Artificial Intelligence

True Religion Apparel Inc. is enabling store associates to provide a highly personalized customer experience with a glance at their watch.

The specialty apparel retailer is partnering with Aptos Inc. (formerly Epicor Retail) and Formula 3 Group to enhance and extend the functionality of its associate-facing Apple Watch “Band” app. Originally released in December 2015, Band offers real-time access to the retailer’s full inventory selection from the store, along with intuitive search capability.

Consumers know the perfect gift when they find it, and 1-800-Flowers.com is trying to make the search a little easier.

The specialty gift retailer is offering a beta of “GWYN” (Gifts When You Need), an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered intuitive shopping experience across its brands. GWYN is based on the Fluid Expert Personal Shopper (XPS) software platform, which in turn is supported by IBM Watson.

Omnichannel may be a big industry buzzword, but retailers are still figuring out how to apply it to payments.

According to a new survey of nearly 100 global retailers by PCM Research and electronic payment and banking solution provider ACI Worldwide, “Omnichannel Payments for Merchants: Myth or Reality?” only 21% of respondents have competed an omnichannel payments program.

Target Corp. is testing a robot to track inventory on store shelves, Fortune reported. The one-week trial is being conducted a Target store in San Francisco.

Silicon Valley startup Robotics built the robot, called Tally, that can roll around the store, scanning products to determine if they have been misplaced, mispriced, or are low in stock, according to the report.

Click here for more, including a video of the robot in action.

April marked the six-month anniversary of the EMV liability shift. After years of discussion and anticipation, that changeover has technically “happened,” but unfortunately, not much good has happened as a result. Even with all the preparation and hype, the payments industry is still playing catch up. Why? Well, it’s a complex picture that requires a bit of history.

Fully interactive, cloud-based digital displays help enhance the customer experience and give businesses a boost at TurnStyle, the new retail/dining center at the Columbus Circle subway station in Manhattan.

The installation marks the first retail application of the On Smart Media platform, from Outfront Media. The platform allows retailers and advertising partners to deliver contextual messages in real-time.

The generation born between the early 1980s and the year 2000 — labeled millennials — has captured the collective attention of retail marketers. And not just because there are more than 80 million of them, although that’s a factor. This group craves access, not necessarily ownership, and they have a real affinity for technology, which is shaping the retail space.

While several highly publicized emerging technologies are poised to have a major effect on retail by 2026, another touted bleeding-edge solution may fall short of expectations.