Schneider Electric

Uber continues to expand beyond its core ride-hailing business.  

DoorDash is taking the concept of automated delivery for a spin.

Mobile payments processor Square has set up shop in New York City.   The company has opened a store, called Square Showroom and located in downtown Manhattan, that provides hands-on support for merchants using its technology and space to display — and let sellers experience — its POS hardware. The store includes a Genius Bar-like support desk, where sellers can make appointments with Square employees to troubleshoot a specific issue or get training on a new product.  

Consumers gravitate towards convenience for the things that they have to do anyway. They want to get to their intended action with the least amount of unnecessary effort. They’ll even change their behavior to do so. Think of mobile deposits: many consumers have made the switch to using their bank’s mobile app to deposit checks, finding it far more convenient than driving to their local branch or ATM.   

When it comes to what keeps retail CEOs up at night, put exchange rate volatility and over-regulation at the top of the list.

That’s according to PwC’s 19th Annual Global CEO Survey, which explores top business concerns of retail and consumer product CEOs.

Of the many different political, social and economic risks businesses face, those that concern retail sector CEOs the most are over- regulation (37% are extremely concerned), exchange rate volatility (36%), an increasing tax burden (33%), and social instability (29%).

Retailers are keeping up with omnichannel consumer demand behind the scenes.

According to a new survey of distribution center operators from Honeywell and YouGov, nearly nine in 10 distribution center operators expect to adopt new mobile devices and voice-direction technology in the next five years to meet omnichannel consumer expectations of faster, more accurate delivery.

Retailers have always experienced a tension between investing to grow and investing to improve security. Not surprisingly, we’ve seen vulnerabilities arise when marketing and sales initiatives have trumped less sexy initiatives around security. In 2013, 61 million people had their personal data stolen from Target. One year later, 56 million credit and debit card numbers were exposed in Home Depot’s breach.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association introduced its second Retail Energy Management Report, a resource for companies to compare energy management programs across the industry and identify opportunities for progress.

The report was released prior to the opening of RILA’s 2015 Retail Sustainability Conference, now in its eighth year.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association introduced its second Retail Energy Management Report, a resource for companies to compare energy management programs across the industry and identify opportunities for progress.

The report was released prior to the opening of RILA’s 2015 Retail Sustainability Conference, now in its eighth year.