Research with Results: a blog from the Aberdeen Group » Retail & Banking

The Emergence of Assortment Planning

Kevin Permenter — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:24:07 +0000

According to the recent Aberdeen “Mission-Critical Merchandising and Replenishment: Increasing Customer Traffic, Volume, and Profits” report, the top two pressures affecting merchandisingwere the need to maximize gross margin and the need to maximize inventory turns. These two pressures can be at odds with one another. Retailers often employ a markdown strategy in order to move [...]

A Self-Service Cry for Help: An Open Letter

Deena Amato-McCoy — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:24:03 +0000

To the Powers That Be: As one of the top three global self-checkout solution providers, you know that a poor checkout experience can kill an otherwise successful shopping trip.The only thing worse is when shoppers encounter avoidable snafus caused by these automated solutions. My recent visit to our local Stop & Shop proved that retailers and [...]

Big Blue’s Acquisition of Tealeaf: Push for Greater Customer-Centricity

Sahir Anand — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:23:39 +0000

IBM’s acquisition of analytics software maker Tealeaf Technology raises an important point about “how effectively can Big Blue communicate and leverage Tealeaf capabilities with end-users”. Companies need customer-centric initiatives that are geared towards aligning the overall operations, organizational structure, and job-roles with the customer’s vision of the brand. The customer needs to be at the [...]

The (dis)Connected Customer Experience

Chris Cunnane — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:27:47 +0000

Over the past year, Aberdeen data has clearly indicated that the customer is changing the face of the retail and consumer markets industries. Customer preferences and affinities are at the heart of these changes, and have been highlighted by multiple research studieson multi-channel marketing, customer loyalty, merchandising, in-store transformation, workforce management, and self-service. In April, [...]

Personalization. Seamlessness. Differentiation = Cloud Computing

Deena Amato-McCoy — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:50:02 +0000

Personalization. Seamlessness. Differentiation. These are the three themes that omni-channel retailers should be focused on as they continue striving for customer loyalty and delivering a unique shopping experience.This message was conveyed by Keith Champeau, Fujitsu America’s national director of business development, at “Legacy Modernization to the Cloud,” a free roundtable luncheon presented and moderated by [...]

Anticipating Aberdeen’s Retail and Consumer Markets Summit ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’

Deena Amato-McCoy — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:24:27 +0000

I am a very lucky gal. Besides enjoying a 16-plus-year career covering and reporting on the ever-changing trends in the retail industry, I have also built long-lasting relationships with some of the industry’s powerhouse executives.More importantly, I am blessed to call many of these executives friends. What better way to celebrate all things retail and meet [...]

Retail Summit Speaker Series: Patrick Javick, vice president, industry engagement, apparel and general merchandise, GS1

Deena Amato-McCoy — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:44:38 +0000

There is one way to describe today’s consumer: fickle. As the economy inches toward recovery, shoppers keep a tight grasp on discretionary income and are only willing to spend with retailers that can deliver value.A concept that focuses well beyond price, a valuable experience also encompasses finding the exact product they want to purchase when they [...]

Retail Summit Speaker Series: James Dion, founder and president, Dionco

Deena Amato-McCoy — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:42:41 +0000

There is no denying that shoppers’ current purchase behavior is completely different than it was pre-recession. Shopping is more emotional than ever before, and value is priority one. Gone are the days of discretionary shopping trips, buying merchandise on a whim, and regarding cost as something that was “little to no object.” James Dion, founder [...]

Get Your Head in the ‘Cloud’

Deena Amato-McCoy — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:52:49 +0000

Retailers are finally loosening their purse strings and beginning to spend IT budgets. However, a slowly recovering economy is forcing many CIOs to pursue projects that promise a strong, fast return on investment – an issue that keeps them cautiousabout where to invest capital. This is a strong catalyst pushing more companies to consider the value of transitioning legacy workloads [...]

Retail Summit Speaker Series: David Minster, chief operating officer, David Yurman

Deena Amato-McCoy — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:09:23 +0000

Many consumers impacted by the Great Recession remain cost-conscious, only willing to spend their discretionary income with retailers that truly deliver a valuable shopping experience. Keep in mind: while price is important, this is not consumers’ only value factor.For the new, post-recessionary shopper, value encompasses knowledgeable employees, easy return policies, simple merchandise navigation (both in-store [...]