Is technology making consumers more productive? Or just plain lazy? According to a recent Harris Poll, a majority of Americans think both. And who uses what when determines when they think computers, mobile phones and even the Internet is naughty or nice.
On the surface, there seems to be no reason why shoppers wouldn’t want to sign up for rewards programs. Many consumers love the rush of scoring a deal, but more often than not, the promise of program-based rewards and discounted prices hasn’t been the irresistible...
Think customer service begins and ends with a 1-800 number? Welcome to the future, time traveler from the 1980s. Today’s retail customer service lives in the space that the customers do -- social media. And just like the case for personal correspondence, there are right...
Technologies such as beacons and geo-fencing have essentially made discount hunting a two-way-street: Shoppers can seek out retail deals, while retailers themselves can simultaneously reach out to specific consumers with those offers. In that sense, the importance of location for retailers has expanded exponentially —...
Gas prices are down in the U.S. -- will consumers direct their savings towards holiday shopping? Retailers do have reason to hope so, but predicting consumer spending behavior isn’t as simple as reading a fuel gauge.
Nobody knows “fast” better than quick-service restaurants -- that’s their business model. But, starting with the 2008 recession, the proliferation of their kind nationwide made it difficult for those food stops to differentiate on speed of service alone, and price became an issue. QSRs have...
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]When long-time homeless advocate and serial entrepreneur Liz Powers first told people about her plan to combine her two passions and build the first online art marketplace for homeless, disabled and otherwise disadvantaged people, people continually congratulated her on founding such a noble charity. And...
Despite being worth over half-a-trillion dollars annually, remittances are an oddly invisible part of the payments ecosystem to most people — even those who otherwise know it quite well. We all might know that money may make the world go around, but what makes money...
Retailers are always looking for the next tech product that’s going to give them the edge, and more than a few think virtual reality headsets are that killer app – but what if entering a virtual world takes consumers too far out of the real...
