SAP America

Whole Foods is creating a new collection of business applications with a key technology partner that are said to be unlike anything on the market.

That’s a bold claim and to back it up the nation’s leading organic and natural grocery chain is partnering with cloud-based business application provider Infor to develop a new enterprise platform called Infor Cloudsuite Retail.

When it comes to keeping supply chain and logistics operations as efficient as possible, retailers are getting smart. Using centralized cloud platforms and business intelligence solutions, merchants can achieve real-time inventory awareness and supply chain operational data that improves overall front- and back-end performance. Here are three examples:

The digital and physical selling environments are converging. Whether this phenomenon is called “cross-channel”, “omnichannel”, or given some other label, consumers now routinely use their Internet-enabled (and frequently mobile) devices to find information about potential purchases, even when they are in the store. So as far as consumers are concerned, the selling channels have already converged. As a result, retailers are now forced to catch up.

When it comes to keeping supply chain and logistics operations as efficient as possible, retailers are getting smart. Using centralized cloud platforms and business intelligence solutions, merchants can achieve real-time inventory awareness and supply chain operational data that improves overall front- and back-end performance.

Here are three examples:

Gap

SAP is setting some big goals for a suite of future integrated digital enterprise technologies. The enterprise technology firm wants to transform the relationships companies have with their customers.

Morrisville, N.C. — Jewelry retailer Charles & Covard Ltd. has appointed Jaqui Lividini and Suzanne Miglucci to serve on the company’s board of directors. Lividini previously served as senior VP fashion merchandising & communications at Saks Fifth Avenue and has served as CEO and founding partner of brand strategy company Lividini & Co. since 2005.

Miglucci previously served as senior director of global procurement solution marketing for SAP and has served as chief marketing officer of ChannelAdvisor Corp. since June 2012.

I recently participated in an SAP-sponsored panel discussion on Game-Changers Radio about how consumer product companies are using real-time consumer insights and engagement. Buoyed by constant customer connectivity, consumer product firms are gaining a much clearer and timelier picture of their end customers, and also directly engaging them near or in real time.

New York – Dan Berthiaume, senior editor of Chain Store Age, recently participated in a one-hour panel discussion, “Consumer Industries: Using Real-time Consumer Insights,” sponsored by SAP as part of its “Coffee Break with Game-Changers” Internet radio series.