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The Event Highlights report gives you an idea of what goes on at Future Stores year on year. See who was there, from which companies, what they talked about and when you can look forward to joining the next event!

This infographic discusses how Relevance in Store optimizes personalization for customer touchpoints in the physical retail environment, exposing shoppers to the right inventory and enhancing product discovery and provides relevant examples. Click the image to the left to download

The Future of Retail Customer Experiences Technology has fundamentally changed the way consumers engage with retailers, forcing businesses to create consistently great customer experiences across shopping channels. In this exclusive whitepaper, created in conjunction with CFI Group, we use primary research to explore the future of retail customer experiences:  - How retailers are struggling to create consistent experiences across touch points  - What the greatest in-store sales assets are  - Which retail technologies will be disappearing in the near future Click the banner to the left to download!

In June 2013, RetailMeNot commissioned Forrester Consulting to examine the total economic impact and potential return on investment (ROI) enterprises may realize by deploying the RetailMeNot In-Store Solution (In-Store). The purpose of this study is to provide readers with a framework to evaluate the potential financial impact of In-Store on their organizations.

An Interview with Tommy BahamaSince opening the Tommy Bahama Bar in the new Yankee Stadium, the company has become known as more than clothing: it’s in the business of creating experiences for its “guests.”Kacy Cole, Director of Consumer Marketing, talks in this Q&A about how Tommy Bahama has taken its message across channels and aims to distinguish itself through enhanced in-store and omni-channel experiences that include things like custom store scents and elevated floors that create the feel of a beach boardwalk.

Mobile technology has made today’s consumer more connected and empowered than ever before. The in-store shopping experience continues to evolve as customers instantly access information about products, pricing, inventory and more – both about the store they’re standing in and about competitors’ offerings as well. In short, people are showrooming. As a result of these new consumer behaviors, it is critical for brick-and-mortar retailers (and especially wireless retailers) to employ omnichannel strategies to engage with customers across all channels: online, mobile and in-store. Introducing mobile devices, apps and interfaces to the in-store environment improves the overall customer experience, as services like in-store pickup/returns of items purchased online, in-store mobile POS, tablet-assisted browsing and drop shipping of out-of-stock items become increasingly popular.   The end goal for brick-and-mortar retailers should not be to defeat showrooming, but to integrate the mobile technologies necessary to convert all walk-in customers, whether they’re there to showroomor not. With the right combination of information, convenience and efficiency, retailers can deliver the in-store experience today’s consumer is looking for.

Doing things the same ways for the same reasons won’t get retailers ahead. Instead of letting change happen, retailers should invoke change on themselves by purposefully desiging their futures—their store of the future—replete with the detail needed to make their ideas real. This Storyminers white paper outlines the characteristics, benefits, and new business capabilities that adopting a Store of the Future Initiative brings. It also includes a playbook, implementation notes for sponsors/leaders, and simple ways to get started.

Once considered experimental merchandising for adventurous retailers and cashstrapped entrepreneurs, pop-up stores have become an established national phenomenon and a legitimate means of testing product, generating buzz, building brand awareness, and driving sales for big-name retailers and ambitious upstarts alike. Growth in mobile broadband technology is expanding the possibilities for a diverse array of applications for mobile pop-up. Furthermore, the “fly-by-night” qualities that might have characterized early pop-ups have now been supplanted by dependable, secure infrastructure solutions that put temporary retail locations on par with their more permanent counterparts. This paper explores the pop-up retail phenomenon, outlines the challenges and obstacles to successful implementation, and discusses existing, rapid-deployment solutions for connecting pop-up locations with mission-critical retail applications and the cloud. The first part of the paper will address the business case for pursuing a pop-up strategy; the second part will consider technology implementation strategies that enable a rich and secure popup experience.

In March of 2014, the Future Stores team presented a questionnaire to a national audience of retail professionals. The goal of the survey was to shed light on current trends in store technology, in-store experience, strategy, and reporting. More specifically, the survey is intended to provide you with a better understanding of how your organization stacks up with respect to technology investment, store expansion, progress in omni-channel integration, analytics, customer experience, and more.

In December of 2013, Worldwide Business Research presented a benchmarking questionnaire to a national audience of customer experience professionals. The goal of the survey was to shed light on current trends in customer experience culture, strategy and reporting. More specifically, the survey is intended to provide you with a better understanding of how your organization stacks up with respect to official job titles, length of time spent in customer experience roles, level of investment into customer experience departments, challenges customer experience professionals face, ability to get  funding for customer experience initiatives, KPI’s and more.

How in-store shoppers access inventory available on the webChallenge: Dicks Golf Galaxy needed a comprehensive solution to offer in-store shoppers access to the inventory available on the web that might be out-of-stock in their particular location. Results: Creating a new web-storefront to be used on touch-screen kiosks that leverages existing product catalog so that shoppers can order out-of-stock products and have them shipped to store or their home at no additional cost. 

A Retailer's Guide to MobileMobile’s growth presents a vast opportunity for retailers. To reach their full potential and stand apart from the competition, retailers need to create an excellent customer experience via every channel. Mobile should not be considered in isolation but as the glue for an overall effective multichannel strategy. With soaring adoption rates, it is clear to see that mobile commerce presents an opportunity for retailers in every vertical. 

This is Your Brain OnlineOver just the past three years, the psychological relationship between consumers and the Internet has undergone a profound transformation. “Retailers have needed to rapidly change the way they present their brands to customers and the manner in which they require shoppers to travel through their websites.”

Renovating the Store Experience for the Mobile WorldWhile retailers scramble to manage the effects of the ever-smarter smartphone on the way they communicate with customers, promote their products and reward loyal shoppers, many have neglected to consider what likely will be the most profound change of all: the impact of mobile devices on the physical store itself. 

This whitepaper explores the pop-up retail phenomenon, outlines the challenges and obstacles to successful implementation, and discusses existing, rapid-deployment solutions for connecting pop-up locations with mission-critical retail applications and the cloud. The first part of the paper will address the business case for pursuing a pop-up strategy; the second part will consider technology implementation strategies that enable a rich and secure pop-up experience.