Category Archives: retail

“Customer centric” is still mostly baloney

Posted on April 5, 2012 by

For all the talk of “putting the customer first” these days, many, if not most, companies really don’t. (Actually, the right priorities for any company are the ones delineated by Bill Hewlett- the founder of Hewlett and Packard.  They are: … Continue reading →

Posted in customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, customer service, retail, sales, Spending time with customers | Leave a comment

Offline Marketing Accountability is here at last

Posted on February 24, 2012 by

While it doesn’t fix everything, and who’d believe it if it claimed to, I am impressed with Euclid Elements and their ability to report real-time and aggregated in-store and near store behaviors for retailers. Retailers rely upon gut feel and guesswork … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, retail | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Forget Foursquare and other location based marketing

Posted on February 21, 2012 by

While location-based marketing has its advantages, there are some much easier things retailers can do. A great example comes from my friend Laurie Coleman who posted this on her Facebook page today. Note to grocery store managers (or pass this … Continue reading →

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Where’s the value add?

Posted on December 6, 2011 by

A recent article in the November 28, 2011 issue of Business Week, “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” focused on the rise of private label sales in retail grocery during this downturn, and the increased focus these house brands are … Continue reading →

Posted in brand, Pricing, retail | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Are you reaping the dismal results that you sowed a couple years earlier?

Posted on September 6, 2011 by

The story: Labor Day night I placed an online order with L.L. Bean (which went flawlessly).  The next morning I woke up and decided to change the size of the item I had ordered.  Calling into Bean, the person who … Continue reading →

Posted in competitive advantage, customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, customer service, process management, retail | Leave a comment

Live person selling can be more profitable than web orders

Posted on August 20, 2011 by

Over the past decade or more, companies have been automating their web ordering/selling engines, in the quite reasonable belief that it is a lot more profitable to take orders over the web without a live sales person answering the phone … Continue reading →

Posted in customer satisfaction, retail, sales | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Niches in stiches

Posted on August 4, 2011 by

What can customers buy from your company they can’t buy, or at least don’t think they can buy, from anyone else? Most companies can’t answer that question and still want to charge higher prices than their competitors. Scott Morrison, of … Continue reading →

Posted in competitive advantage, Pricing, retail, What | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Another example

Posted on July 26, 2011 by

If you follow me at all you know I am a strong believer that CEOs and CMOs spending time with customers is a key to business success. While I have not proven this to be the case, I have enough anecdotal evidence … Continue reading →

Posted in retail, Spending time with customers | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Disconnected

Posted on April 7, 2011 by

Is Benetton irrelevant? Wasn’t that long ago they were making headlines with their controversial ads and trend setting clothing. Today their once target market now says they are really for “an older generation.” But that older generation doesn’t seem to … Continue reading →

Posted in Marketing, retail, Spending time with customers | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Hot Mama

Posted on March 8, 2011 by

Competing with the big box super stores is tough for today’s retailers. And their equivalent exist in every category, except truly emerging markets. So competing is tough for everyone, except those who recognize it’s not about competing with the category leader. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in retail, What | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment