Consumer Analytics

Seattle –- VenueLabs is launching a free social listening tool geared for small businesses called AboutLocal. AboutLocal lets small retailers listen to and engage with customers in real time across hundreds of disparate channels.  

By Farla Efros, HRC Advisory   

By Sandy Kennedy, president of RILA
   (Editor’s note: The president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, Sandy Kennedy, wrote the following op-ed in The Hill, discussing why chip-and-PIN is one important layer of protection retailers, banks and the government can provide consumers.)  

By Bruce Leonard and John Cumbelich  

New York -- Twenty percent of American adults already own a wearable device and the adoption rate, on par with tablets in 2012, is quickly expected to rise. According to a PwC survey of 1,000 consumers, after dietary, exercise and medical information, an enhanced retail experience was at the top of the list of information Millennials would like wearable tech to provide them.

Austin, Texas -- A majority of Americans would be comfortable divulging information about themselves anonymously to their favorite stores (60%) or a product brand (56%), and close to half would anonymously share personal data to an app (46%). According to a new national survey from Wearables.com and The Center for Generational Kinetics, some consumers will also share personal information in exchange for certain benefits.  

Mountain View, Calif. -- AgilOne, the cloud-based predictive marketing company, announced that home design retailer Jonathan Adler will use AgilOne’s cloud platform to improve customer engagement by creating more personalized, data-driven marketing.

Any retail marketer today understands that the value of a loyalty program lies in the data it collects and the ability to target consumers based on that data. But in today’s omnichannel environment, consumers have expectations on of how retailers are using their information what that data is “buying” them -- expectations that retailers are struggling to meet.

Digital Challenges

By Les Berglass    The appointments of new chief executives of major brands always cause a stir, but Gap Inc.’s recent announcement that Art Peck would succeed Glenn Murphy hit Wall Street like a truck. Why? Because the investment community  wanted a more predictable, standing CEO—it likes stability. But the truth is, this is a positive and revolutionary change.   

Austin, Texas -- Almost half of Americans are likely to avoid shopping at stores that were affected by data breaches in the past year. According to a new CreditCards.com report, 45% of major credit and debit card holders say they would “definitely” or “probably not” shop at a retailer where consumers’ personal information (including credit and debit card data) was exposed.