E-Commerce Site Usability Tips

Online shoppers can be impatient and unforgiving, to the point of abandoning an e-commerce site out of frustration. To prevent this from happening, it is important to have functionality and usability. An e-commerce site that offers a smooth and enjoyable user experience, will convert visitors into loyal customers. A few key elements to a successful…

Tags: Best Practices, Customer Reviews, E-Commerce, Ecommerce, Navigation Menu, Online Shoppers, Product Description, Product Photos, Ratings, Retail, Shopper Behavior, Site, Tips, Usability, Usability Testing, Website

Chatbots, Changing The Way We Communicate

What exactly is a chatbot? It is simply a software service that allows users to have a natural language conversation in either text or voice to return either information or an action. Sometimes chatbots are referred to as talkbot, chatterbot, Bot, interactive agent, or personal assistant. They started generating attention in 2015 and are now…

Tags: Alexa, Bot, Chatbot, Chatbots, Chatterbot, Communication, Cortana, Echo Dot, Facebook Messenger, Google Assistant, Interactive Agent, Kik, Personal Assistant, Retail, Siri, Slack, Talkbot

Is Indoor Positioning the Future?

In simple terms, indoor positioning is described as a GPS for indoor environments. It can be used to locate objects or places inside malls, airports, and big box stores, typically via a mobile device such as a smart phone or tablet. In more technical terms, indoor positioning system uses radio waves, magnetic fields, acoustic signals,…

Tags: Airports, Apple, Big Box Stores, Detroit Lions, Ford Field, GPS, In-Store Navigation, Indoor Maps, Indoor Navigation, Indoor Positioning, iOS 11, iPhone, Lowe's, Magnetic Field, Malls, Navigate, Navigation, Radio Waves, Retail, Sensory Information

Changes Happening In Retail, Subscription-Based Retail

One notable recent innovation in retail business models is expansion of subscription-based retail. A subscription-based retail business is a company that sends you a package, usually once a month, of items they have personally picked out for you. While there have been subscription-based retailers for decades, including Columbia House and wine clubs, innovative companies are taking the subscription-based…

Tags: Commerce, Convenience, Customization, Engagement, Mass Customization, Retail, Sampling, Shopper Behavior, Subscription Boxes, Subscription Commerce, Subscription-Based, Subscriptions, Trends

When Shoppers Touch Products, They Generally Purchase

Note: This article was first published in Retail & Loyalty on August 30, 2017. Understanding shopper behavior in retail is the foundation to designing environments that promote purchasing, but retailers face a number of hurdles to get shoppers to notice products, let alone buy them. Eye Faster recently conducted eye-tracking research in six stores nationwide…

Tags: Brick and Mortar, Consumer Behavior, Decision Making, Displays, Emotional Response, Engagement, Eye Tracking, Purchase Decisions, Retail, Shopper Behavior, Shopper Research, Trends

Pop Up Stores and the Future of Brick and Mortar

With the rise of online shopping, owners of brick and mortar retail stores have been left to wonder at the fate of their stores. It has not been reassuring that major corporations like Macy’s and Walmart have closed their doors on hundreds of stores due to lack of foot traffic. Despite this ominous trend, the…

Tags: Consumer Behavior, Decision Making, Emotional Response, Eye Tracking, Global Retailing, Mass Merchants, Retail, Shopper Research, Trends

What the Market Research Industry Can Learn From the Agile Movement

If you’ve never heard the term “Agile,” you may not be aware of the iterative and incremental methodologies that are changing the way some industries are responding to a fast-paced market. Although it was initially created for software developers, the concept is influencing other industries and is now becoming an Agile movement. For example, the…

Tags: Consumer Behavior, Decision Making, Eye Tracking, Global Retailing, Shopper Research, Trends

The Internet of Things: the Next Big Step in Industrialization?

From wearable technology to monitoring devices to things we haven’t even dreamt up yet, the Internet of Things (IoT) is on its way toward revolutionizing the way we live our lives, how we seamlessly integrate technology into our days, and for those of us in the market research industry, certainly how we do research and…

Tags: Consumer Behavior, Decision Making, Emotional Response, Eye Tracking, Mobile, Retail, Shopper Research

Uncovering Marketing Opportunities by Mapping Shoppers’ Pathways - Apparel Magazine

Note: this article was first published in Apparel Magazine on April 25, 2017. A link to the full article is at the bottom of the excerpt below. Retailers and merchandisers make design decisions for everything from layouts to showrooms and display windows. While aesthetics and product marketing certainly play a major role in their decision making…

8 tips for testing a new or concept package - Packaging Digest

Note: This article was originally published in Packaging Digest on April 18, 2017 When it comes to testing new packaging concepts or designs, the highest quality research and the most actionable insights must start with a good test. Over the years, we have found that the most successful projects keep a few simple things in…