Artificial Intelligence

Leading specialty store retailer The Limited is working with analytics firm First Insight and had good things to say about how the tech company is impacting business at it 262 stores.

“By using First Insight to identify more winning products and price them correctly, our business will continue to increase its speed to market with the right styles at the right price”, said Diane Ellis, CEO of The Limited.  “The accuracy and scalability of the First Insight platform will drive our expanded approach to value delivery, including pricing and promotion.”

Redwood Shores, Calif. – Oracle has released Oracle Retail version 14, encompassing new features and functionality across its complete offering of retail business solutions. The enhanced suite of solutions is designed to enable relevant customer engagements across touchpoints, target assortments, drive improved efficiency from inventory and help reduce total cost of ownership.

Last week, I looked back at 2013 and how the biggest single trend in retail IT was customers using connective technology to take control of the shopping experience. This week, I look forward to the new year of 2014, when the biggest single trend in retail IT will be customer disruption.

By Punit Kulkarni, Symphony Analytics

Looking back on 2013 (and as always, it’s amazing how quickly “look back” time arrived), the biggest single trend in retail IT has been customers using connective technology to take control of the shopping experience. And retailers should be thrilled.

A new form of digital currency will reportedly soon be competing with Bitcoin. According to multiple media reports, the currency, known as “Coinye West,” will launch at 11 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 11.

According to the Coinye West website, the currency will use a Scrypt algorithm and have a maximum number of 1,333,333,333. The site also promises that password-protected, encrypted archives containing the binaries and source for the wallet and daemon will be released before launch and that Coinye West is digital currency “for the masses.”

San Francisco -- Custom apparel and accessory provider vPersonalize.com has launched a new full-custom, online store for customers to design and buy their own personalized apparel and accessories.

vPersonalize.com features a Web-based configurator that allows consumers to design directly on a 3-D model of a T-shirt, backpack or bag and get it custom-made almost exactly as seen.

Omnichannel technology drives store experience evolution

The store experience isn’t what it used to be. Rapidly developing omnichannel technologies, such as mobile and social, are redefining the very definition of a “store” and what customers can accomplish within. 

In addition, retailers can glean more information about consumers using leading-edge technology. For example, indoor location analytics vendor iInside lets retailers track and analyze store traffic using customer mobile devices to provide a host of data on store operations and processes.