Sterling Commerce, which provides software for sharing data across organizations, recently (well, last August) published “The Four Rules for Ensuring Customer Loyalty in a Competitive Retail Climate” available here (registration required). In particular, “New Rule #1” (“It’s still all about the product”) recommends that retailers partner with other companies to expand their offerings. They only want to deal with one entity—the retailer of choice.the customers expects [sic] the retailer to make the whole experience seamless.” This is a more radical position than it may seem.