New IBM SurePOS features GS1 DataBar support

June 18, 2009

ARMONK, N.Y. — IBM has announced a new, more powerful version of its flagship point-of-sale software designed to help supermarket, hypermarket and chain store…

Making mobile work for retail marketers

Mall operator General Growth Properties is experimenting with SMS-based communication as a way to build loyalty and drive sales.

E-commerce growth hits all-time low

June 17, 2009

VNUnet: E-commerce growth has slowed to all-time low as shoppers rein in their spending during the recession, according to the IMRG Capgemini e-retail sales…

IKEA installs loyalty kiosks in Belgian stores

June 17, 2009

DELFT, The Netherlands — Home furnishings retailer IKEA has deployed 18 Xen X5 customer loyalty-registration kiosks in six of its Belgian stores. The kiosks…

Apple receives patent for media distribution kiosk

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

Will the wireless-enabled device bring iTunes into retail shops and airports?

Retail Week Technology Award winners announced

June 16, 2009

Retail Week: Despite the downturn in the economy, a strong crowd of retailers and their suppliers turned out Tuesday night for an event in London to celebrate…

Red Book reveals latest version of store execution management tool

June 16, 2009

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Red Book Solutions today revealed the latest version of Source-2-Source, a solution focused solely on store-level task completion. Paired…

Interactive mall game aims to bring in patrons, get them to stay longer

June 16, 2009

AUSTIN, Texas — At a time when competition for the consumer dollar is fierce and retail traffic has slowed, retail centers are exploring new innovative guest…

Happy birthday, bar codes!

Next week marks the 35th anniversary of the first retail bar code scanner, installed in an Ohio supermarket.

Sigma Micro unveils new software suite for multichannel retailers

June 15, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS — Sigma Micro, a software and outsourced e-commerce services provider for direct retailers, announced today the availability of SigmaCommerce 4.4…

Culinary retailer spices up customer experience with Pluris

June 15, 2009

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Pluris Marketing, a provider of marketing solutions, has announced that Sur La Table has chosen Pluris to develop its next-generation…

Tesco to test DVD-rental kiosks in Ireland locations

June 15, 2009

CHELTENHAM, Gloucestershire — U.K. supermarket chain Tesco will trial DVD-rental kiosks from The Movie Booth this month, according to an announcement from The…

Apparel retailer implements item-level RFID tool

June 14, 2009

LOS ANGELES — Checkpoint Systems Inc., supplier of shrink management and merchandise visibility solutions, today announced the successful implementation of its…

Hispanic foods moving out of the ethnic aisle

June 14, 2009

MSNBC: Several major chains are expanding their specialty offerings to capture business from Latinos, the country's fastest growing population and already…

MarketLive unveils next-gen marketing, merchandising suite

June 14, 2009

BOSTON — MarketLive Inc., an e-commerce platform and services provider for mid-sized specialty retailers, has unveiled the MarketLive Intelligent Marketing and…

PCI compliance dominates talk at NACStech

by David Drain

Data security is on the minds of retailers, and one of the themes of this year's show was "making scary go away."

Sears, AOL launch 'good news' site

June 11, 2009

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears and AOL News today announced their foray into delivering "good news" at a time when Americans need it most, with a new Web site…

Lack of training leads to data security threats

June 11, 2009

CIO: A large number of employees copy secure data to USB drives or turn off security settings in mobile devices like laptops, which could put a company's data…

Gap to remodel 50 Old Navy stores, open 40 more

June 11, 2009

Reuters: Gap Inc., which operates the Banana Republic, Old Navy and its namesake chains, said it plans to remodel about 50 Old Navy stores in 2009 and open…

Loyalty segmentation needs to extend into the store

When front-line employees are left out of the loyalty process, points programs miss the point.