Artificial Intelligence

Target has unveiled a section of its website that features products that are trending on hot social media site Pinterest.

The Target Awesome Shop is a shoppable catalog that features a curated crop of products from several lines, including beauty, each of which is among those most pinned on Pinterest in the last few days, but only if they have at least a four-star guest review.

Bangalore, India – Infosys and Procter & Gamble (P&G) have co-developed TradeEdge, a new cloud-based, insights-driven sales platform, which provides visibility to global brands across the demand chain, from distributors to consumers. The new platform delivers insights that help brands accurately sense and fulfill consumer demand in emerging markets.

St. Petersburg, Russia – Russian grocery chain Land is piloting Synqera Loyalty Generators, compact printing devices with interactive touch-screens at the entrance of each of the chosen piloting store locations, as well as Simplate devices at checkout, providing targeted content relevant to new and returning customers.

Dallas – Fifteen Dallas-area retailers are pilot testing Cartwheel Register, a free mobile checkout app that provides an intuitive and secure store system while creating a next-generation shopping experience for customers. Retailers in the pilot include gift shops, cafes, clothing boutiques, bakeries, caterers, food trucks and salons throughout the city and surrounding areas. Each business will use Cartwheel Register to perform credit, debit, cash and Skip Wallet transactions.

San Jose, Calif. -- Retail Next announced today the acquisition of Nearbuy Systems, a provider of location-based Wi-Fi Analytics solutions for retailers. Based in San Mateo, Calif., Nearbuy is the largest provider of in-store opt-in analytics, enabling retailers to enhance one-to-one engagement and personalization strategies.

By Connor Marsden, U.S. Lead, Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Boston – The top five brand experience trends for 2014 include retail relevancy and “small data,” according to brand experience agency Jack Morton. The company predicts the following five trends will prove dominant in brand experience during the upcoming year.

Chicago -- A majority (88%) of retailers are using social media as part of their 2013 holiday marketing blitz. But they still remain divided about mobile marketing, with only 38% using it this year, down from 50% in 2012.