Una de las mayores tendencias en el segmento de las empresas en crecimiento durante el año pasado estuvo enfocada en la estandarización de los procesos de back-office, principalmente impulsados por una búsqueda de reducción de costos y mayor eficiencia en la organización. Sin embargo, hoy más que nunca cubrir la
With Amazon Prime's 2-day shipping, I seldom go to physical stores any more. How do they deliver items so quickly? Let's analyze some data to find out... There are very few services/memberships that I truly feel like I'm getting "a good deal" for my money - and Amazon Prime is
Do you order things online, to avoid paying sales tax? Those "good old days" might be coming to an end soon... Here's a snapshot of my latest purchase from Amazon.com (a little something for the Talk Like a Pirate party I had on Sept 19): In the US, each of
Would you build a house without a proper foundation? Most of us wouldn’t dare, but that’s exactly what many retail businesses are doing today. When building a house, if you don’t get the foundation right, paint, wallpaper and fixtures won’t matter much. It’s no different in the retail industry. Success
Las empresas de ventas minoristas han encontrado un nuevo mercado en las redes sociales, de acuerdo al estudio de "Social Media Intelligence" realizado por Adobe, donde se identifica que los ingresos por visita en el último trimestre de 2013 por Tumblr, Pinterest y Twitter aumentaron en más de 100 por
Imagine that you’re a large retail firm, in need of projecting sales for the next few months. With the right analytical solution, it can literally take just seconds to have a forecast in place. You drag and drop some variables and can figure out exactly which ones are underlying factors
At the online “flash sale” retailer Gilt, success comes from breaking through the clutter, and from ensuring that their offers matter in the grand scheme of their customers' lives. And with more than 8 million "members" (potential customers), they've managed to create a culture where customers are the company’s biggest advocates and evangelists. So how
Sin datos no hay experiencia del cliente, sin calidad de datos no hay lealtad verdadera, y sin integración de datos no hay esperanza de una experiencia omnicanal. Y es a través de esta experiencia, que las empresas buscan conectarse con el cliente y crear una estrategia personalizada que cubra sus
What insights can be gained from the massive amounts of data that allow us to make decisions that deliver the best results? Data vs. information is an ongoing battle. Many people look for more data to make confident decisions. However, what most people seek is insight. Retailers always have tracked
Según datos de la Asociación Mexicana de Internet A.C. (AMIPCI), la mitad de los usuarios de Internet en México se conectan a la red a través de dispositivos móviles y se espera que para el 2015, las aplicaciones móviles (Apps) superen a las de escritorio no sólo en el país
“Within ten to fifteen years, the typical US mall, unless it is completely reinvented, will be a historical anachronism—a sixty-year aberration that no longer meets the publics’ needs, the retailers’ needs, or the community’s needs.” So proclaimed Rick Caruso, founder and CEO of Caruso Affiliated, a retail/commercial real estate development
Are retailers suffering a skills shortage when it comes to analytics? Nikki Baird from Retail Systems Research (RSR Group) offers some intriguing observations about the critical analytical talent shortage facing the retail industry in a recent article, “Where Have All the Data Scientists Gone? SAS Analyst Day Report Out.” Her observations
“Truth be told, I wouldn’t mind seeing our loyalty card program go away, but we’re not there yet.” - A retail CEO I invite you to put on your consumer cap for a minute and answer these questions: How many loyalty cards do you have and how many of those
Ofrecer productos de calidad a un bajo costo ya no es una estrategia para posicionarse en el mercado. Diferenciarse de la competencia obliga a los empresarios a implementar nuevos modelos cuyo eje principal sean los consumidores, y basarse en una estrategia de Customer Experience es el mejor camino. El Customer
If the latest raft of retail trading updates are anything to go on, it’s pretty clear who the winners were this Christmas: the consumers. A period of heavy discounting – aimed at bolstering weak sales and protecting elusive customer loyalty – was good news for cash-conscious customers, but left many
I’m not a coupon junkie. In fact, I feel like a coupon victim. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t get an avalanche of offers from: Email. Snail mail (in catalogs, flyers, coupon books, etc.). In-store flyers. Mobile apps. Store checkout. The vast majority get tossed in my garbage
The No. 1 retail trend for 2014 will be innovation powered by advanced analytics. Why? Because retailers with the ability to surface and validate new ideas from customer data will be able to test new ideas faster, launch them faster in stores, and roll out profitable programs faster. Transformation today
Gilt is an online retailer based in the United States, founded in 2007 and is best known for flash sales - only available to members for 36-48 hours. It's all about giving its members the inside scoop to snag something cool and sought after, and then adding the thrill of
Blockbuster recently announced it‘s throwing in the towel and closing its remaining 300 stores in early 2014. My how times change! Blockbuster, bought by Dish Network in 2011, was an integral and intimate part of our lives for years. Teens gathered at the neighborhood Blockbuster to rent movies and hang
In the days before the Internet, I’d pull a promotional flyer or catalog from one of my favorite retailers out of my mailbox or newspaper like an excited kid hoping it contained something I coveted. And at price so amazingly low that I’d feel no guilt in buying it. More
SAS has been used to track the spread of many things, such as wild animals, tornadoes, and money launderers -- but this time I'm using it to track the spread of Walmart stores across the U.S. over time! Since its start in the 1960s, Walmart has grown to be the largest
In a retail market where new customers are thin on the ground, keeping hold of existing ones becomes even more important for powering growth. But how do retailers and consumers view customer loyalty? And what is the most effective way to use the now ubiquitous loyalty card? Asking the right
My headlines for Honduras were not like the frightening ones that we often see in the news. My headlines include the beauty of the people I met, the children I grew to know, and the country I experienced. I went to Honduras with a group from Cincinnati, Ohio to spend
I recently read an interesting article in The Economist, where they describe "The Big Mac index." This is an index they invented as a lighthearted guide to compare currencies in different countries. In their article they create a multi-panel display (similar to a dashboard) where they compare the index for several countries using
Amazon, Apple, eBay, Facebook and Google – known as the Tech Titans to some – continue to set the agenda with their continuous stream of mobile business initiatives. In fact, consumers embrace and, in some cases, expect many of the same mobility resources they’ve experienced through the Titans from the
One of the amazing things I’m finding about the National Retail Federation’s “BIG Show” is the incredible amount of experience and knowledge walking the halls. There are 10-, 20- and 30-year veterans of the retail world everywhere you turn. Two of those professionals – Office Depot’s Alan Adams and Kerem
It's easy to see how a newcomer to "Retail's BIG Show" could be a bit overwhelmed. The booths are big, attendance is booming and there are "hot and new" solutions everywhere you turn. But as I've walked the halls and looked at what's being promoted, I've noticed a few trends
Standing in Times Square in January usually means experiencing blistering cold and blustery winds. But this year, I sense there’s a change…it’s almost balmy! The retail industry is seeing a similar change with a shift in customer behavior, online retailers putting pressure on brick-and-mortar retailers and the rise of mobile.
It's remarkable how the women my life really like shopping at the different Chico's FAS stores. I think a big reason is that somehow they manage to deliver a boutique experience for every customer at all their stores. That's not an easy feat when you run over 1,000 stores nationwide under 4 different brands: Chico's, White
According to a recent article from Forbes, the three hottest trends in retail for 2013 are: Mobile -- 93 percent of mobile developers anticipate that it is “likely to very likely” that most retail companies will have enabled mobile commerce in 2013, and 2/3 of developers believe that consumers will
