Artificial Intelligence

New York -- On Wednesday, Nov. 28, Chainstoreage.com will unveil an exclusive and revealing look at how shoppers felt — what turned them on and off — on two of the busiest and most critical retail days of the year: Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The Holiday Shopper Sentiment Report: Black Friday and Cyber Monday Consumer Face-Off by SAP will explore real-time trends and insights that will inform the next generation of retail.

Silicon Valley startup Shopilly named Dickson Chu to its board of directors.

Shopilly was founded this year to streamline and organize multi-channel retailer communications across hundreds of brands and thousands of daily messages. The company described Chu as someone who has more than 25 years experience at the intersection of financial services, customer insights and the strategic use of technology.　 Most recently he was SVP of merchant solutions at LivingSocial where he was charged with creating a new business unit.

EMERYVILLE, Calif. — The LeapPad2 has received 20 awards from U.S. organizations that include Dr. Toy, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, Parents' Choice Foundation and Time to Play, as well as key awards in the U.K. and Canada, according to LeapFrog Enterprises. It has been selected as a top toy by more children, parenting and industry experts and retailers than any other kid’s tablet, rendering it the most recognized kid's tablet of the year leading into the holiday season.

Emeryville, Calif. -- Digital marketing solution-provider Lyris said Monday that Australian retailer Harvey Norman has selected and deployed Lyris' digital marketing platform to increase online conversions and lead generation for the company's 180 retail stores.

Using Lyris, Harvey Norman will increase the quality of customer engagement across digital channels, and by doing so increase retention and loyalty.

Brand marketing veterans Chris Burggraeve and Ted McConnell are the newest members of the board of industry advisors at Syncapse, a leading social performance management company.

Burggraeve is the former chief marketing officer of Anheuser-Busch InBev and founder of Vicomte LLC. McConnell is a former director of marketing innovation at Procter & Gambler and EVP of digital at the Advertising Research Foundation.

By Dr. Trevor Davis, [email protected]

Roseville, Calif. -- Revionics, a provider of end-to-end merchandise optimization solutions, and GIIV, owner of the SkuLoop business, a provider of social commerce driven promotions for retailers and consumer brands, announced that Revionics has acquired the SkuLoop business and assets from GIIV.

Chicago -- ShopperTrak has acquired ReTel Technologies Inc. (ReTel), a Silicon Valley-based provider of hybrid video-auditing solutions and advanced shopper analysis.

ShopperTrak will integrate ReTel’s technology with its managed service to deliver an unprecedented level of shopper insights to retailers. Once available with ShopperTrak’s core offerings, the new capabilities will provide retailers with rapid access to customer demographics, queue analysis, speed-of-service and sales process effectiveness.