Artificial Intelligence

Kohl’s is looking to mold the minds of the next generation of retailers with an innovative new program for students.

Beijing – Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com Inc. has unveiled an enhanced version of its online enterprise procurement platform, JD Enterprise. The JD Enterprise Intelligent Procurement Platform, initially launched in late 2014, uses data-driven insights to make the procurement process more efficient for both suppliers and customers.

The new services unveiled will enable corporate customers to manage more of their procurement functions directly via JD Enterprise.

The push vs. pull debate has now crossed into mobile marketing and, similar to discussions regarding email marketing and other online initiatives, each approach offers pros and cons. And, as with most debates, a healthy balance is usually the best bet.

Some liken push marketing to spam as consumers often experience unexpected or too many promotional offers via smartphone either through a browser or native app. But when you are in the market for whatever message or offer is pushed, the promotion becomes relevant and pulls you in.

Customer expectations of the store have changed dramatically in the last few years as constant connectivity has changed the way consumers live their lives. Johann Wrede, senior director of solution marketing for SAP, recently discussed the evolution of the in-store experience with Chain Store Age.

1. How have customer expectations for the in-store experience changed in the last few years?

Milpitas, Calif. – Some interested students are getting a hands-on education courtesy of Kohl’s.

Kohl’s Digital Center, in Milpitas, Calif., is home to a summer internship program that gives students a first-hand look about the role technology plays in retail. On July 23, Kohl’s interns took part in Kohl’s first ever Intern Innovate-a-Thon.

Seattle – Amazon.com continues its evolution into a full-service technology platform with three services essentially designed to help retailers do everything. These services include support for start-ups, expansion of the Amazon Aurora database engine, and a hosted fulfillment/logistics platform.

Mountain View, Calif. – Drone-based delivery may still be far from an everyday reality, but likely players including Google and Amazon are already thinking about traffic control.

According to Bloomberg, Google, Amazon, Verizon and Harris Corp. are among 14 companies that have signed agreements with NASA to help create a drone air traffic control system.

Scottsdale, Ariz. - JDA Software Group Inc. has created a new single-user software solution called JDA Planogram Generator Client, or myPG, which automatically creates large numbers of optimized, store-specific planograms for individual users. The planograms take into account user-defined merchandising instructions, fixtures, assortments and performance data.

In a single batch effort, high volumes of planograms can be quickly produced and distributed. myPG is built on the capabilities of JDA Planogram Generator.