YOU ARE HERE...Whether You Like It Or Not

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

A look at the emerging location-based marketing channel and its impact on brands and retail.

Whole Foods unveils wellness app

August 22, 2010

Whole Foods Market has announced its Missions App is available on the App store. As a part of the company's ongoing mission to promote wellness and encourage…

Nordstrom Integrates Social Media on New Web Site

by Mike Wittenstein — Customer Experience and Service Designer, Storyminers

Nordstrom's new website is killer. It blends the best of efficiency and design in one site that's easy to use, feels great, and keeps the customer focused on…

Visa, B of A testing cell phone payments

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

August 19, 2010

Reuters reports that Bank of America and Visa have entered a partnership to begin testing a plan that will allow shoppers to make payments with their smart…

Smartphones look to replace plastic as payment

Several wireless carriers are testing a system that allows consumers to pay for purchases with a wave of their smartphones.

Empowering store operations with analytics and business intelligence

Retailers can exploit BI, coupled with smart phone technology, to help store ops do its job.

We get a kick out of mobile loyalty

by Sharon Goldman — Senior Director, COLLOQUY

It’s gotten big buzz thanks to a new partnership with Best Buy, and the New York Times has already shown an appetite for this app, but here at COLLOQUY we…

Report: 15 percent of consumers use mobile to make purchases

August 17, 2010

Sterling Commerce, an AT&T Inc. company, and Demandware Inc., a provider of on-demand ecommerce, have announced the findings of a new retail study…

Children's retailer Magic Beans adds mobile self-checkout

August 16, 2010

AisleBuyer has announced the launch of its virtual assistant and mobile self-checkout system. According to the company, AisleBuyer technology enables consumers…

Chrysalis Software launches outbound notification service for contact centers

August 16, 2010

Chrysalis Software Inc., a provider of contact center professional services and products, has introduced a cloud or premises-based multimedia information…

Making your in-store technology deployment a success, part 1

An expert lays out five key steps to take before beginning any in-store tech project.

Retail Summit Review

by Mike Wittenstein — Customer Experience and Service Designer, Storyminers

Reflections and Takeaways

Largest U.S. shopping mall operator launching location-based retail app

August 15, 2010

Shopkick, a Silicon Valley-based "mobile meets retail" startup, and Simon Brand Ventures, the business-to-consumer arm of Simon Property Group, Inc., have…

Retailers to up IT spend when economy improves

August 12, 2010

According to TalkingRetail.com, the latest IT in Retail report of the top 100 companies, surveyed by Martec International, suggests that retailers' investment…

Q&A: Rand Nickerson, OpinionLab

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

The inventor of an iconic web feedback mechanism talks about the future of online retail.

How iPads are Going to Change the Face of Retail

by Mike Wittenstein — Customer Experience and Service Designer, Storyminers

Tablet computing and inexpensive apps, similar to the Apple iPad platform, bring a host of new opportunities to interact with customers. Here are a few 

Smart phone carriers going after credit cards

August 8, 2010

A Bloomberg report indicates that AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are joining forces to challenge credit card companies by enabling consumers to pay for their…

Escalate upgrades commerce software suite

August 5, 2010

Escalate Retail has announced that the latest release of its Blue Martini Commerce Suite includes a new Web Services Manager (WSM) layer to simplify and…

Market basket analytics: Ready for prime time

BI tools can reveal valuable insight by linking the market basket to performance data at every level.

New NEC bar-type display designed for areas where standard screens don't fit

August 4, 2010

NEC Display Solutions of America, a provider of commercial LCD display and projector solutions, has announced a unique addition to its X Series, the 43-inch…