Microsoft

NCR’s legacy as a cash register company is long gone. The recent launch of a major retail initiative with top technology partners has positioned the company as an enabler of omnichannel execution.

NCR launched what it is calling a commerce hub with support from some of the biggest names in retail technology – Microsoft, Intel, Cisco – that is designed to give retailers new digital capabilities to bridge the physical and digital world.

E-commerce solutions provider Digital River Inc. has named a Groupon executive as its next CFO.

Digital River has announced that Hoke Horne has joined the company as chief financial officer. In this role, Horne, who has more than 20 years of financial experience, will be responsible for the company’s accounting, finance, tax, corporate development and enterprise operations activities.

Membership buying club DirectBuy Inc. takes an unusual approach to retailing. It offers paid members the chance to directly purchase goods from manufacturers and wholesalers, without paying retail markup

So perhaps it is to be expected that 50-plus-store DirectBuy, which also offers online and in-home shopping options to its 250,000-plus members, approaches business intelligence (BI) a little differently, as well.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Kmart is shaking up its marketing operation with moves including the recent appointment of former DSW Chief Marketing Officer Kelly N. Cook as its chief marketing officer. There was never a formal announcement, but Cook’s LinkedIn profile indicates that she joined Kmart in that position in April.

My latest retail IT-related travels took me to the Retail Experience Center at Microsoft headquarters (in Redmond, Washington), where I toured a simulated shopping mall environment that demonstrated a variety of innovative ways the company is using technology to enhance customer engagement for retailers.  Here are the three most interesting solutions from that visit:

A Beacon for Coffee Drinkers

Pittsburgh – Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. has appointed Teri L. List-Stoll as executive VP/CFO, effective August 2015.

 List-Stoll joins Dick’s with 30 years of experience. Prior to joining the company, she was employed by Kraft Foods Group from September 2013 to May 2015, serving as executive VP and CFO from December 2013 to February 2015. Before her role as CFO of Kraft, she served as senior VP of finance from September to December 2013.

Dick’s Sporting Goods named veteran consumer packaged goods finance executive Teri List executive vice president and CFO to oversee the retailer’s finance and legal organizations.

Redmond, Wash. – Microsoft Corp. recently held a press tour of its Redmond, Washington campus that included briefings on the future of technology. Two items that may be of particular interest to retailers are a transformation to an IT networking model based on interconnected nodes, and a world where encryption-based security is obsolete.

“Peripherals will become nodes on an interconnected network,” said David Baumert, senior program manager technology & research, Microsoft. “They will sense the meaning of interactions.”

By Brian Ehrig

The U.S. dollar has risen by more than 20% against the other major currencies over the last year, buoyed by a respectable if not torrid economic recovery and sinking oil prices, among other factors. That could be a breath of fresh air for U.S. shoppers with a taste for imported goods. For global mega-brands like PVH, Microsoft and Coach, however, the implications are closer to a gathering storm.

Staples and Microsoft are launching an innovative program that pairs customers with the right Windows device to suit their needs.

The new program is called Microsoft Match and be available exclusively on www.staples.com/microsoftmatch and in select Staples stores.