The retail business model has long been based on a simple customer acquisition and retention strategy.

1. Get potential customers to your store.
2. Convince them to pay for your product or service.
3. Bring them to back to purchase again.

Acquire. Convert. Retain.

This works for brick and mortar and online commerce. But retailing is changing from a transactional model to one based on relationships. Your best customers are no longer simply those which spend the most money. Now they are those who reliably and predictably purchase, enabling you to forecast accurately. They are those who evangelize your products and influence others to become your customers. They are those who engage in conversations with you offering useful feedback and direction on where the market is going.

So I am introducing a new focus on what I call Retail Conversations. I will highlight how smart retailers are connecting with their customers in new and innovative ways. How they are using blogs and podcasts. How they create value through free information leading to more informed and loyal customers. How they respond to customer feedback and adapt to the market.

The Internet and related technologies have created a world of opportunity to sell to customers as never before, but even more importantly to engage in conversations with those customers. Retail Conversations will be my look into how and why that interaction works.