Artificial Intelligence

Franklin, Tenn. — Retailers are interested in mobile POS (mPOS) technology, but a number of challenges exist to its widespread adoption. According to a new study from IHL Group, “mPOS: Houston, Do We Have A Problem,” 78% of retailers planning to make a new mobile POS decision by mid-2016.

In addition, 66% of enterprise retailers say they want their existing POS software vendor to provide their mPOS solution. However, it takes chain retailers an average of 9.7 months to deploy a mobile POS solution. 

While technology and innovation flourish on the consumer side of fashion, inside retail headquarters, merchants and planners still rely on reports and tools that have barely evolved from the three-ring binders and green screens of the 1970s. Merchants and planners, many of whom grew up as digital natives, navigate an awkward time warp: They commute from the consumer world to offices that stifle their skills in interpreting and acting on visual, interactive data and tools.

Shifting landscapes can make it difficult to focus on the exciting opportunities that result from major market changes. The constant evolution of the digital space fueled by rapidly advancing technology and elusive consumer preferences may leave retailers feeling weary about digital promotions. Frustration over this seemingly unending race causes many to long for the days and simplicity of traditional print promotions.

During the next several months, many U.S. retailers will begin transitioning their point-of-sale systems to accept EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) technology. EMV-ready cards are most frequently recognized by the presence of a small security chip embedded in the card itself. This technology is not new – it has been in use in Europe, Canada and much of the world for years.

Scottsdale, Ariz. – JDA Software Group will release its next generation of cloud-based omnichannel and supply chain solutions on the public Google Cloud Platform. Through this collaboration, Google will provide a scalable and flexible technology platform via the cloud to support JDA’s future application development and delivery.   

By Joe Dalton    As technologies advance, social channels proliferate, and consumers become more plugged into digital marketing, personalization and contextualization is becoming the key to connecting with customers. While consumers build their online identities simply by using their devices for everything from browsing to averting traffic, they leave trails of their preferences, behavior, and values that retailers can draw upon to appeal to the interests of each individual customer.   

Boston – The in-store customer experience is going to get a lot more personalized and timely. According to a new special report by Boston Retail Partners (BRP), “Real-time Retail – The New Retail Imperative,” by 2020 nearly two-thirds of retailers will identify a customer when they walk in the store via their smartphone.  In addition, 76% of retailers plan to provide suggested selling based on a customer’s previous purchases within three years.

Other key findings gathered from recent BRP surveys include:

London, U.K. — Honest Cafe, an automated coffee house chain in London, is using IBM Watson Analytics to unearth client insights to help determine everything from coffee products and pricing, to marketing and promotions. Honest Cafe is a new venture from Revive Vending where three cafes currently in operation, and four more planned, are all unmanned.