Artificial Intelligence

By Jeremy Geiger, Retailigence

The headline is bold, but yes, 2014 is the year of hyperlocal mobile advertising, and there are three very important trends converging today to make this happen. The first is smartphone proliferation; according to eMarketer, smartphone users worldwide will total a record-breaking two billion in 2014. Now billions of people around the world have the devices needed to make hyperlocal ads possible.

By Jon Winsett, NPI

As we barrel towards the holiday season, few retail IT executives have as much time as they’d like to work on the challenges that will be waiting for them in first quarter 2015 — including limited funding for IT innovation. Retailers are projected to spend more in the coming year, but nearly three-quarters of that budget will be committed to maintaining the status quo. That leaves little to fund game-changing new IT initiatives that can drive competitive advantage, customer loyalty and profits.

Toronto -- Canadians are eager to embrace future-forward payment options like wearable devices and smartwatches, according to a new study by PayPal Canada that was conducted by Nielsen. Close to a third of Canadians (29%) have used their mobile phone to make an online purchase while on-the-go, and nearly a quarter (23%) having used their mobile phone in-person at a store to make a purchase.

New York -- Delivery Agent announced a deal with online retailer Overstock that will enable consumers with Smart TV and connected device homes to shop for items on Overstock directly from their television via Delivery Agent's ShopTV t-commerce platform.

Running now through Oct. 15, the "Overstocktober" campaign will enable viewers to buy products directly from Overstock television commercials.

Alburtsland, Denmark – Danish grocery retailer Coop Denmark A/S is implementing the Galleria Retail Technology Solutions Behavioral Cluster Planner. Coop Denmark will use Galleria’s behavioral clustering solution to understand how categories are being shopped.

Franklin, Tenn. -- Software companies Square and Epicor lead the fast growing Mobile POS software market in North America according to new research from IHL Group, a global retail research and advisory firm.  

Mobile POS installs are expected to grow by 110% this year as more retailers replace electronic cash registers and POS terminals with mobile devices.

During a keynote at the recent Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco, Tim Theriault, senior VP/CIO of Walgreens, discussed his company’s ongoing efforts at IT innovation. Walgreens has been involved in a number of notable recent innovative technology implementations, but column looks at the underlying strategy that helps ensure the success of those rollouts.

Here are three takeaways other retailers can glean from Walgreens’ innovation strategy:

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens is conducting a developer contest to encourage integration of its Balance Rewards application program interface (API). It allows users of other apps to earn Balance Rewards loyalty program points for making healthy choices, with rewards points redeemed for merchandise in-store or online.