Where will you be shopping during the upcoming holidays? What, when, and how are you likely to check off the items on your shopping list? The predictions of retail analysts are in.
Amazon
Maybe Future of Retail Won’t Be Shipped but Picked Up
Delivery or pickup? It’s a standard question when ordering a pizza or a Kung Pow Chicken dinner, and it’s becoming a standard question no matter if you’re ordering groceries or a new set of shelves. Even when shipping for online purchases is free—and this is increasingly the case, especially during the holiday shopping season—there …
Could ‘Showrooming’ Actually Be Good for Brick-and-Mortar Retailers?
Stores hate it when shoppers scope out merchandise in person, only to whip out a smartphone, shop around, and ultimately make the purchase elsewhere. Yet could this practice, known as “showrooming,” wind up helping retailers, …
Can Amazon Topple Netflix’s Streaming Empire?
When Netflix launched an instant streaming service for its movies and TV shows at the start of 2007, it was a minor perk for the company’s subscribers who were used to getting DVDs in the mail. Fast forward half a decade and …
Future of Retail: How Companies Can Employ Big Data to Create a Better Shopping Experience
You don’t have to be a management consultant to know that we are all besieged by information, but it’s the consultant’s job to come up with a snappy buzzword to describe the phenomenon, and they have settled upon the …
7 Surprising Things Lurking In Online ‘Terms of Service’ Agreements
UPDATE, DEC. 18: The popular photo-sharing platform Instagram faced harsh online criticism today from users who discovered that an upcoming change to the site’s Terms of Service will allow the company to sell users’ uploaded …
Will Customers Love or Hate ‘Personalized’ Grocery Prices?
The concept of “personalized” grocery store deals strikes some consumers as inherently unfair. How would you feel, after all, if you were charged more than the person in front of you at checkout for the same exact item? Few …
From Chick-fil-A to Amazon, Why Companies Take a Stand on Social Issues
Last week, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie pledged $2.5 million to help pass a referendum on same-sex marriage in Washington State. With the donation, the Bezoses became the largest public financial …
Ebooks Suit Could ‘Wipe Out Publishing Industry As We Know It,’ Senator Says
The Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Apple and major book publishers could make it harder for young authors to get published, New York Senator Charles Schumer wrote in The Wall Street Journal.
Why Everyone Should Be Shopping Online—While in Actual Stores
“Showrooming,” the practice in which consumers check out merchandise in a physical store and then buy it at a cheaper price online, is the bane of brick-and-mortar retailers everywhere. It’s got to be extra insulting when …
Airline Already Collecting the Most Passenger Fees Wants $1 Billion More of Them Annually
In 2011, no U.S. airline pulled in more revenues from fees than Delta. The airline collected an industry-leading $767 million in reservation cancellation and change fees, and another $863 million in baggage fees. Delta isn’t …
Why Doesn’t Apple Get More Respect In the Stock Market?
Let’s talk about that other technology stock, shall we? You remember. Apple.
Apple has a problem. The opposite of Facebook’s problem. It’s undervalued and likely to stay that way. That’s pretty surprising given that, even …