Loyalty marketing executive and best-selling author of "The Loyalty Leap"
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Articles by Bryan Pearson
Following The Shopper For 30 Years: 7 Life Lessons
If retailers think customers engagement was easier back in 1992, it’s because they didn’t know what they didn’t know. Back then, Amazon was just a sparkle in Jeff Bezos’ eye. People happily crowded indoor shopping malls. No one owned a smart phone. And most retailers had to guess what their customers did outside of their stores. Then came data technology. Over 30 years, online and “mail-order” retail advanced to $870 billion from $35 billion.
Following The Shopper For 30 Years: 7 Life Lessons
If retailers think customers engagement was easier back in 1992, it’s because they didn’t know what they didn’t know. Back then, Amazon AMZN +2.6% was just a sparkle in Jeff Bezos’ eye. People happily crowded indoor shopping malls. No one owned a smart phone. And most retailers had to guess what their customers did outside of their stores. Then came data technology. Over 30 years, online and “mail-order” retail advanced to $870 billion from $35 billion.
Why Alt-Health Is Retail’s Next Big Growth Opportunity
Ness may represent a legendary monster in Scotland, but it’s also waking a slumbering need in healthcare, and it’s a need retailers might want to set their alarms to. Ness, a financial-tech company, has developed an app that issues reward points to users for healthy lifestyle choices, from working out to getting a wellness checkup. But it also aims to reduce healthcare costs to individuals.
And Just Like That: How Older Influencers Are Selling It
Who wore the Atelier Versace gown best – Carrie Bradshaw at 37 or Carrie Bradshaw at 55? That this is a valid question may be more remarkable than the $80,000 gown itself. But age and influence are enjoying a lucrative co-existence in the fashion and pop culture world that is getting the attention of retailers and brands.
6 Unexpected Ways Rising Fuel Prices Affect Retailers
There’s a reason the price of chewing gum is up 7% from last year, and it’s not all related to supply and demand. It turns out that chewing gum is a crude habit, regardless of personal opinion. The average 42-gallon barrel of oil historically has produced nearly 20 gallons of gasoline and four gallons of jet fuel, according to Earth Science Week. That leaves 18 gallons for other uses, from making plastics and paint to asphalt and ammonia. And yes, to make some candies and gum.
5 Ways Gen Z, Millennials Differ Original
Shaped by economic uncertainty and the recollections of how credit card debt hampered their parents, ... [+] getty Imagine a crowd of 10- to 25-year-old consumers at one of your stores and a crowd of 25- to 39-year-olds at another. How would each store differ in its merchandise, in-aisle communications and payment options? This is something about which retailers should be thinking. The ways members of Gen Z approach spending are different than that of their predecessors.
Americans Want To Spend Less. But Likely Won’t In These Areas
Family Posing For Selfie Next To Car Packed For Road Trip getty Welcome to spring 2022. The luxury bag may be out. Backpacks, however, are in. Reports indicate that some retail spending will decline in 2022 as Americans re-evaluate their priorities. One survey, by Principal Financial Services, reports that 38% of consumers resolve to spend less in 2022. Left unclear is if those respondents really intend to spend less on everything, or just on certain discretionary items.
Americans Want To Spend Less. But Likely Won’t In These Areas
Family Posing For Selfie Next To Car Packed For Road Trip getty Welcome to spring 2022. The luxury bag may be out. Backpacks, however, are in. Reports indicate that some retail spending will decline in 2022 as Americans re-evaluate their priorities. One survey, by Principal Financial Services, reports that 38% of consumers resolve to spend less in 2022. Left unclear is if those respondents really intend to spend less on everything, or just on certain discretionary items.
The ‘Dark’ Stores In Retail’s Future: Prepare To Be Ghosted
If an order is called into a dark store and there are no customers to hear it, you can bet your bottom dollar it still adds up to big money. Nearly $6.5 trillion in big money, according to industry estimates. This is what ecommerce sales are expected to reach by 2023, thanks largely to new fulfillment concepts including dark stores (shuttered stores opportunistically converted into fulfillment centers), warerooms and automated order facilities.
Worker Shortages: How Kroger, Piggly Wiggly And Whole Foods Cope
Next time you pick up a 69-cent can of beans, consider what it took to get that can onto the store shelf. Every can of beans, every bottle of detergent, every bunch of light-green bananas gets to the customer by human hands. And as of late 2021, almost every supermarket in the country could have used a lot more of them. Nearly 6.3 million retail workers quit their jobs in the first 10 months of 2021, and by the end of October, their employers were still trying to fill 1 million openings.
And Just Like That: How Older Influencers Are Selling It Original
Who wore the Atelier Versace gown best – Carrie Bradshaw at 37 or Carrie Bradshaw at 55? Image courtesy of HBO Max Who wore the Atelier Versace gown best – Carrie Bradshaw at 37 or Carrie Bradshaw at 55? That this is a valid question may be more remarkable than the $80,000 gown itself. But age and influence are enjoying a lucrative co-existence in the fashion and pop culture world that is getting the attention of retailers and brands.
Amazon, Kroger & Walmart Are Entering The Service Sector. Here’s Why.
Amazon in 2020 began selling its cashier-free technology to retailers so their customers can bypass ... [+] the checkout lanes in stores, just as shoppers do in Amazon Go locations. The bundled tech, called “Just Walk Out,” is now installed in retail settings in Starbucks (in New York). Image: Starbucks When the customer is your toughest competitor, it’s crucial you get everything right.
The ‘Dark’ Stores In Retail’s Future: Prepare To Be Ghosted
Kroger and Ocado's new customer fulfillment center – an automated warehouse facility with digital ... [+] and robotic capabilities, also known as a “shed”. (PRNewsfoto/The Kroger Co.) The Kroger Co. If an order is called into a dark store and there are no customers to hear it, you can bet your bottom dollar it still adds up to big money. Nearly $6.5 trillion in big money, according to industry estimates.
Looking Back And Ahead: What We’ve Learned From 2021 Retail
If retailers and consumers think price tags are high today, consider all the non-dollar costs that will influence purchase decisions tomorrow, such as time, convenience and (importantly) experience. Any one of these factors could change a shopper’s choice. Every one of them can coalesce to form expectations that are unparalleled and shifting with every rip of the calendar page.
Worker Shortages: How Kroger, Piggly Wiggly And Whole Foods Cope
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Getty Images Next time you pick up a 69-cent can of beans, consider what it took to get that can onto the store shelf. Every can of beans, every bottle of detergent, every bunch of light-green bananas gets to the customer by human hands. And as of late 2021, almost every supermarket in the country could have used a lot more of them.
What’s on Trend for Retail in 2022? Here Are 5 Predictions
If the past two years have taught the retail industry anything, it’s to meet the unexpected, eye-to-eye, with more of the unexpected. Unexpected as in surprising channels, unpredictable brand partnerships and even a dose of the expected. Because consumer desires have not changed; they still want shopping to be stress-free, convenient, personalized and a good value.
7 Retail Technologies Worth Watching In 2022
A model demonstrates a virtual fitting room using a technology of augmented reality. YOSHIKAZU ... [+] TSUNO/AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images Being out-of-touch is totally in, QR codes are quickly finding a new home and robots are strolling the line between novelty and value. This is what retail innovation will look like in 2022.
We Can Have Retail Media Networks And Privacy: 4 Principles
Retailers are finally sharing their customer data with other companies in ways that should deliver higher return on investment with each insight. But when opening their doors to buyers, are retailers creating the right experiences by inviting their customers in, as well? The looming demise of third-party digital consumer trackers, such as cookies, has forced brands and retailers to establish their own affordable ways to reach consumers.
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Looking Back And Ahead: What We’ve Learned From 2021 Retail
iot smart retail use computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning concept, automatically detects ... [+] when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual cart. getty If retailers and consumers think price tags are high today, consider all the non-dollar costs that will influence purchase decisions tomorrow, such as time, convenience and (importantly) experience. Any one of these factors could change a shopper’s choice.
Luxury Resale Creates High-Class Challenge: 4 Silver Bullets
An outsized demand for five-figure watches would seem to mark a good time for the economy, until one follows the chain of fulfillment. Take the Rolex. A second-hand market for it and other luxury watches is mainstreaming fast because, despite rising global demand, the makers of the timepieces are maintaining tight production levels.
5 Ways Home Depot’s Skeleton May Bone Up Long-Term Sales
In this story, there are no skeletons in the closet. They are, instead, on display for all to see. Back in July, Home Depot did something unusual: It pre-released its Halloween lineup online, and almost immediately, it sold out of everything. It may have its Halloween past, and an unlikely product smash, to thank. In 2020, Home Depot debuted a 12-foot, $299 skeleton that one would think had a limited market. Yet this budget-breaking, assembly-required monster sold out before last October.
What’s On Trend For Retail In 2022? Here Are 5 Predictions
New HyVee grocery store in Iowa is formatted to operate like a mini mall. Photo courtesy of Hy-Vee If the past two years have taught the retail industry anything, it’s to meet the unexpected, eye-to-eye, with more of the unexpected. Unexpected as in surprising channels, unpredictable brand partnerships and even a dose of the expected. Because consumer desires have not changed; they still want shopping to be stress-free, convenient, personalized and a good value.
Generation Alpha May Be The Mall’s Best Future Bet
The most important future shoppers can’t yet drive. But they buy. Can retailers steer them to the store? The oldest members of the next generation of consumers, Generation Alpha, were born in 2010, yet in just a decade they’ve learned to become smart online shoppers. In 2020, 81% of children under the age of 12 were reported to influence family purchases, translating to $500 billion in purchases a year.
We Can Have Retail Media Networks And Privacy: 4 Principles
(Gunnar Rathbun/AP Images for Walmart) AP IMAGES FOR WALMART Retailers are finally sharing their customer data with other companies in ways that should deliver higher return on investment with each insight. But when opening their doors to buyers, are retailers creating the right experiences by inviting their customers in, as well? The looming demise of third-party digital consumer trackers, such as cookies, has forced brands and retailers to establish their own affordable ways to reach consumers.
Luxury Resale Creates High-Class Challenge: 4 Silver Bullets
An outsized demand for five-figure watches would seem to mark a good time for the economy, until one follows the chain of fulfillment. Take the Rolex. A second-hand market for it and other luxury watches is mainstreaming fast because, despite rising global demand, the makers of the timepieces are maintaining tight production levels.
5 Ways Home Depot’s Skeleton May Bone Up Long-Term Sales
In 2021, the phenomenon of “Skelly” is back, and it reveals a lot about the power of canny ... [+] merchandising when it comes to the shopper psyche. Photo courtesy of Home Depot In this story, there are no skeletons in the closet. They are, instead, on display for all to see. Back in July, Home Depot did something unusual: It pre-released its Halloween lineup online, and almost immediately, it sold out of everything. It may have its Halloween past, and an unlikely product smash, to thank.
Generation Alpha May Be The Mall’s Best Future Bet
This article is more than 2 years old. The most important future shoppers can’t yet drive. But they buy. Can retailers steer them to the store? The oldest members of the next generation of consumers, Generation Alpha, were born in 2010, yet in just a decade they’ve learned to become smart online shoppers. In 2020, 81% of children under the age of 12 were reported to influence family purchases, translating to $500 billion in purchases a year.
Dollar Store SOS: 4 Lifesaving Lessons in a Time of Inflation
There Is Only So Far A Dollar Will Stretch Regardless of a retailer’s initiative, even regardless of opportunity, factors such as inflation could reel back a merchant’s expansion plans as fast as a shopper can spend a dollar. Or, in today’s prices, about $1.07. This could become the scenario for the nation’s three leading dollar store chains, which combined were planning to open more than 1,600 locations this year, according to Coresight Research.
Dollar Store SOS: 4 Lifesaving Lessons In A Time Of Inflation
(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) ASSOCIATED PRESS There Is Only So Far A Dollar Will Stretch Regardless of a retailer’s initiative, even regardless of opportunity, factors such as inflation could reel back a merchant’s expansion plans as fast as a shopper can spend a dollar. Or, in today’s prices, about $1.07. This could become the scenario for the nation’s three leading dollar store chains, which combined were planning to open more than 1,600 locations this year, according to Coresight Research.
Personalizing Price With AI: How Walmart, Kroger Do It
Who invests a database worth of intelligence into the price of a chocolate bar? Turns out, it could be more than half of all retailers. In 2020, 58% of top retailers said they planned to implement some form of AI pricing technology by the end of 2021, according to research conducted for Revionics, a pricing technology company. That compares with 34% in 2020.
Personalizing Price With AI: How Walmart, Kroger Do It
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Getty Images Who invests a database worth of intelligence into the price of a chocolate bar? Turns out, it could be more than half of all retailers. In 2020, 58% of top retailers said they planned to implement some form of AI pricing technology by the end of 2021, according to research conducted for Revionics, a pricing technology company. That compares with 34% in 2020.
4 Answers To The Hardest Post-Pandemic Back-To-School Hiring Problems
Committed workers are the latest in fashion this back-to-school season. And for many retailers, the accessories that will pull their operational outfit together are trending beyond the predictable pay and benefits. In April, a reported 650,000 workers quit their retail jobs – the largest figure in more than 20 years – contributing to shortages not just in stores, but also in retail distribution centers and call centers. By June, the unemployment rate in the retail sector reached 6%.
Are Vaccines A Shot In The Arm For Retail Recovery?
Shane Curran, who has a fear of needles, spends a moment with his thoughts before receiving the ... [+] Johnson & Johnson vaccine at a CVS pharmacy. Curran was very reluctant to get a COVID vaccine but his friend made him an appointment and he got up the courage to get it.
4 Answers To The Hardest Post-Pandemic Back-To-School Hiring Problems
Photo: Getty getty Committed workers are the latest in fashion this back-to-school season. And for many retailers, the accessories that will pull their operational outfit together are trending beyond the predictable pay and benefits. In April, a reported 650,000 workers quit their retail jobs – the largest figure in more than 20 years – contributing to shortages not just in stores, but also in retail distribution centers and call centers.
Making Online Fulfillment A Feel-Good Experience
Image: Getty getty There are a trillion reasons why online retailers have to pack each delivery box with something that captures the emotion of the moment. The trick is making those feelings good ones, by seeing what the shopper sees when that package arrives. Online retail sales are predicted to reach nearly $910 billion in 2021 – up 13.7% over 2020, according to a report by eMarketer.
Permission-Based Advertising is the New Click-And-Collect
In June, an international coalition of consumer rights organizations and data protection experts called for a ban on “surveillance-based advertising.” Are you surveilling the future of your micro-marketing? The most nimble companies are, and this will likely change how online advertising works, soon. More tech companies are placing consumers at the center of the advertising dynamic, giving them the power to choose whether to be marketed to, and by whom.
Tech Is Enabling These 5 Shopper Trends. Is Retail Ready?
Image: Canva The wheel may be one of humankind’s greatest innovations, but keep in mind that it’s what the tool can do – not the tool itself – that guides history. This applies to high-tech inventions as well. Retailers thought digital shopping would forever alter consumer behavior, but actually, it’s the implicit capabilities behind e-commerce that are feeding more widespread, and potentially daunting, change.
Permission-Based Advertising Is The New Click-And-Collect
Permission based advertising becoming a consumer requirement in the U.S. (Photo by JOHN ... [+] MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images In June, an international coalition of consumer rights organizations and data protection experts called for a ban on “surveillance-based advertising.” Are you surveilling the future of your micro-marketing? The most nimble companies are, and this will likely change how online advertising works, soon.
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Forbes.com Forbes.com (“Forbes”) is a bona fide publication of general and regular circulation offering only impersonal analysis and objective investment related information to end users, which is not in any manner tailored to a specific user or prospective user’s current or future investment portfolio, investment objectives or personal or other needs.The publication of Forbes.com and the content therein on the internet and the publication of the content should not be construed or otherwise...
Going Long When Goods Run Short: 5 Ways To Keep Customers
Getty images getty Production and cargo ships might have been stalled, but shoppers keep on moving. For retailers short of in-demand goods, this could mean losing some customers for a long time. In 2020, many manufacturers halted or slowed production of items due to the pandemic and are now struggling to fill jobs needed to return to full production. Other goods are short of market, having been stuck in ports here or abroad.
Tech Is Enabling These 5 Shopper Trends. Is Retail Ready?
58% of U.S. retail sales are expected to be influenced by digital factors by 2023 getty The wheel may be one of humankind’s greatest innovations, but keep in mind that it’s what the tool can do – not the tool itself – that guides history. This applies to high-tech inventions as well. Retailers thought digital shopping would forever alter consumer behavior, but actually, it’s the implicit capabilities behind e-commerce that are feeding more widespread, and potentially daunting, change.
Retailers Are Accepting Crypto. Should Loyalty Programs Be Next?
You can’t hold loyalty in your hand. So it’s fitting that 44% of people would like it measured in cryptocurrencies. That is the percentage of Americans interested in receiving encrypted, digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin, as an alternative to traditional cash-back reward programs from retailers, according to a recent national Harris Poll. The survey, performed for the coupon-code site CouponCabin, gauges consumer understanding and impressions of cryptocurrencies.
Retailers Are Accepting Crypto. Should Loyalty Programs Be Next?
A sign reading "We accept Bitcoin" is displayed onto the window of a retail store. (Photo by ... [+] Chesnot/Getty Images) Getty Images You can’t hold loyalty in your hand. So it’s fitting that 44% of people would like it measured in cryptocurrencies. That is the percentage of Americans interested in receiving encrypted, digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin, as an alternative to traditional cash-back reward programs from retailers, according to a recent national Harris Poll.
Retailers Like Whole Foods, Starbucks Use Crypto. Should Loyalty Programs Be Next?
A sign reading "We accept Bitcoin" is displayed onto the window of a retail store. (Photo by ... [+] Chesnot/Getty Images) Getty Images You can’t hold loyalty in your hand. So it’s fitting that 44% of people would like it measured in cryptocurrencies. That is the percentage of Americans interested in receiving encrypted, digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin, as an alternative to traditional cash-back reward programs from retailers, according to a recent national Harris Poll.
Revolutionizing Main Street: How Shopping Hubs Are Changing
El Centro, the residential and retail complex, on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, ... [+] has recently added Amoeba Music, the world’s largest independent record store, as an anchor tenant. Image by Gustav Lillequist What becomes of Main Street when all of its retail traffic is redirected to Dot-Com Avenue? El Centro knows.
Best Buy, In Launching Beta, Is Geeking Out For Small Biz
Photo provided by Best Buy Photo provided by Best Buy How much does it cost to get a house call from the Geek Squad? For 90 minutes, $49.99. This helps explain the $199.99 price tag for Best Buy’s new annual membership program, in pilot mode now. The Best Buy Beta program, which includes perks such as 24/7 tech support and concierge service, free shipping, special pricing and extended warrantees, is expanding to 60 stores in six states in April.
These 10 Retailers Are Adding Stores In 2021. Here’s Why
Florida, Orlando, Five Below, specialty discount store with sale bins out front. (Photo by: Jeffrey ... [+] Greenberg/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Why do people get out of the house and go to stores? Don’t ask the retailers with chandeliers adorning their showrooms or the ones with “pile ‘em high and let ‘em fly” deep-discount bins.
Is Retail Missing An Opportunity In Wellness Tech?
Not everyone wakes up with purpose these days. As the clock ticks relentlessly toward another expanse of (for many) open hours, more people are seeking wellness coping mechanisms. And more are finding them in tech-enabled, retail goods. According to American Psychological Association, 47% of Americans are feeling anxiety, 44% are feeling sadness and 39%, anger.
Is Retail Missing An Opportunity In Wellness Tech?
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg © 2018 Bloomberg Finance LP Not everyone wakes up with purpose these days. As the clock ticks relentlessly toward another expanse of (for many) open hours, more people are seeking wellness coping mechanisms. And more are finding them in tech-enabled, retail goods. According to American Psychological Association, 47% of Americans are feeling anxiety, 44% are feeling sadness and 39%, anger.
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