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The magnitude to which retail stores recover when consumers fully adjust to post-pandemic routines may well hinge on the shopping experiences they offer. A new study of consumers in the U.S. and UK shows that the majority of shoppers today view customer experience as one of the most important factor...

The build-versus-buy decision is an important one. Companies have been making similar choices about their technology stacks for decades. When it comes to customer data platforms, however, some organizations are rushing to make a determination. There are some important questions to ask before making ...

From an initial expression of interest, to a purchase, to receiving ongoing support and ultimately buying again, customers take a variety of journeys as they interact with brands. The more a company considers and plans for the paths its customers will follow, the more likely it is that the business ...

INSIGHTS

CRM's Virtuous Circle

First, cloud-based CRM democratized business information, then it erased the distance between customers and vendors. Now it is poised to expand into other areas with similar democratizing opportunities. I am speaking about how we work -- at least those of us in the knowledge economy -- but there's a...

Microsoft recently disclosed that it too was no doubt a victim of the same Russian-based hacker gang responsible for the SolarWinds onslaught. As some of the details surrounding the cyberattack become known, the bleak disclosures might justifiably cause a sniffled gasp indicating that if Microsoft c...

By cutting out the middleman, brands can earn a higher margin and gain direct access to consumers and their data. For these reasons, leading brands such as Nike are aggressively making the shift to DTC, and other large retailers are following suit. However, many forget to take into account three imp...

INSIGHTS

Salesforce Season

There may be two Salesforce seasons in a year -- the one we're finishing and one that happens just before Dreamforce. Roughly speaking, these seasons happen when the company disgorges a raft of new technologies both to update existing products and to bring forth new ones. This season covers a lot of...

Microsoft has unveiled Windows 11 as a redesigned computing platform that feels familiar but has numerous changed components. It offers new ways for users to create, learn, play, and connect with others globally. Feeling familiar may take some adjusting, however. Windows 11 is built around a simplif...

The post-pandemic era is bringing many changes to how the marketing industry interacts with messaging strategies and how marketers work. Chief among these changes is the technology they use and the frequency with which they visit company offices. But one essential industry staple is not changing. Th...

As people emerge from lockdowns and limitations in the coming months, and look toward getting out and exploring the world again, travel is anticipated to become a popular and valued activity. The E-Commerce Times spoke with several industry experts to get their perspective on new trends in travel an...

INSIGHTS

Working From Wherever

It seems the digital disruption is being disrupted. If the original disruption was about leveraging company data to better understand customers and to meet them where they are, the new disruption depends on all that plus supporting worker efforts wherever their lifestyles take them.

Microsoft quietly edited a document on its website over the weekend to reveal it's planning to end support for Windows 10 Home and Pro on October 14, 2025. The revelation comes just before Microsoft's "What's Next Windows" event scheduled for June 24 and amidst hints from CEO Satya Nadella that a ma...

As we head into the summer of 2021 anticipating that most places in the U.S. will be fully open for business, many industries are looking at what the post-Covid recovery will mean for them. For sales professionals, the comeback might certainly bring a windfall but also presents challenges.

ANALYSIS

Grinding Data Into Information

A lot of time and treasure has already been spent on "going digital" with no clear understanding of what that should mean. But going digital should, at least in part, mean taking full responsibility for turning a business' mountain of customer data into usable information that advances the company m...

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