Artificial Intelligence

Omnichannel retailing — or as it is increasingly known, “retailing” — is complex and can increase costs for retailers. Here are a few ways retailers can improve store-level fulfillment to increase both profits and customer service.

There is an endless variety of ways hackers can attempt to gain access to retailers’ networks, but a few are particularly common.

In a new study, “Data Breach Digest,” Verizon identifies 18 different data breach scenarios drawn from analyzing more than 1,200 global cases investigated by the Verizon Risk Team in the past three years.

“There is a lot more commonality than most people realize,” said Chris Novak, director of investigative response, Verizon Enterprise Solutions.

Knowing when things are right is important, but knowing when things are wrong may be even more vital.

If you were an Uber user in Austin, Texas, this fall, you might have been surprised to see the option to take a horse and buggy instead of a car appear on your smartphone.

The tongue-in-cheek offer was part of Uber’s effort to inform and mobilize customers in its fight against what the company contended were antiquated regulations being considered by local government.

The theme of constant security vigilance also applies to the EMV chip-based card payment standard. Retailers are not the only ones that have been scrambling to adapt to EMV since the October 2015 mandate.

“The chase is on,” said Brian Engle, executive director of the Retail Cyber Intelligence Sharing Center (R-CISC). “The introduction of EMV-compliant chip technology is driving fraudsters online.”

Even if overuse of the words disruption and transformation hadn’t diluted their meaning, they would still come up short when describing global economy altering trend envisioned by some that could have a devastating impact on consumer spending.

Even when security technology vendors and users are unaware of a vulnerability, cybercriminals may already be well aware and taking advantage.

Specialty outdoor retailer The North Face is reportedly taking a desktop-based interactive online shopping experience it launched in December to a new platform. According to VentureBeat, The North Face is launching a mobile app that will let consumers find products using natural conversation to conduct searches and receive personalized recommendations. The app is scheduled to launch in April 2016.