Loyalty Marketing

Whether buying online or in the store, consumers today want more control over their shopping experience. If they could have greater control, the number one aspect that consumers would change is the frustration of waiting in a long checkout line in store. In fact, industry research has shown that 52% of consumers say they would actually take their business elsewhere if their checkout wait times exceed five to 10 minutes.

Last week, my retail technology-related travels took me closer to home than usual – to Boston, the city where I was born and still live within a reasonable drive. I visited the old homestead to attend the official opening of the CVS Health’s new Digital Innovation Lab. CVS officials did a fine job explaining the mission of the lab and giving the audience a sneak peek at some of their work.

Dallas – Casual dining chain Twin Peaks is partnering with MyCheck,mobile payment technology platform, to release its first branded mobile payment app in Augustc 2015.

The new Twin Peaks mobile app will allow customers to view, split and pay their bill from their phone using Apple Pay, PayPal, Google Wallet, debit or credit cards; order additional menu items, and have access to exclusive rewards and special offers only redeemable in the app.

Boston -- Brian Tilzer, senior VP and chief digital officer of CVS Health, sat down with Chain Store Age at the opening of the CVS Digital Innovation Lab in Boston to discuss the strategy behind the lab and CVS’ larger goals for transforming health care through digital technology.

On the heels of big news from rival drugstore CVS this week, Rite Aid says it is expecting its EnvisionRx acquisition to increase the company's annual revenue by as much as 18.6%.

Boston -- Imagine a world where access to any health information or services you needed was available at any time through your digital device. We are not there yet, but CVS Health is doing its best to create that world with its new Digital Innovation Lab located in Boston.

Membership buying club DirectBuy Inc. takes an unusual approach to retailing. It offers paid members the chance to directly purchase goods from manufacturers and wholesalers, without paying retail markup

So perhaps it is to be expected that 50-plus-store DirectBuy, which also offers online and in-home shopping options to its 250,000-plus members, approaches business intelligence (BI) a little differently, as well.

Philadelphia — Except for a momentary spike during the 2014 holiday season, conversion and add-to-cart rates have been dropping steadily year-over-year. However, according to the global Ecommerce Quarterly report from Monetate, personalized, relevant product recommendations help brands avoid this issue.