Retail

New York -- Usablenet, a leader in mobile and multichannel technology, has introduced U-Campaign, a new element of its U-Experience platform at allows marketers to plan, execute and easily manage mobile landing pages and campaign sites in real-time. Importantly, with the rise of responsive design as a development trend, U-Campaign provides the ability for marketers to create channel-specific campaigns within responsively designed websites for the first time.

Prism Skylabs, a global leading cloud service provider, has hired former Apple executive Cliff Crosbie as SVP of managed services.

Crosbie comes to Prism Skylabs after overseeing Apple’s global preferred reseller program. In his new role, he will be charged with growing Prism’s visual merchandising and auditing services

“I’ve never seen a merchandising or analytics solution as effective as Prism Skylabs,” said Crosbie. “I couldn’t be more excited to join the team.”
 

Plano, Texas -- Pizza Hut has debuted new concept stores in York, Neb., and Pawtucket, R.I.

The concepts feature an all-new "pizza by the slice" experience with slices cut from an 18-inch pizza.

New York -- GE Capital and Kobie Marketing, a loyalty program service provider, will unveil a new product to help retailers establish and maintain loyalty programs that will create a unified profile for shoppers, according to a report by the New York Times.

Washington, D.C. -- Two U.S. senators have written to Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel seeking "detailed information'' on the data breach that occurred during the holiday shopping season, Reuters reported.

"We ask that Target's information-security officials provide a briefing to committee staff regarding your company's investigation and latest findings,'' John Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Claire McCaskill, chair of the Commerce ubcommittee on consumer protection, wrote to Steinhafel.

New York -- VeriFone Systems said that Deckers Outdoor Corporation has implemented VeriFone mobile retailing hardware and software to fulfill its omni-channel initiative at 40 UGG Australia store locations. The solution enables store associates to accept payments from the sales floor and sell out of stock products available online through its integration with an e-commerce platform from Demandware.
 

By Lee Peterson, WD Partners

If a sacred cow exists among retail strategists today, the price-match is undoubtedly it. As the weapon of first resort, it is the most obvious defense against the rapid rise of “showrooming” and the unbridled growth of online retailing behemoths like Amazon, ruthlessly cutting into retailers’ profits.

Tampa, Fla. — Burger 21, a new concept from The Melting Pot Restaurants, has announced the opening of its first restaurant in Virginia. To be located in Ashburn, the restaurant, which is approximately 3,200 sq. ft., will be one of four units planned for the Greater Washington, D.C., area.

Currently, Burger 21 has 11 restaurants open and 17 franchised locations in development across the U.S. Plans call for a minimum of 15 additional restaurants in the Greater Washington, D.C., area.