Students enrolled in the new Digital Retailing Digital eCommerce Fulfillment course this semester had the opportunity to tour Home Depot'...

After over a year of no in-person meetings, the UNT National Retail Federation Student Association was happy to be back on campus for their September fall kick-off meeting, where they welcomed guest speaker Lindsey Tanoff. She shared about work life at Petmate, a large pet supply B-to-B business...

What has changed in the past 12 months on the digital retailing landscape? Well, everything! One of the most impacted areas is eCommerce fulfillment - getting merchandise to the customer within days, if not hours is now the expected norm. To keep up with this dynamic and radically changing...

Every year, we honor deserving students with scholarship funds generously supported by industry and individual benefactors of our innovative degree programs. Our event this year was held April 22, virtually via Zoom. Students, parents, faculty and industry donors logged in to enjoy the event and...

Like every other event during the past twelve months, our 16th Annual 2021 Student Research Symposium again went virtual, enabling our students who'd worked hard over the last year the opportunity to showcase their work. Now that many have adapated and gotten used to this format, the event was...

Each year, the Global Digital Retailing Research Center  develops and hosts events with the intent of promoting the important dialog focused on digital retailing and consumer experiences. Part of the Center's mission is contributing to the digital...

The four Undergraduate Research Fellows, working under the UNT Global Digital Retailing Research Center, completed their individual research papers and posters on time, submitting to the Honors College. The challenges were more than normal with the pandemic, requiring the students meet virtually...

Pre-pandemic, everyone always asked, “What percentage of retail sales are online?” What they really mean is, what percent convert online, or rather, complete a sale. They generally don't mean pure play, they mean, what percentage of a physical brick-and-mortar retailer's sales are...

As the pandemic swept our nation in March, one of the first shifting consumer behaviors that saved many retailers was curbside pickup, most certainly those selling perishable products. Almost every retailer either quickly enhanced their offerings or stood up technology and processes to...

While there are too many downsides to the 2020 global pandemic to list, there certainly are some technology upsides we can be thankful for. Significant traction has gained momentum with ideas and platforms that were in development or infancy, due to changing consumer behavior. In my digital...

Despite what some might see as obstacles, the College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism students and their faculty mentors have risen above the current COVID-19 pandemic challenges, producing 6...

Four students in the College of Merchandising & Digital Retailing have applied for and been awarded as UNT Undergraduate Research Fellows for the 2020-2021 academic year. The fellowship program...

A strong industry partner of the Center at Esri, Gary Sankary, recently wrote an article offering suggestions for retailers as they begin...

On July 30, Dr. Judith Forney and one of our great supporters of the Center Ruth Crowley joined on a live webinar to discuss how the retail and hospitality industries are being disrupted in real-time. They also offered some perspectives on how the workforce in these industries will be impacted...

Dr. Dee Knight, Dr. Judith Forney who is our Research Center Director and myself Linda Mihalick worked together over the past year on a scholarly article which was recently...

Our own Dr. Dee Knight participated in a webinar hosted by the UNT Department of Geography and the Environment on May 20, 2020, titled Business & Economic Dimensions of the COVID-...

While our annual April GDRRC Consumer Experience Symposium was forced to be abruptly cancelled due to the pandemic, we worked quickly to create the Student Research Competition portion in a virtual format so that the students...

It was certainly proven that the old English proverb March comes in like a lion... is accurate, as Spring Break was abruptly cut short. All faculty were given 10 days to learn software, redevelop classes to deliver 100% online and re-engineer the remainder of the semester. For me, that...

There isn't a roadmap for these times we are navigating, as many industries including retail and eCommerce must quickly adapt to consumer needs and demands. All areas of business are being impacted as everyone tries to determine what the next months will look like. 

One way retailers and...

Recently I was invited by Joe Keenan, Editor-in-Chief of Total Retail to produce an interactive webinar sponsored by Oracle NetSuite...

Have you ever considered how much merchandise is sold by pro sports teams? A lot! Fans love to support their favorite teams with shirts, ball caps, water bottles – a myriad of merchandise, much of it emblazoned with a favorite team player’s name. UNT’s partner, the...

I’ve been working as the advisor/mentor with our NRF Student Challenge team of Kaitlyn Sifford, Kayla Fox and...

Our annual trip to New York was a big success, where I led a group of 13 of our Digital Retailing, Consumer Experience Management and Merchandising...

It can be very difficult for retailers to navigate the murky waters of customer preference and intent to purchase. Gone are the simple days where standard technologies, implemented well, would admirably serve the needs of large, medium and small retailers. Fast-forward to today, where a visit to...

During a recent ceremony, the UNT's Global Digital Retailing Research Center was honored by the Office of the Provost with the first ever Centers and Institutes Excellence...

Did you know the largest clothes closet in North Texas is right here on the UNT campus?  Members of the National Retail Federation Student Association enjoyed a private, insider’s tour on a field trip for their last meeting of the semester at the Texas Fashion...

In a recent article in the Frisco Community Impact newspaper, reporter Lindsey Juarez investigated the causes of some sales tax declines in the city of Frisco, Texas, despite steady population growth and a booming economy. I was able to add commentary citing the wide range of retail and...

Wende Zomnir, a 1989 UNT graduate and co-founder of Urban Decay Cosmetics and one of the cosmetic industry disruptors, was back on campus this week, sharing her career journey and meeting over lunch and at a roundtable with some of our Digital Retailing and Consumer Experience Management majors...

Retail is hard these days and more competitive than ever. The new definition of building a relationship with your customers and creating true loyalty extends far beyond throwing a few loyalty points into the online account. Many retail basics have been long forgotten in the noisy, cluttered new...

I had a front row seat as Matt Alexander, co-founder of the innovative retail concept Neighborhood Goods in Plano was the featured guest, interviewed by Brian Womack of the...

Ecommerce Manager Kendra Schalk of Signet Jewelers (Zales) attended the September meeting of the National Retail Federation Student Association and shared about work life at Signet and her personal career path. She also explained in-depth about their Merchant Development Program for students...

Evironmental Systems Research Institute (Esri), the leader in geographic information systems software (GIS) partnered with our Global Digital Retailing Research Center on September 13 for an event held at our UNT campus Driving Customer...

The first day of class is always exciting, full of hope and aspirations! Nearly 150 Digital Retailing and Consumer Experience Management students joined me...

Traditional retail continues to be disrupted by Amazon, forcing them to develop and act upon solid digital strategies in able to retain their market share. Amazon recently launched a new website area that is targeted at the professional beauty segment. Read...

As many national retailers we’ve known for years continue to announce store closings, including Payless, Toys ‘R Us and Charlotte Russe, it can’t help but send a shiver of worry across the industry. Almost 5,300 stores have closed in the U.S. in 2019 so far. Is it possible that people are no...

Lucky us, we are situated right in the middle of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. That gives us easy access to a steady diet of retail and technology innovation, leading retailer headquarters and in this case, the premier exhibit of historical designs from the...

Our 3rd annual Digital Study Tour to Seattle, San Francisco and the Silicon Valley was another big success! The journey took us to the headquarters offices of Amazon,...

Each semester in my upper level SEO/SEM class, I pick a local business for my students to do a ‘case study’ on the company’s digital presence, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Yelp, their website. The owners come to the class at the beginning of the semester and discusses their background,...

In December, I shared about the latest retail concept Neighborhood Goods, as I was interviewed by...

Our annual Scholarship Ceremony highlights our deserving students and show-cases industry and individual benefactors who generously support our programs.  This year’s event was held April 30 on campus, where students, faculty, parents and industry donors all gathered in the Gateway Center to...

During the 2019 Consumer Experience Symposium held April 18, 2019, longtime supporter and friend of the Center Ruth Crowley was honored with the Impact Award. Ruth, an industry executive who has held leadership positions at...

The Global Digital Retailing Research Center develops and puts on two annual events promoting the important current dialog around digital retailing and consumer experience, and how we are contributing to the agenda for industry.  Yesterday we were pleased...

One of the many hats I wear here at UNT is Faculty Advisor for NRFSA, which is the National Retail Federation Student Association. I work to promote many opportunities to our students, and the latest is the Next Generation Scholarship, with a top award of $25,000. 

If students were not...

We’re fortunate in the DFW area to have many retailers with management leaders who gladly come to campus to share their real-world work journeys and experiences. Lauren Tillman, Manager of eCommerce Operations and Store...

I’ve just returned from ShopTalk, the digital retailing focused industry conference, which does not disappoint with its line-up of thought-provoking speakers and presentations, along with numerous sessions to choose from.

Since I had a front-row seat to...

Our February 18 NRFSA guest speaker was Carole Elwell, who contributes her time on our Merchandising & Digital Retailing Advisory Board and is the Director of Digital Solutions for ...

This week, I was interviewed by Dallas Innovates about our unique Consumer Experience and Digital Retailing degree...

I was honored to be selected by our President Neal Smatresk to represent our Consumer Experience Management program at the Stars Shine Brighter event...

While we are all living in the new digital economy, our most valuable personal commodity remains the same: time. Everyone has a finite and the same amount of it to spend.  Many of us are embracing technologies and apps that seemingly make transactions and experiences faster and easier...

I just returned from five days in New York with 12 of our Digital Retailing, Merchandising and Consumer...

Dr. Judith Forney, Director of Research for the GDRRC was interviewed recently, providing her insight on the cycle of purchasing and gift returns after the Christmas holidays. Since many people often receive gifts they plan to return, WalletHub conducted an online survey to determine how...

Retail is in a time of great disruption. Consumers have been telling retailers for years, by voting with their wallets, that they are tired of the same old cookie cutter concepts. A new breed of merchants is winning the consumer purchase and the old concept of shopping malls is changing as well...

Is it a CrockPot? Is it a pressure cooker? What is the kitchen appliance that grew in popularity not through traditional marketing efforts, but through the power of the consumer and word-of-mouth?  Gilma Avalos, CBS 11 news anchor and I chatted about the...

This year in particular, retailer's really seem to have turned up the volume in an effort to catch consumers' attention prior to the biggest shopping weekend of the year. Deals, promotions and sales are everywhere. In a recent interview with Jenna Duncan of...

The economy is great, consumers are in a good mood and retailers are ready for them. This will be one of the best Black Friday shopping weekends on record. Gilma Avalos, evening news anchor at CBS 11 and I chatted last evening about what customers can...

Applications to join on our 3rd annual Digital Study Tour are now open. I lead this trip, which is a course designed to engage students in an intense study of the field of digital retailing. We travel to Seattle, Washington and the Silicon...

As the Faculty Advisor for our campus student organization National Retail Federation Student Association, I typically line up our speakers and field trips to expand our students' knowledge of the insdustry. For our meeting yesterday evening, we took a field trip to...

Yesterday I took my upper level Digital Retailing Strategies class to visit the iProspect offices in Ft. Worth. iProspect has been a strong long-time supporter of our programs, each...

Several hundred students, faculty and industry executives attended the Executive + Scholar Lecture Series event held on the UNT campus on October 18, 2018 to hear insights from Phill Oaks and...

The annual Shop.org retail conference was held last week in Las Vegas, where about 10,000 retail leaders gathered to keep abreast of the continually changing retail landscape. I participated in the industry conversations at the Executive Afternoon as well as...

In recent years, many retail start-up companies have begun with a dual purpose of selling their product while also generating donations for various causes.  The challenge is that while the missions are genuine and well-intended, the foundation of the businesses is based on the premise that they...

Yes, we can get any product whim fulfilled, often the next day, sometimes even the same day. And usually for free. Options such as Prime Now by Amazon and UberRush promise delivery within hours. We know that like many things, if it sounds too good to be true, there usually is a catch or a...

From Ray Kroc’s first McDonald’s in 1955 to Pop-Tarts to microwaves, consumers have long placed a high value on convenience. And why shouldn’t we? Time is the greatest equalizer, no matter your position in the work world or your wealth. It's our most precious commodity. We all have the same...

The stars are quietly aligning for the next big consumer consumption boom thanks to the inevitable suburban migration of millennial moms and dads, who will be headed to the same pleasant neighborhoods their boomer...

Even in this great economy, parents still look for deals as they get kids ready to go back to school.  Earlier this week, CBS 11 news anchor Gilma Avalos interviewed me for some thoughts about ...

The tax free shopping weekend during back to school is a Texas tradition dating back to 1999. This year, digital is influencing consumer back to school buying trends more than ever. Some key takeaways include:

• A few, high-priced items will generate the most in sales dollars...

I recently returned from the 2018 American Marketing Association and American Collegiate Retailing Association international conference in Toronto, Ontario Canada.  Along with Dr. Dee Knight, I...

Our 2nd annual Digital Study Tour to Seattle, Portland and the Silicon Valley was another big success!  The student project is to create a video travel diary. Follow along with us on the Digital Study Tour at the...

After a very successful inaugural 2017 trip of the Digital Study Tour and invitations from all of the companies visited to return, we headed out after spring graduation on the 2nd annual trip to the west coast.  The students and I travelled to leading eCommerce and digital corporate locations to...

One of our favorite events of the year is our annual Scholarship Ceremony, because it highlights the efforts of our hard-working and deserving students as well as the generous industry and individual benefactors of our programs. During our reception held in the Gateway Center on campus April 27...

Each semester, students in my Digital Retailing Strategies course work in teams on a real-world case study project, analyzing a local business’ online search results, website and mobile presence, digital communications to customers and consumers’ online experience. This spring I worked with...

I’m just back from the ShopTalk Retail and eCommerce conference in Las Vegas, along with 8,000 other retail executives, start-up founders and continual learners, where we participated in the industry conversation and heard from those important innovators who...

With the rapid evolution of online and consumer's new 'always-on' mobile mindset, the power shifted away from the retailer's buying organization and into the hands of the consumer, who now has boundary-less choices. Taylor Lowder from...

For those of us who have been retail merchants a long time, we know the pendulum tends to swing to extremes and then back. The consumer is weighing in and retail is thankfully heading away from cookie-cutter formats to one of experiential and a re-focus on customer service. Here at UNT, we are...

Eighteen of our Digital Retailing and Merchandising students are headed to New York with me next week to experience one of retail's biggest industry conferences.  They'll have a unique, exclusive vantage point a the Student Program for two days, along with about 750 other universtity students...

Denton Record Chronicle writer Caitlyn Jones profiled my student's search engine marketing and digital case study project in her recent article.

Gunner, a patron of Dogtopia in Highland Village, Texas, happily attended his first college course at the University of North Texas earlier this week. Other students reported he was friendly, outgoing and engaged in the class. He...

Black Friday and Cyber Monday kick off the beginning of the holiday spending season. For many, the shopping can lead to credit card debt and overdraft fees.

It can sometimes be a time for indulgence and excess, but it’s no time to throw cautious spending to the wind, especially when the...

Part one of this series, Retailer Digital Disruption: Why an Organizational Shift is Needed Now, was featured in ...

Currently there are two types of retailers selling online: digital natives such as Amazon.com and Warby Parker, and traditional brick-and-mortar retailers that expanded their operations into this channel.

The...

We should always stay curious, always keep asking questions, always keep learning.  At a recent retailing conference here in Dallas, I ran into Maria Halkias, who covers retail in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the Dallas Morning News. She was asking...

If you only read the headlines, many recent doomsday reports have you believing the physical store is dead, but we can assuredly categorize this as fake news. Target is one mega-retailer that is challenging the pessimists and investing about $7 million per store to renovate and elevate the in-...

Have you tried online grocery shopping yet? I shared some thoughts about the online grocer technology and customer convenience proposition with Jenna Duncan at the ...

Emotional intelligence (EI) is not a new concept. It was first defined in a 1990 journal article and is often lauded in business circles as a key component in becoming a likeable, strong leader who is looked upon as...

As 2016 comes to a close, one of the hottest topics in the digital space is online grocery shopping. As Amazon gobbled up Whole Foods, many are weighing in on the viability of long-term sustainability for the...

As sweltering temperatures cool, fall breezes blow in and fashion turns to comfy sweaters and game-day hoodies, retailers turn their attention to capturing a share of the student shopping dollar. Now the second-most important retail selling period, ranked only behind 4th quarter holiday, the...

JCPenney CEO Marvin Ellison recently said, "There was no retailer our size as behind the curve on e-commerce and omnichannel." He stated, "We were woefully behind in every respect." Lack of investment and not implementing current best practices can be the downfall of any traditional retailer...

In my latest guest blog post for Total Retail, I suggest 5 strategies to extend a long life to your own retail career, examining some tips from pop-star Madonna...

Here in the Department of Merchandising and Digital Retailing at the University of North Texas, one of our passions is to prepare students for exciting and rewarding careers in the constantly changing retail industry.  We have a leading-edge, comprehensive program...

Change can be hard for some people. In his bestselling book Who Moved My Cheese?, author Spencer Johnson describes how to deal with...

The memories of graduation are captured in photos and with a new degree in hand, many college grads are seeking their first ‘real’ job. And while technology has changed and benefited our lives in countless ways, there are a few successful tips your parents used that hold up remarkably well in...

The inaugural trip in May 2017 was a huge success! Follow along and see the Digital Study tour at the University of North Texas trip experience through the eyes of our students who travelled to Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. 

The freshly-minted 2017 Digital Retailing degrees were handed out this past Saturday and we’ve proudly sent another set of bright minds out to make a difference in the eCommerce industry. But our work is never done, and right behind these digitally-savvy graduates is the next group of students,...

Giving great gifts is an art and the availability of online choices make the task easy, fast and even fun. Sure, gift cards or cash are functional choices, but they won’t leave a lasting impression on the grad. I love to give gifts that the recipient thinks fondly of me when they use it and...

Business is about to get a little bit sweeter for the Nestlé Toll House Café in Highland Village thanks to help from University of North Texas students.

Students taking the Digital Retailing Strategies course are creating...

Recently, I had the opportunity during our annual GDRCC Consumer Experience Symposium here at the University of North Texas to sit down for a conversation with Jon Panella, Head of Commerce Technologies for SapientRazorfish, and chat about virtual...

Last week here on campus at UNT, our GDRCC had the opportunity to host a dynamic conversation with Google’s Matthew Pritchard about the rise of 360 video, virtual reality and augmented reality. We are only at the...

Here at the University of North Texas, we are fortunate to have strong support from leaders in the retail digital industry, as they come into our Digital Retailing classrooms and connect directly with our students.  Companies who generously give of their time include...

DENTON (UNT), Texas - How are virtual and augmented reality technologies transforming the way people shop? Retail and technology gurus from Google and SapientNitro, a marketing and...

With our continually developing language of ecommerce, it’s easy to confuse the terminology of social media with social commerce. Connecting and engaging with our networks using social media platforms is a different activity than eCommerce that happens directly on a retailer’s website or...

In a previous post, I discussed the ‘Language of eCommerce’ and the challenges created within organizations in the absence of a common, shared set of definitions around the...

In the role of vice president of e-commerce and marketing, I’ve managed teams of well over 100 associates. It seemed there was always an open position to hire due to promotion, a newly created role or someone moving on. We’ve all experienced the pain of hiring the wrong person for the job....

Just like often-used broad business terminology such as marketing, sales and products, the word digital is presently being slung around loosely like a well-used backpack.  Terminology definition and confusion of this relatively new business area can make it difficult for all levels within retail...