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Gas stations of the past had a bit of a stigma. They were a pit stop—a place to fuel up, buy a lottery ticket, and use the restroom (if you dared). If you were hungry, options were pretty limited to prepackaged items like beef jerky or a bag of chips—so if you wanted something more substantial, it usually required another stop at the closest fast food joint.

It’s been more than a year since Amazon made a big splash in the grocery world by purchasing Whole Foods, an acquisition that came as a surprise to many in the industry. Critics have voiced pros and cons of the merger, listing price cuts and delivery options as the bigger perks for Amazon Prime members.

Since eBay and Amazon launched in 1995, e-commerce has represented a lot of things for traditional retailers. First, unfamiliar territory. Then, endless opportunity for some (and end of days for others). Now, in the age of the cross-channel customer journey, it’s table stakes for customer conversion.

Life is hard—dinner shouldn’t have to be. That’s the basic principle that’s been driving the convenience economy in the restaurant industry for decades. Today’s consumers are ordering through mobile apps with food delivered right to their doorsteps—but a lot can happen in between.

It’s been more than a year since Amazon acquired Whole Foods—a merger that promised to change the brand of the American specialty supermarket chain. Along with daily discounts exclusive to Amazon Prime members, more and more stores are offering pick-up lockers (AMZN.O) and free delivery for Prime customers. One of the more notable changes was last week’s first-ever Whole Foods Prime Week promotion.

The German-based grocery giant Lidl broke into the U.S. market a year ago, enduring its share of both accomplishments and challenges. While most locations opened with high sales volumes, only some stores were able to demonstrate continued success. Due to this inconsistency, Lidl temporarily halted expansion and is likely facing a few questions:

Unless it was your first Valentine’s Day, you pretty much knew what to expect: chocolate, flowers, jewelry, etc. While those romantic gestures certainly add a nice touch, perhaps the best part of Valentine’s Day is having an excuse for a fun night on the town. And that makes it an extremely important night for restaurant brands. To see how casual concepts fared this year, we turned to our market intelligence tool BrandGeek®—the fastest, most accurate source of behavioral data linked to customer feedback in real time.

For even the most well established brands, a new concept breaking into your market can be a challenge. Today’s consumers like to have options and can be easily tempted by the newest, shiniest brand on the block—especially if it saves them money, provides high-quality products, or offers a unique service. Such is the case with Lidl, the German-based grocery giant that began expanding into select U.S. markets in June 2017. With everyone in the grocery industry anxious to see how the new concept fares, we used our market intelligence tool BrandGeek® to see what’s in store and how established brands can prepare.

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, complete with the familiar traditions of family meals and adrenaline-fueled shopping trips. In keeping with our own tradition of analyzing Black Friday shopping trends, we turned to our market intelligence tool BrandGeek®—the fastest, most accurate source of behavioral data linked to customer feedback in real time. While last year’s data provided perspective on declining visits and shifts in trip motivation, we were eager to get another real-time look at how consumer behavior plays out during this critical period for retailers.

SMG received its second and third technology patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patents cover advancements to SMG’s location-based mobile research app SurveyMini.

If you’ve been paying attention to the customer experience (CX) industry over the last several years, you’ve probably noticed a seismic shift in the way brands are prioritizing their CX measurement initiatives. And if you’ve been paying attention to the marketplace, that really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. That’s because today’s customers are more tech-savvy—they’re researching brands online, interacting across new touchpoints, and sharing their experiences on social. Even more importantly, those customers have more brands to choose from than ever before. That confluence of increased competition and a more public consumer voice has led brands to invest more resources in making sure every customer experience is as good as it can be.