A survey of 1,110 consumers by Deloitte found that consumers think there is plenty of room for improvement when it comes to product labeling. Consumers want to make informed decisions when they go shopping and many feel that the information on product labels are inadequate.

I think that for some who have allergies, improved labeling would provide better service. Also, in general, people are now eating healthier and are more interested in what they are putting into their bodies. However, most labels are hard to understand and read. If a company can make the effort to make labels easier to understand, then they will have a competitive advantage.

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From gasoline discount cards to emphasis on cheaper house brands, grocery chains are doing whatever it tales to keep customers coming back. Grocery chains are maintaining or reducing their costs to keep prices competitive and to prevent customers from going to Wal-Mart.

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Banks face a tough situation. While their most loyal customers are their oldest customers, Generation Y’s and X’s are the retailing banking customers of the future. However, the least loyal are the hardest to please. Results reveal more than half of Gen Y (61 percent) and Gen X (53 percent) respondents have either considered changing or actually have changed their primary banking institutions in the past 2 years.

Currently, the customer experience at most banks cater to the Silent Generation and Boomers who more frequently bank in-person. To reach the younger generation who are much more mobile and rely on more heavily on online interactions, banks will need to focus on the online customer experience.

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Starting Saturday, 20 Sam’s Club stores in Virginia and Maryland will offer tech support from PC repair services company Geeks on Call. Geeks on Call will not have a kiosk set up. Instead, a sticker on every computer sold at Sam’s Club will direct the customer to call Geeks on Call for tech support. If tech support is required, then a technician will go to the person’s home or business.
Partnering with Geeks on Call helps Sam’s Club compete against retail giants such as Best Buy which already offers the added customer service. Such service is not expected at Sam’s Club and this certainly is an added bonus.

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The first Biggby coffee shop was founded 13 years ago. Now the chain has 100 stores in nine states: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. Biggby’s franchise-based model gives it an advantage over other regional coffee chains by lowering the cost for the company to expand and it gives each store local connections.

Bob Fish, the East Lansing-based chain’s chief executive officer and one its co-founders said,

“We are a franchise company and Starbucks is not. Most of our operators are people from the community…There’s a big difference between an owner running the store and any other restaurant chain with many, many units. They’re not just an employee; they own the business. It adds energy, excitement and enthusiasm.”

Because each store has local connections, this contributes to more meaningful customer engagement and greater customer service.

So far Biggby’s business model has been working. They expect to grow to 250 stores by 2010.

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Last year, Circuit City laid off thousands of its best-paid and most knowledgeable sales staffers, only to see them snatched up by Best Buy. Circuit City sales have plummeted while even in this weak economy, Best Buy is thriving because of its emphasis on customer service.

Across many industries, we’ve seen that the retailers that grow customer-service ratings the fastest have greater sales growth,” says Chris Denove of J.D. Power and Associates. “Prices have come down dramatically on electronics items, and at the same time, the complexity of the products has increased. Expert advice is more important than ever.”

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According to a poll conducted by Global Strategy Group, 87 percent of consumers are more likely to buy products from a retailer that is committed to environmentally friendly practices. Your retail business might be green and sustainable but do your customers know it?

A recent article in bizjournals.com said many business owners have already taken steps toward becoming more environmentally efficient by using sustainable facilities with low-flow water systems, florescent light bulbs, and paints with low levels of volatile organic chemicals. However, do customers know that a retailer is going green with these initiatives? It’s not enough for a retailer to go green. Customers need to SEE that retailers are going green.

What do you think?

At a couple of cupcake stores around the country, the frosting shot has emerged as a short-but-sweet pick-me-up. Ranging from 75 cents to a dollar, customers can order a shot of frosting about the size of a frozen yogurt sample.

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According to Nielsen, the number of shoppers buying less expensive brands is increasing from 23% in December to 35%. Stop & Shop, Shaw’s, and Whole Foods are responding by more heavily promoting their less expensive store-brand, or private-label, products.  “Some of the typical behaviors we see when people are feeling pinched is they do use coupons and they buy more private-label products,” said Judy Chong, spokeswoman for the West Bridgewater-based Shaw’s.

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According to BIGresearch, 86 percent of people are making adjustments to their lifestyles as a result of higher fuel costs, up from 76 percent at the same time last year.

Half of consumers surveyed are taking fewer trips to the store and shopping closer to home. More consumers are also leveraging the Internet. About ninety percent of shoppers said they research products online before buying in a store. They also use the internet to find store locations, hours and merchandise availability to prevent a wasted trip in the car.

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