Artificial Intelligence

Smart retailing, deep services and creative marketing lure shoppers to top malls

The retail industry is ever-changing, with shoppers now looking to malls as a place of both business and socialization. A constant evolution of attractions is needed to entice them to visit a center and then keep them coming back on a consistent basis.

Savvy mall owners are challenged to practice smart retailing and deliver creative, on-trend marketing tactics when leasing, marketing and operating shopping centers.

Sephora is focusing on developing new strategies and technologies for omnichannel retailing with a new hub situated close to Silicon Velley.

Stores mix fashion with the best of digital and physical retail

Rebecca Minkoff has tapped into a sweet spot when it comes to integrating the best of online and offline retail.

The designer’s first two U.S. flagships, in downtown Manhattan and the Pacific Heights section of San Francisco, are showcases for how to use technology to create a highly personalized and engaging shopping experience in a physical space.

Savvy retailers using technology to update look, feel of physical stores

What’s going to keep people coming back to physical store locations, as comfort levels with e-commerce rise every year? Savvy retailers are fighting technology with technology, refreshing the look and feel of their stores by integrating more gadgets, and using data in a more integrated way to inform strategy.

Technology is helping stores provide shoppers with a personalized experience.

San Francisco -- Sephora on Thursday officially unveiled its San Francisco-located Innovation Lab, which will focus on the development of new strategies and technologies for both in-store and mobile shopping. In conjunction with the debut of the Lab, the beauty retailer announced the rollout of four new digital programs:

Pleasanton, Calif. - Blackhawk Network Inc., a prepaid and payments network, has expanded its digital services platform. The digital services platform is now enabled with exchange services, which allows users to instantly sell their retail, restaurant and a variety of other brands' gift cards.  

By Kent Smith, Galleria RTS

Well-stocked shelves and falling sales is a dilemma faced by many retailers today. New technology advancements such as mobile discount apps are the latest threat to grocery retail sales. Many people simply complete their grocery shopping from the convenience of their own home.

Retailers are finding it hard enough to survive, let alone thrive with channel and segment blurring making it a consumer world. The message is simple, have what you want, when you want it and at the price you want to pay.

New York -- Visa Inc., Pizza Hut and Accenture have teamed up to develop a connected car to test mobile and online purchases on the go. The connected car is expected to feature Visa Checkout (Visa’s online payment service), cellular connectivity, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and Beacon technology deployed at Pizza Hut restaurants to alert staff when the customer has arrived and is ready to pick up the order. Accenture is managing the integration of the technologies.