Tag Archives: Paco Underhill

Take a Cue from Paco Underhill – “Shop without fear”

I’ve had the immense privilege and pleasure of spending a good part of my year with the one and only Paco Underhill, as we met with hundreds of merchants and brands nationwide to share perspectives on the challenges and opportunities with cross-channel retailing. The overarching theme through all these presentations was tying together all the … Continue Reading

The Benefits of Respecting the Shopper: Amazon’s Rise to U.S. Top Performing Brand

The naming of Amazon.com as the top-performing brand in the US by market research firm Millward Brown is truly a watershed moment for e-commerce players who have neither the long standing history nor seeming reach of many traditional multi-channel retailers. This ranking applauds those who have toiled night and day to build a rich, rewarding … Continue Reading

Multichannel Convergence

I’m almost tired of the word. It hasn’t reached the status of “robust” or “ubiquitous”, but everywhere I turn the term convergence is being thrown around. It does wrap around the concept it describes like polar fleece on a cold New England night. Beyond the crisis of our recession and the recalibration of American consumer … Continue Reading

2010: A New Year Brimming with New Opportunities

As we welcome 2010 I ask what will be the next step in the ongoing evolution of the online shopping experience—as it advances beyond a transaction-only focused environment to a rich experience that provokes product discovery and engagement. Retailers worked hard in 2009 to improve the online experience, and shoppers rewarded us accordingly. A new … Continue Reading

The “New” Rules of Customer Engagement in a Contracted Economy

Those of you working the very front lines in the retail sector know the realities of operating in this new, new economy. And frankly, we are entering un–chartered waters as we now must market and merchandise to a new type of customer motivated by not just price but something much deeper—fear. As Paco Underhill, the … Continue Reading