had enjoyed several years of steady sales growth and expansion. Its stock had climbed to a record high of about $80 a share. “Then, all of…

With many people taking the mantra “You can’t take it with you” to heart these days, nonessential spending is predicted to increase 22 percent over the next five years. According to numerous psychological studies, spending money on experiences makes consumers happier than purchasing material goods. Retailers that embrace this change in consumer ideology will push beyond the traditional product and location…

CX is a complex, critical piece of every business, but there are four simple ways to ramp up your efforts and bring up your CX score:

Traditionally, retailers’ marketing teams have been responsible for brand awareness and increasing market share through typical efforts such as email campaigns, ads and promotions. The emergence of the digital business era, marked by a sharp uptick in shopping online, has rocked marketing teams to their core. They must now expand their focus to consider IT…

Barnes & Noble is opening four concept stores throughout the country in 2017. In cafes twice the size of the bookstore’s current spots, beer, wine and a bigger food menu will be available to shoppers. This is the latest effort from Barnes & Noble to rejuvenate the company and grow sales. Jaime Carey, president of…

Most consumers shop online because they don’t want to go through the hassle of going to a local store. To that end, it’s crucial that e-commerce sites reduce customer confusion and make the shopping process as intuitive as possible in order to maximize conversion rate. This means that browsing, comparing items and checkout all need…

Transitioning from startup to a growth-stage company isn’t easy. This session is a fascinating look into the world of retail startups.

Chain Reaction Cycles, the world's largest online bike retailer, recently launched an upgraded version of its commerce platform, with capabilities including adaptive targeting and real-time dynamic segmentation. In episode 36 of Total Retail Talks, Mark Lilley, head of e-commerce at Chain Reaction Cycles, talks about how the bike retailer is leveraging these new tools to…

“Details create the big picture,” said Sanford Weill, former chairman of Citigroup. In the e-commerce arena, this is most true at the pinnacle of your funnel: the checkout. Checkout is online retail’s make-or-break moment. It's the culmination of the customer journey — the moment when a shopper either feels comfortable enough to take out his…