Artificial Intelligence

Mountain View, Calif. – It’s not just media hype – retailers’ exposure to data breaches really is getting worse. According to the 2015 Internet Threat Report from security technology provider Symantec, 11% of all data breaches Symantec recorded in 2014 hit retailers.

Only the healthcare industry represented a larger share of breaches. In addition, retailers provided a leading 59% of all identities revealed in breaches during 2014. Total breach incidents during the year rose 23% compared to 2013.

Verizon is out with its annual cyber security report and while the findings are disturbing the good news is that retailers can thwart many a breach attempt by focusing on a handful of basic attack patterns.

Verizon's "2015 Data Breach Investigations Report," reveals that cyberattacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, but many criminals still rely on decades-old techniques such as phishing and hacking. In fact, 70% of cyberattacks use a combination of these techniques and involve a secondary victim which adds complexity to a breach, according to the report.

Merchandising and marketing concepts such as shoppable videos, digitized stores and social campaigns on Instagram and Twitter were alien ideas to retailers just a few years ago. Not anymore, according to Tom Ebling, CEO of cloud-based e-commerce solutions provider Demandware, who has a unique perspective on what it means to be a “connected brand.”

Retailers who rely on a steady stream of new products from suppliers to drive sales will find a new source of digital inspiration in a product development deal between Mattel and the online collaboration community known as Quirky.

Shares of Etsy enjoyed a meteoric rise during their first day of trading on April 16, closing at $30 a share after shares in the initial public offering were priced at $16.

Plug and Play brings together retailers and start-ups that offer specific technology and expertise that can relieve merchants’ pain points. Chain Store Age’s Customer Disruption newsletter provides a Q&A with the CEO of one of those companies in each issue. This time, the spotlight is on Arie Shpanya of Wiser.

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Bonn, Germany – An estimated 50 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2020 compared to 15 billion today, according to a new trend report from DHL Inc. and Cisco.

Denver - The Running Specialty Group, a division of The Finish Line Inc., is entering a strategic agreement with Pear Sports, a mobile fitness and training content platform, for the launch of the RSG training channel, an interactive training platform and tracking tool which will integrate with the retailer’s store based training programs nationwide.