Blogs
How To Avoid Becoming The Next Meerkat
This month should have been the coming out party for Meerkat. For weeks their video-sharing app had been spreading like wildfire, with positive reviews...
Executive Insight
Blogs
Retailers Can’t Afford To Ignore Social Media
Today social media is more popular than ever, and that popularity is only going to increase. With the rise of smartphones and tablets, consumers...
Blogs
Selecting The Right Warranty Partner
Sure, extended warranties are often misunderstood by consumers and salespeople, but for retailers they can be used as a competitive advantage that can maximize...
Blogs
Why CE Trade-in Programs Make Sense
Sales of smartphones totaled 1.2 billion units last year, according to Gartner. The opportunity for retailers to capitalize on this massive consumer electronics purchasing...
Blogs
One More Thing…
Like probably everyone else in our little industry I listened live to the Apple launch event on Monday, and this phrase kept popping into...
Blogs
Futuresource: Traditional Watches and Smartphones on a Collision Course
At both CES and MWC this year there was a clear design drive to make smartwatches look more like analogue watches in an effort...
Blogs
The Pebble In Apple’s Shoes
Well, it’s another bright, beautiful March here in Silicon Valley, which can mean only one thing: It’s time to get all excited about another...
Blogs
Gaining Advantage In The Bargain Smartphone Game
This week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona we’re seeing a new generation of premium smartphones take the stage from tier-one vendors like Samsung...
Blogs
Wheeler Explains FCC’s Open-Internet Vote
For over a decade, the Commission has endeavored to protect and promote the open Internet. FCC Chairs and Commissioners, Republican and Democrat alike, have...
Blogs
Sears’ Lampert Lays It On The Line
Sears chairman/CEO Edward Lampert brought investors up to speed on the company’s progress and strategies this morning in one of his intermittent and revealing...
Blogs
Microsoft Is Leaking
This has not been a good month for Microsoft, or so it would seem. Since International CES, the notoriously tight-lipped company has become a...
Blogs
John Roach, Longtime RadioShack Chief, Bids Company Goodbye
John Roach was chairman and CEO of RadioShack and its corporate predecessor Tandy during the chain’s glory years of 1983 through 1999. He penned...
Blogs
The Real Challenges That RadioShack Faced
I served as VP of merchandising, CE products, for RadioShack from September 2010 to December 2013. This was the last corporate position I held,...
Blogs
FCC Chairman Wheeler Justifies Net Neutrality
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler delivered these remarks today on net neutrality at the Silicon Flatirons Center in Boulder, Colo. For the past several years,...
Blogs
Tech The Halls: A CE Packaging Primer
Today the consumer tech market generates over $230 billion a year in sales in the U.S. market alone. The Big Four of electronics retail...
Blogs
The Connected Consumer: Top Trends In IoT
Moving The Industry Forward 2015 will be a year of intense experimentation in new value propositions for advanced technologies and services. Multiple sectors within...
Blogs
Deflategate Unlikely to Flatten Super Bowl TV Sales
We are moderate football fans at my house, but preparations for this year’s Super Bowl are nonetheless underway. Our game menu is set, my...
Blogs
Enhancing The In-Store Experience Through Mobile
Customers now have more choice than ever in making informed purchasing decisions, and the consumer electronics industry in particular is seeing an interesting balance...
Blogs
How To Drive Business Innovation
In the consumer electronics field, market leaders often tend to associate the concept of innovation with breakthrough, game-changing technologies: Advancements such as the Internet...
Blogs
How To Win Amazon’s Buy Box In The Age Of Mobile
Mobile is where it’s at. Over the 2014 Holiday season nearly 60 percent of Amazon customers shopped using a mobile device. On Cyber Monday...
Blogs
New Rules For High-Tech Career Success
Ever feel like the corporate ladder is broken? That’s because you’re making the mistake of trying to climb it, especially in the fast-moving consumer...
Blogs
The Coolest Thing At CES You Didn’t See
Last week I walked International CES for three straight days. During that time I ended up taking 68,738 steps — that’s about 30 miles...
Blogs
Your CES Survival Guide
Everyone knows that International CES is the greatest mob scene in January (sorry Super Bowl). For weeks the industry has been feverishly pitching stories...
Blogs
The Impact Of Social Listening
It is estimated that over 250,000 new consumer tech products launch every year, and 95 percent of them result in failure. The heat is...
Blogs
Five ‘Big Things’ to Watch At CES 2015
You have probably been hearing quite a bit in recent months about the Internet of Things (IoT) coalescing into a major high-tech business opportunity....
Blogs
The 25 Steps Of Holiday Shopping
Ah, holiday shopping. It conjures up images of children sitting on Santa’s lap and couples snuggling up as they longingly gaze through storefront windows,...
Blogs
‘The Interview,’ Sony Pictures, North Korea And Why It Does (Or Doesn’t) Matter
While watching “The Daily Show” last night, an ad for Sony’s “The Interview” aired. This was on the day that Sony announced it was...
Blogs
Wearable Sports Technology: What to Expect in 2015
Wearable sports technology is a game-changer when it comes to how athletes across all levels — professional, amateur, collegiate, and youth — practice. It...
Blogs
Starbucks: The Technology Launch Pad
I don’t think it’s a very daring statement to say that Starbucks is more than a hot-beverage company. Even though they sell more than...
Blogs
Improve Holiday Conversions with Product Support Content
With holiday shopping season in full swing, online retailers should evaluate their online product support in order to maximize sell-through. The data showing the...
Blogs
Social Sabbatical: Episode I
I would consider myself an early adopter when it comes to technology. I live in San Francisco, work in the technology business, and when...
Blogs
The Beginning Of The End Of Black Friday
In the 1940’s, Franklin Roosevelt changed the date of Thanksgiving from the last Thursday in November (as it was established by Abraham Lincoln) to...
Blogs
Win Small Business Saturday With Marketplace Sourcing
A sales haul of $5.7 billion isn’t a big deal for big boxes. Yet when I mention that this was done in one day...
Blogs
Appy Holidays
Discussions abound about whether or not retailers should open on Thanksgiving, but what gets lost in the shuffle is the fundamental question of “What...
Blogs
Tech Recon: Save Yourself From Yourself At Retail
You can control a lot about your retail presence but certainly not everything. Sure, you can design your own packaging, but what about the...
Blogs
How Millennials Are Creating An Entirely New Industry
Every generation has a group who revolutionizes an industry. Today, millennials are drastically shaping the way music is consumed and experienced. For the first...
Blogs
Tech Recon: Be True To Your Shelf
In general, the consumer tech industry is run by engineering and sales types. Not a shocking revelation I know, but the public wants to...
Blogs
Amazon’s Buy Box: The $80 Billion Button
E-commerce analysts are predicting that Amazon.com will make over $120 billion in revenue this year. Of that, between $40 billion and $50 billion will...
Blogs
A Baker’s Dozen: NPD’s Holiday Predictions
The end of Halloween has become the new starting point for the holiday selling season. With Oct. 31 just days away, Stephen Baker, industry...
Blogs
Why Inventory Matters
If your business is sales, inventory is the hub. Too little, and you miss out on potential sales. Too much, and you’re wasting money...
Blogs
Shelf Share: A Revealing Research Tool
Whenever someone asks me to describe my job as an industry analyst, I tell them that what I essentially do is market research. Market...
Blogs
The Coming Payment Processing Liability Shift: Are Your Stores Prepared?
For retailers, that sweet, subtle sound of the credit card swipe is like music to the ears. But what if I told you that,...