User Experience

If you’re a parent, you’re probably thinking ahead to the holiday shopping season. If you’re an online retailer, this is a big season for your business. As you prepare to manage the hordes of parents who will descend on your site, here are some stats to keep in mind about today’s parents, their spending habits, and what…

Room & Board is a Minneapolis-based retailer offering modern, American-made home furniture and accessories. Founded in 1980, the family-owned, privately held company has 14 stores and 900 employees. About 40 percent of Room & Board's transactions occur online. In this interview with Kimberly Ruthenbeck, director of web customer experience at Room & Board, we discuss…

Amazon.com is launching a new feature called Amazon Vehicles today. This is a destination on the website that will house car specifications and reviews to help shoppers research, but Amazon won't be selling cars. Amazon also won’t link to special deals or offers from dealerships. The online retailer did try to sell cars once before — in 2000,…

In an age of instant access, customer loyalty is a rare commodity. The idea of consumers purchasing the same brand that their parents or grandparents did seems quaint in comparison to the seemingly infinite options presented to them today. So, how can retail marketers not only gain new customers, but maintain their loyalty? It comes…

A brand’s ability to optimize customer experiences based on data is a true differentiator in today’s competitive retail landscape.

Every e-tailer fears its website going down, however, a website that’s been reduced to a snail’s pace because of a high volume of traffic can almost be more damaging. Today’s always-on consumers expect lightning-fast connections and load times, as if everyone can deliver the same user experience as Netflix. In fact, a study from Kissmetrics…

Join us for this interactive webinar to learn the steps necessary to become a data-driven organization.

“I LOVE this shop,” my wife said when she came across a new dress shop in our local town. Love is a strong word, but that's exactly what retailers are trying to inspire in customers when they endeavor to build an emotional connection with them. The Harvard Business Review says that customers are emotionally connected…

In mid-August of last year, warning signs at the Seattle headquarters of Nordstrom Inc. first became apparent. Up to that point, the upscale apparel retailer, with $14 billion in annual sales, had enjoyed several years of steady sales growth and expansion. Its stock had climbed to a record high of about $80 a share. “Then, all of…

With many people taking the mantra “You can’t take it with you” to heart these days, nonessential spending is predicted to increase 22 percent over the next five years. According to numerous psychological studies, spending money on experiences makes consumers happier than purchasing material goods. Retailers that embrace this change in consumer ideology will push beyond the traditional product and location…