Predictive Analytics

San Jose, Calif. – While Amazon.com may be happy about its exact sales performance during its July 15 Amazon Prime Day sales event, social media response probably did not meet Amazon’s expectations.

It’s no secret that in order to create great customer experiences and maximize sales, it’s imperative to have a deep understanding of the motivations that drive your customers’ buying behaviors and preferences. This is true across the entire path to purchase — from advertising to point of sale and beyond. So far, this is “motherhood and apple pie” to any marketer.

New York – Dan Berthiaume, senior editor of Chain Store Age, recently participated in a one-hour panel discussion, “Today’s Retail CMO – A New Outlook,” sponsored by SAP as part of its “Coffee Break with Game-Changers” Internet radio series. The discussion, broadcast live on the VoiceAmerica Internet media service, focused on how advances in cloud and digital technology are transforming the role of the chief marketing officer in retail.

Product reviews, social media posts and videos are having more of an impact on shoppers than ever before, according to a new survey from Bazaarvoice.

The Bazaarvoice Conversation Index Volume 9 examines how consumers' online and offline shopping behavior is influenced by consumer-generated content (CGC) such as ratings and reviews, questions and answers, photos, videos, and social posts.

Dallas – The Elephant Bar casual dining chain is herding loyalty members as they approach local stores.

The 29-unit retailer has deployed the Paytronix Geofencing solution to send messages designed to compel visits from members of its rewards program when they are within a set proximity to a restaurant.
In a review of three recent campaigns, Elephant Bar determined that approximately 30% of members visited a restaurant on the day that they received a geofencing message.

Mahwah, N.J. - Ascena Retail Group Inc. has downgraded several aspects of its outlook for fiscal 2015, which ends July 25. Ascena now expects full-year adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations in the range of $365 million to $375 million, and full-year adjusted earnings per diluted share from continuing operations in the range of $0.57 to $0.60, as compared to its prior expectation of $0.70 to $0.75 per share

Washington, D.C. – Despite all the hype surrounding Apple Pay and other digital wallet solutions, so far consumer response to the digital wallet phenomenon has been one big shrug of the shoulders.

Gallup analysis shows that only 13% of U.S. adults with a smartphone have a digital wallet on their device.

Retailers are investing heavily in their supply chains in order to cope with surging e-commerce volumes, but customer experience enhancements must be planned carefully if profitability is to be maintained.