Consumer Analytics

Retailers often treat millennials like some sort of marketing Holy Grail, but there may be some simple ways to boost revenues from this emerging consumer generation.

According to a new study from online marketing platform provider Cue Commerce, “Consumer Moments of Truth,” the 80-plus-million shoppers who are part of the millennial generation can be categorized into the following five broad shopping personas.

Quick-serve giant Subway restaurants has launched a new division, Subway Digital, to transform its customer experience.    Created in collaboration with Accenture, the new division has been charged with building a comprehensive omnichannel strategy and implementation support team to enhance engagement and build loyalty.   

Consumers are being choosy about where they are spending extra money that is becoming available with the end of the recession.
 
According to a new study from Mintel, more than two in five (44%) Americans describe their financial situations as "healthy" in 2016, compared to 37% in 2015 and 33% in 2013, indicating that improvements in the economy are being felt at a household level. However, different retail categories are receiving the benefit more than others.
 

Literally hundreds of considerations go into designing an app, but the success of your app hinges largely on one factor: user experience (UX).

So what is UX exactly? It’s less about what an app does and more about how it feels. You don’t just use apps, you engage with them. The instant a user opens an app for the first time, they form a connection with it. Their initial impression draws upon physical and emotional cues, and is largely influenced by UX.

Bob Dylan sang “The Times They Are A Changin’” more than 50 years ago, but the sentiment is very current in the world of digital commerce.

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores is promoting Chris DiTullio to senior VP, marketing and omnichannel.

While at Jo-Ann, DiTullio has served as interim senior VP, marketing; VP, e-commerce and omnichannel; VP, marketing and advertising; VP, inventory management; and director, merchandise planning.

When it comes to customer experience, home improvement shoppers have established a long-term favorite.

Ace Hardware ranks highest in customer satisfaction with home improvement retailers for a 10th consecutive year, according to the J.D. Power 2016 Home Improvement Retailer Satisfaction Study. The study measures customer satisfaction with home improvement retailers by examining merchandise; price; sales and promotions; staff and service; and store facility. Satisfaction is measured on a 1,000-point scale.

Under Armour is looking to elevate the shopping experience with unique fitness data.

The retailer has launched UA Shop, a mobile shopping app built on the Under Armour Connected Fitness platform. Integrating data from the company’s proprietary digital fitness community allows UA Shop to provide a deeply personalized experience based on athlete inspiration, workout history and previous purchase history.

Consumers love to shop and love using social media, but somehow the two passions are not connecting.
 
Twitter, which has been piloting an embedded buy button in tweets since September 2014, is abandoning the effort. Recent studies from Forrester and GlobalWebIndex indicate generally low consumer usage rates for social buy buttons, which are also offered by platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram.
 

Marc’s, a 58-store deep-discounter of grocery, health and beauty products and other items, is providing targeted recommendations with help from national partners.   The Cleveland-based retailer is teaming up with Allrecipes to introduce in-store beacon-triggered experiences that provide shoppers with personalized meal recommendations through the Allrecipes Dinner Spinner app. In-store notifications are triggered on shoppers’ smartphones by a Verifone beacon system running on the Footmarks SmartConnect proximity platform.