Artificial Intelligence

Omnichannel commerce is exposing organizations as "legacy channel impaired." Customers don’t talk about and don’t care about channels. Customers care about engagement, information, value, product and service. Channels are a frame we’ve used to organize around and operate in an increasingly disruptive environment. What started as a fear of cannibalization has evolved into an opportunity for augmentation, as digital and physical convergence accelerates across categories and formats.

With high-profile data breaches and the growing need to deliver a unified and differentiated customer experience, retail CIOs agree that security and digital innovation must be the top priorities for 2015.

According to a new report from the National Retail Federation and Forrester Research, managing data security is the most urgent focus area for retail CIOs, with 97% of surveyed business leaders placing it at the top of their 2015 priority lists.

Washington, D.C. - Retail CIOs agree that security and digital innovation are top priorities for 2015, according to a new report by the NRF and Forrester Research.

The study, the Retail CIO Agenda 2015: Secure and Innovate, finds that managing data security is the most urgent focus area for retail CIOs, with 97% of respondents placing it at the top of their 2015 priority lists.  

San Jose, Calif. - Large format Hispanic grocery chain Mi Pueblo Foods is getting personal with customers on the go. Mi Pueblo is using the CLYP mobile marketing automation platform to establish deep consumer engagement, leading to more extensive insight into customers’ shopping behavior and buying patterns.

San Francisco -- Deputy Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin, U.S. Department of Treasury, on Friday discussed next-generation retail payment technologies designed to protect the convenience and sense of trust consumers hold for what has become an increasingly digital marketplace with several industry leaders across the omnichannel supply chain at the White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection.

From drones to self-driving cars to a Barbie capable of having “real conversations with kids,” the 112th Toy Fair announced this year's hottest trends in toys.

Creative toys that epitomize the Maker Movement (explained below), innovative "smart" playthings, and toys that make a "splash" are among the top toy trends of 2015, according to experts at the U.S. Toy Industry Association (TIA).

Describing cyberspace as the new "wild, wild West," President Barack Obama on Friday said that while everyone expects the government to be the sheriff, the private sector must do more to stop cyberattacks.

He also called for the passage of a single national standard requiring consumers to be notified within 30 days if their financial or personal data is stolen.

I recently had the chance to spend some time talking with Dan Ward, cofounder of app development firm Detroit Labs. Since 2011, Detroit Labs has developed apps in its downtown Detroit center, rapidly growing to 75 employees and serving a wide range of companies including Domino’s Pizza. Here are five tips for developing a successful retail app gleaned from my conversation with Ward:

1. Connect the brick-and-mortar and digital channels