Apple, Inc.

It may only be October, but here’s a prediction: It’s going to be a high-tech holiday, and I’m not talking about the gift-giving part of it. (Although in a refrain I think will play out in countless homes over the next couple of months, my 20-year-old godson has told his family the ONLY thing he wants for Christmas is a new Apple phone.)

But the big story this year is likely to be retailers’ increased use of emerging technologies that bring the digital and brick-and-mortar worlds together.

New York – More than 100 retailers, including Macy’s and J.C. Penney, have reportedly joined forces with the New York Police Department to create the Metropolitan Organized Retail Crime Alliance. According to the New York Daily News, the alliance will share information on criminals and scams targeting retailers and their customers.

By David Dorf, senior director of technology strategy for Oracle Retail

New York - L.L. Bean provided the best overall customer service in August 2014. This marked the retailer’s fourth time topping Stella Benchmarks in customer service during 2014.

The retailer repeated its top performance from the previous month by ranking among the Top 25 in phone, email, shipping and returns. Nine companies that did not rank in the Top 25 overall for July earned a spot in August: Gap, Marc Jacobs, Burberry, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Motosport, Microsoft, Brooks Brothers and Wayfair.

New York -- Ron Johnson is reportedly stepping back into the public arena. The former J.C. Penney chief (and, before that, Apple retail head) is about to launch a “high-end, on-demand delivery service” for electronic devices, according to The Information. The report described the service as "Best Buy's Geek Squad meets Apple's Genius Bar."

By Dov Cohn, Bronto Software

Stockholm -- The U.S. payments market is getting a new player: Klarna, a Swedish e-commerce company focused on simplifying buying, plans to expand to the U.S. market in early 2015. The nine-year old company has an impressive track record in Europe that includes more than 25 million users and 45,000 retailers including Asos, Spotify and Zara.

Apple Pay has some unique competitive advantages that should make it a major factor in the world of mobile commerce. Consumers pay by simply swiping their finger. Any credit card associated with a user’s existing iTunes account is automatically included, and adding a new card is as easy as snapping a photo with the phone’s camera. With more than 200 million existing iTunes accounts and a large base of iPhone devotees, consumer adoption of Apple Pay should grow quickly.