Artificial Intelligence

Redmond, Wash. -- Microsoft Corp. has enhanced Microsoft Dynamics CRM by adding a comprehensive set of new marketing, customer care and social listening capabilities to the suite. The new release is expected in the second quarter of 2014.

More momentum for Pinterest and the emergence of social shopping are among the top social media trends that research and analytics firm Blueocean Market Intelligence predicts will impact the retail industry this year.

The firm analyzed the online sales data of the nation’s top 100 retailers from September through December 2013 as part of an ongoing global study assessing the business impact of top retailers social media efforts in a report called, “Social Media Effectiveness Index for Retailers”

In recent years, retailers have aggressively implemented in-store systems to track customers’ every move from the moment they enter till the moment they leave (hopefully including a trip through a checkout lane). Specific details such as how long customers spend in front of a display are also carefully monitored and analyzed. Technology now allows retailers to keep tabs on what customers do in the store almost as rigorously as they follow customer actions online.

Omnichannel marketers have gained a new personalization weapon to engage with shoppers thanks to a partnership between nGage Labs and Web Decisions.

The firms announced a new arrangement that combines nGage’s personalized mobile customer engagement capabilities with Web Decision’s omnichannel marketing database solutions to create a fully integrated database-drive mobile customer engagement solution.

The ability to develop actionable insights by listening to social conversations is among several powerful new capabilities that have been added to Microsoft Dynamics CRM portfolio.

Microsoft introduced a comprehensive set of new marketing and social listening capabilities to its Microsoft Dynamics CRM suite which are designed to help organizations match their customers to the right products and services, engage with them in the right way at the right time and nurture relationships.

Retail and financial trade associations have banded together to combat cyber crime in wake of the Target data breach.

Shopkick, a real-world shopping app, has expanded testing of its shopBeacon technology. The new technology, which was deployed in late November at two Macy’s stores, will be active in thousands of stores nationwide by the end of the first quarter.

Minneapolis — A “phishing” attack using an email containing malware reportedly enabled hackers to gain access to Target’s computer network in 2013. According to the security blogger Brian Krebs, an employee at the HVAC vendor Fazio Mechanical in Sharpsburg, Penn. which includes Target among its clients, opened a fraudulent email that allowed hackers to enter Fazio’s network and take over a computer.