Secure POS Vendor Alliance announces new members

January 24, 2010

The Secure POS Vendor Alliance (SPVA) recently announced five new members, bringing its inaugural year total to nearly 20.

MasterCard offers rebates via prepaid cards

January 4, 2010

MasterCard Worldwide today announced that it has partnered with Ohana Companies, provider of integrated retailer rebate processing, to enhance the rebate…

Swiss farm shop tests unmanned NFC retail payments system

December 22, 2009

Eighty customers of a farm shop in the Zurich region of Switzerland have been equipped with NFC phones that automate the process of shopping for locally…

Report: Gift card spending to drop slightly

November 18, 2009

While they remain the most requested holiday item, shoppers are expected to pull back on buying gift cards again this year. According to NRF's 2009 Holiday…

First look: Inside the Microsoft retail store

A visit to the first Microsoft store reveals that comparisons to Apple are like apples and oranges.

Report: More holiday shoppers will pay with debit, cash

November 16, 2009

It's the year for a little more green and a little less plastic. According to NRF's 2009 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, conducted by…

Xsilva to showcase Mac-based POS at NRF

November 16, 2009

Xsilva Systems Inc., maker of LightSpeed, a comprehensive suite of tools for retailers, is set to become the first company to present a Mac-based…

G&D launches cell phone sticker that enables contactless payments

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

November 8, 2009

Giesecke & Devrient today announced the availability of its Convego Air Mobile sticker, which enables users to add full debit and/or credit card…

Amazon PayPhrase lets shoppers make payments with words rather than numbers

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

October 29, 2009

Amazon this week unveiled its PayPhrase service, which aims to make online purchasing quicker and easier both on its site and on other participating sites on…

Survey: Returns fraud will cost retailers $9.6 billion in 2009

October 28, 2009

Though return fraud continues to plague the retail industry, changes in policies have helped companies see improvements in some areas. According to NRF's…

Road Merchant enables Blackberry credit card processing

October 27, 2009

Rapadev LLC, developer of the iPhone credit card processing app ProcessAway, announced the launch of Road Merchant, a mobile credit card processing…

Target's new return policy raises questions

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

October 25, 2009

The bloggers at Consumer Reports are having fun trying to figure out how Target's new return policy works. While they acknowledge that the changes represent a…

Steve Jobs helping overhaul Disney Stores

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

October 12, 2009

It looks like some of the visionary thinking that went into the Apple Stores is being brought to the retail wing of the Magic Kingdom: The New York Times…

Retail marketing will drive growth of NFC market, says Juniper study

October 8, 2009

Retailers using near-field communication, or NFC, for mobile coupon and smart poster applications will be key drivers of the growth of the technology over the…

More grocery stores to stop accepting checks

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

September 21, 2009

Whole Foods has stopped accepting consumer checks at three of its stores this month, a test to see how consumers will react.

Blackhawk unveils open-network gift cards

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

September 20, 2009

Blackhawk Network, the largest third-party gift card provider, has announced the availability of its Rewards Visa Gift Card through its B2B program. Cards can…

Driver's license scanning reduces fraud, but may alienate shoppers

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

In an effort to fight return fraud and abuse, a growing number of retailers are using a service that keeps a database of return activity — and feels like an…

Coinstar continues '09 march with Kroger deal

August 2, 2009

Despite this year's challenging economic environment, Coinstar Inc. has had a monumental 2009, so far. In the past two months, the company has announced the…

Sweden testing mobile phone payments

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

July 28, 2009

There has been much speculation about the mobile phone as the all-in-one payment device of the future, and while adoption of that technology has taken off in…

Happy birthday, bar codes!

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