Apple, Inc.

There’s been no shortage of developments in retail payments this past year. From high-profile data breaches forcing retailers to reconsider their security strategy, to the launch of Apple Pay bringing mobile to the forefront, both retailers and consumers have been paying unprecedented attention to their transactions.

With innovative players entering the fold and the U.S. payments infrastructure upgrade well under way, the industry is poised for a shift over the next several years.

Orem, Utah – Checking the Yellow Pages for various types of information is a time-honored tradition, but now consumers can use the mobile version to find products. App developer Avantar is releasing a feature in the Yellow Pages app that lets shoppers pinpoint locations of products.  

By Gary Lee, InReality   As 2014 comes to a close, one thing is clear—traditional retailing is under fire.    Consumers, not brands or retailers, now hold the reigns of power. And, to survive, marketers in brick-and-mortar must take a fresh approach to physical retailing, and carve out a unique value proposition for the in-store experience, one worthy of the consumer’s precious time.  

By Bruce Ernst, Monetate   Consumers weren’t the only ones who were busy browsing gifts during Cyber Week 2014. In fact, the kickoff to this year’s holiday shopping season saw many retailers staying up late to unwrap key customer insights based on the valuable data being generated by online shoppers.  

Los Angeles – Three out of four (76%) online buyers are dissatisfied with the strength of credit card and personal information security among retailers. According to a new survey of 6,200 online consumers aross all generations and both genders from Bizrate Insights, a shopper’s own bank is trusted the most with credit card data and personally identifiable information (72%).  

Armonk, N.Y. – IBM and Apple are releasing the first wave of their previously announced IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions in a new class of made-for-business apps and supporting cloud services.   IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions are now available to enterprise customers in retail, among other industries.

By Steve Jones   What’s going to keep people coming back to physical store locations, as comfort levels with e-commerce rise every year? Savvy retailers are fighting technology with technology, refreshing the look and feel of their stores by integrating more gadgets, and using data in a more integrated way to inform strategy.  In-store tech helps retailers beat e-tailers at their own game  

New York - The Supreme Court handed out a victory to Amazon and other employers when it ruled unanimously on Tuesday that a temp agency was not required to pay workers at Amazon warehouses in Nevada for the time they spent waiting for and undergoing security checks at the end of their shifts.   The court reversed a lower court ruling from last year  which had allowed the workers to sue under the theory that since their screening time was required by the employer, it should be compensated.