Artificial Intelligence

From hyperlocal social media intelligence to mobile survey creation, this month’s crop of startups is filling niche spaces that can have a big impact on a retailer’s business. Learn about an augmented reality platform that’s elevating the online experience, a social referral startup that makes it easy to spread rewarding word-of-mouth recommendations and an analytics company that helps retailers and CPG companies get the most out of their online and transaction-level customer data.

SurveyMe

There is no shortage of emerging technologies with the potential to transform how retailers operate, but some are closer to realizing that potential than others.

Virtual and augmented reality and Internet of Things (IoT) are most likely to disrupt retail, at least in the short term. That’s according to the first quarter 2016 Retail Innovation Report from the Center for Advancing Retail & Technology (CART),

There is no shortage of emerging technologies with the potential to transform how retailers operate, but some are closer to realizing that potential than others.

Virtual and augmented reality and Internet of Things (IoT) are most likely to disrupt retail, at least in the short term. That’s according to the first quarter 2016 Retail Innovation Report from the Center for Advancing Retail & Technology (CART).

Energy that comes from an unlikely source will help power a distributed center operated by Stop & Shop Supermarket Company.

The retailer has opened a “Green Energy Facility,” in Freetown, Massachusetts, that will convert inedible food from Stop & Shop’s 212 New England stores into energy that will help power the company's distribution center in Freetown.

A leading payment card issuer and the world’s largest discount retailer are both launching efforts to reduce how long customers have to wait to check out with EMV-compliant payment cards.

Visa Inc. is rolling out a technology enhancement designed to optimize EMV chip card processing and speed up checkout times. The new solution, called Quick Chip for EMV, streamlines the processing of chip card transactions to enable customers to dip and remove their EMV chip card from the terminal, typically in two seconds or less, without waiting for the transaction to be finalized.

Yes, but only if you listen — to both of them

In the early days of retail, the store proprietor knew customers by sight. As mostly mom-and-pop businesses, they naturally spent time getting to know their customers, who probably were also neighbors and friends. They knew from experience and immediate feedback what merchandise would or wouldn’t sell. It was the ultimate in customer intimacy.

Michaels Companies Inc. is tailoring its promotions, markdowns and prices to current customer demand.

The arts and crafts retailer is deploying Revionics merchandising solutions including the vendor’s promotions, markdown and price suites.

A very real challenge for retailers — who now market to the most technology-enabled, in-control shoppers ever — is to avoid the promotional downward spiral vortex and sidestep the vicious “race to the bottom” on competitive pricing. These traps severely erode margins, profits and brand image.

Retailers will have a new friction-free way to convert shoppers into buyers this holiday season as Google expects buy button functionality piloted last year to be broadly available by the fourth quarter.