Customer Experience

Articles on CX (Customer Experience)

  1. Technology & Innovation
It’s Friday, the weekend is almost upon us, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful week for the retail systems space. Here’s your briefing on the most important stories from the past five days, including Emperia, Recite Me, Amperity, Walmart’s incubator arm Store No8, and Outlier Ventures. 1. Emperia – new Apple mixed […]
  1. Shopper & Customer
U.S. food prices surged by 11 percent last year, marking the largest increase since the 1980s. While the rate of inflation has gradually calmed down since its June 2022 peak, rising prices remain a significant concern for retailers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands. Given the possibility of a recession, it may be tempting to […]
  1. Technology & Innovation
Picture this: You ordered a shirt that you really liked from your favorite retailer. Then, when it finally arrives, it doesn’t fit correctly, and you must now navigate the returns process. This may include jumping through hoops to meet the retailer’s return policy requirements: Do you have to return in-store? Is returning the shirt free […]
  1. Retail Operations
Europe’s leading direct to consumer e-commerce fulfilment company, Alaiko, is expanding into the UK. To serve the local market, its is partnering with a state-of-the-art fulfilment centre north of London. Unlike other logistics providers, Alaiko is a tech first fulfilment company. It enables shops to manage e-commerce operations from start to finish, using its unique […]
  1. Technology & Innovation
Technological advancement continues to disrupt retail strategies, altering customers’ behavior and, consequently, retail businesses. New technologies influence customers as they switch between channels for research and shopping. Companies must focus on managing the numerous customer touchpoints available simultaneously. Omnichannel has become an appealing medium for retailers to interact with customers and sell their products and […]
  1. Trends & External Forces
Yesterday we took note of a Boston Globe story about how youth organizers with the Hyde Square Task Force in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, did significant market research and figured out that a grocery cart of items at their local Stop & Shop cost $34 more than the same products at the chain’s store in suburban […]
  1. Media & Marketing
E-commerce integration platform as a service (iPaaS), Patchworks, has joined the MACH Alliance as an ISV (independent software vendor) member.  According to a press release: “A MACH (Microservices, API first, Cloud native SaaS and Headless) architecture gives companies a greater degree of agility, allowing them to deliver new features to customers at speed.” “As organisations […]
  1. Data & Insights
The retail industry’s commitment to artificial intelligence (AI) is unmatched, surpassing all industries except finance. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), a staggering $300 billion investment in AI is anticipated by 2026. This influx of resources promises to augment the relationship between humans and machines, delivering immense advantages to brands and consumers. There’s a […]
  1. Data & Insights
Amperity, an enterprise customer data platform (CDP), has announced a partnership with Forever 21. The fast fashion retailer says that it will now be able to provide more relevant, personalised customer experiences. reach more consumers, while enriching advertising campaigns through insights on cross-channel behaviour, data science scores, and content affinities. Forever 21 has a significant […]
  1. Technology & Innovation
Apple last night unveiled a mixed reality headset called Vision Pro – its first entirely new product in eight years. The device blends a video feed from the outside world with a virtual world displayed on screens inside the headset. “Today marks the beginning of a new era for computing,” says Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. […]
  1. Media & Marketing
Omnichannel marketing typically involves using a combination of digital and physical channels, such as websites, social media, email, SMS, mobile apps, in-store experiences, and customer service interactions. By leveraging data and technology, brands can track customer behavior across channels, and then use this information to create more personalized and relevant experiences. Omnichannel marketing can help […]
  1. Media & Marketing
The Wall Street Journal this morning has a piece about the “confusion over what constitutes 5-star behavior for certain services, combined with the guilt of potentially hurting someone’s livelihood, has people defaulting to perfect scores. Ratings padding is particularly rampant for services involving personal interactions.  “Just like the children in the fictional Lake Wobegon, everyone […]
  1. Technology & Innovation
  When your competitors evolve and you don’t more often than not that spells trouble.  Here is why, consumers over acknowledge that they like change that is slow. What they do like even more than change is ‘discovery’ according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. Johnson went on to say, […]
  1. Shopper & Customer
Consumers and businesses are both being impacted by ongoing inflation. Retailers must change their tactics in the current economic environment. They must understand the trends that have developed as a result of this inflationary environment in order to respond. In this post, I’ll look at three tactics retailers may use to weather the current economic […]
  1. Shopper & Customer
For the last decade, the retail industry has been on an existential search for the future of its own soul. Consumers armed with smartphones increasingly turned to browse-and-buy shopping from virtually anywhere, flipping the nature of retail on its head. Meanwhile, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers have struggled to find effective ways to keep pace with digital […]
  1. Data & Insights
Whether online shopping or trying to get answers about an insurance billing question, customers have likely gotten assistance from a new source: artificial intelligence (AI). One study showed that 88 percent of customers had an interaction with a chatbot in 2022, with an estimated 1.5 billion people using chatbots around the world. With the global […]
  1. Channel: Dollar/Value
GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. – Dollar General Corp. today said net sales increased 6.8% in its first quarter. Same-store sales were up 1.6%. Operating profit declined slightly, to $740.9 million, and diluted earnings per share declined 2.9% to $2.34 as the retailer confronted a macroeconomic environment that was “more challenging than expected,” according to Jeff Owen, Dollar […]
  1. Shopper & Customer
Today’s uncertain economic landscape is plagued with high inflation and continued supply chain issues, and experts predict a 70 percent likelihood of a U.S. recession in 2023. With a potential downturn on the horizon, a reported 62 percent of consumers have stated they’re cutting back on their spending or looking for additional ways to save. […]
  1. Media & Marketing
Expectations are never-ending in the retail industry. They’re also ever-changing — even more so in light of recent events. People have different mindsets when entering a brick-and-mortar store. Some people are certainly cautious about in-person interactions, so they’re often in the store for a specific reason. Others might have just stopped in out of happenstance, […]
  1. Channel: Restaurants
  At the intersection of meals, menu’s, food sold, and food marketing restaurants are increasingly being pressured by customers to eliminate all pain points that may slow down service or hamper ordering the family’s meal. According to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® “if your restaurant looks more like yesterday than […]
  1. Media & Marketing
The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Dr. Mark Grether, VP & General Manager of Uber Advertising which includes all offerings to help merchants, brands, and other advertisers to reach its highly engaged user base across Mobility and Delivery in 32 markets. Follow Dr. Mark Grether on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgrether/Follow Uber on LinkedIn […]
  1. Shopper & Customer
There have never been more barriers to the things we enjoy in life. Everything from limited edition sneakers to international stadium tour tickets have become seemingly unattainable. Consumers are often met with an unfair experience, failing websites, bots eating up stock. But with 73% of consumers saying that “a good experience is key in influencing […]
  1. Shopper & Customer
Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food continues to garner customers, drive top-line sales, and bottom-line profits. Regular readers of this blog have been reading about the continued success that Casey’s General Stores have had ever since the first test experiment they had with pizza.  What a 15-year run it has been. According to […]
  1. Media & Marketing
  Consumers are dynamic not static and today that means smartphones are fast becoming the food marketing platform of choice according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. In a battle for share of stomach C-stores, restaurants, bodegas, and grocery store delis all need a fresh focus on smartphones. Art Sebastian, […]
  1. Technology & Innovation
While the COVID-19 pandemic did slow the economy down amidst a lot of problems, it also led to an e-commerce surge and accelerated digital transformation by 5 years. What was considered futuristic is now being experienced in the present and businesses who haven’t implemented them are considered outdated. This is because, with growing advancements, comes […]
  1. Shopper & Customer
Braze recently reported that the average smartphone user receives over 40 push notifications a day.  The Atlantic pegged the daily number of push notifications even higher, between 50 and 80. Here’s how Atlantic staff writer Amanda Mull categorized push notifications last week: “Push notifications may indeed be the smartphone’s defining feature. They are, if nothing […]
  1. Media & Marketing
Bouclair, a home furnishings and décor brand operating across Canada, has completed the integration of PredictSpring’s PoS into all of its retail locations. “For over 50 years, we have been committed to offering our customers not only stylish and affordable home furnishings, but also a personalised and enjoyable shopping experience,” says Peter Goldberg, President and […]
  1. Technology & Innovation
It’s Friday, the weekend is almost upon us, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful week for the retail systems space. Here’s your briefing on the most important stories from the past five days, including Amazon One, Marks and Spencer, Walmart, and eBay. 1. Amazon One payments solution rolls out age verification with […]
  1. Media & Marketing
Bensons for Beds is using Emplifi Live Advisor solution to deliver live shopping and support to customers. It’s now possible to connect to in-store experts for real-time tours, product demonstrations, and purchases. By visiting the store’s website, customers can activate a live one-to-one video call. “One of the most notable characteristics of our customer base […]

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Editor’s Choice

  1. Channel: Mass
  2. Channel: Grocery - Natural
  3. Channel: Mass
  4. Channel: Specialty & Other
  5. Department & Category
  6. Department: Consumer Durables
  7. Department: Nonfood
  8. Corporate Strategy
  9. Media & Marketing
  10. Shopper & Customer
  11. Trends & External Forces
  12. Merchandising
  13. Stores & Formats
Bloomberg has a story about how “a slew of retailers are beefing up their grocery investments to lure in consumers cutting back on non-essentials like clothing and electronics. But as they lay out plans to improve their food offerings and supply chains, the big question is how does one compete with the mighty Walmart Inc. on […]
  1. Department: Beverage
  2. CPG: Adult Beverage
  3. CPG: Beverage
  4. CPG: Food
  5. CPG: Food & Bev
  6. CPG: HBC
  7. Channel: Ecommerce & Digital
  8. Channel: Restaurants
  9. Department & Category
  10. Department: Adult Beverage
  11. Department: Beverage
  12. Department: Food
  13. Department: HBC
  14. Department: Nonfood
  15. Corporate Strategy
  16. Corporate Finance
  17. Corporate Purpose
  18. ESG
  19. Media & Marketing
  20. Agencies & Vendors
  21. Data & Insights
  22. Shopper & Customer
  23. Technology & Innovation
  24. Trends & External Forces
  25. Merchandising
  26. Operations & Supply Chain
CHICAGO – Circana, formerly IRI and The NPD Group, has released its 2022 New Product Pacesetters, the 28th annual report revealing the top new product launches across food and beverage and nonfood sectors. The report illustrates the enduring power of CPG innovation, revealing that consumer spending on new product offerings remained elevated last year despite challenges […]
  1. Channel: Mass
  2. Channel: Mass
  3. Acquisitions, Divestitures & Mergers
  4. Media & Marketing
  5. Retailer Media
  6. Shopper & Customer
  7. Trends & External Forces
  8. Owned Brands (Private Label)
From Advertising Age: “Walmart Connect, which has made huge gains in recent years through digital advertising, is testing ways to bolster in-store pieces of its retail media network. “For the first time, Walmart Connect is selling ads on its revamped in-store radio network and integrating sampling programs with online offerings. While aspects of Walmart Connect’s […]
  1. Channel: Grocery
  2. Trends & External Forces
  3. Stores & Formats
Several years after opening its last Joe V’s location, H-E-B is reigniting the banner with two locations set to open in Dallas by 2025. Dive Brief: H-E-B announced Tuesday it is opening two Joe V’s Smart Shop by H-E-B stores in Dallas, marking the first time the grocer’s discount format will appear outside of the Houston area. […]
  1. Retailer Media
  2. ESG
  3. Media & Marketing
  4. Retailer Media
  5. Shopper & Customer
  6. Operations & Supply Chain
The platform leverages the chain’s loyalty program, bringing personalized ads to shoppers in-store, in-app, on social media and elsewhere, said Damian Scott, who heads up the grocer’s retail media and front-end digital operations. Dive Brief: Giant Eagle announced on Wednesday the debut of Leap Media Group, an in-house retail media arm that leverages the regional […]

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