Artificial Intelligence

Downers Grove, Ill. -- Survey results released Wednesday by CompTIA, the non-profit association for the IT industry, found that innovations in information technology continue to transform the retail sector, with digital signage, payment processing, customer engagement and other solutions playing increasingly important functions.

Seventy-two percent of retailers surveyed rate technology as important to their business, CompTIA's Retail Sector Technology Adoption Trends Study revealed. That figure projects to increase to 83% by 2014.

By Nancy Chisholm, [email protected]

CINCINNATI — Marketing solutions provide Dunnhumby has hired Nishat Mehta, formerly of MicroStrategy, to lead the company’s growing global partner business. As EVP global partners, Mehta will be responsible for driving the global expansion and commercialization of Dunnhumby solutions, such as digital advertising, targeting and measurement, through strategic partnerships with data companies that deliver a comprehensive understanding of consumer behavior across channels. He will be based in New York City.

Washington, D.C. — Former Microsoft executive, Tom Litchford, has been named The National Retail Federation's new VP retail technologies.

Effective July 2, Litchford will lead and manage NRF's Association for Retail Technology Standards and the exclusive, invite-only CIO Council. He will be responsible for developing and enhancing strategic programs, activities and relationships with retail and technology communities both domestically and internationally.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said in a Friday emailed statement that the co-heads of its technology unit @WalmartLabs are leaving the company.

Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman, who ran the 200- person unit in San Bruno, Calif., are taking some time off from the industry, according to the statement. The pair took the helm of @WalmartLabs when Wal-Mart bought their company Kosmix last year.

Wal-Mart said the rest of the technology team will remain intact.
 

Macys.com has made a name for itself by analyzing consumer data to gain insight into its loyal shopper base. The retailer, which features more than 60,000 products online and leverages multiple digital channels to share product information cross-channel, has armed itself with a set of internal cloud-based, high-performance analytics tools designed to improve customer segmentation, market-basket analysis and real-time personalization cross-channel, based on a broader scope of product attributes.

The Container Store credits its “employees-first” culture as integral to its success, believing that if you make employees your highest priority, they in turn will take better care of customers. It’s a business model that extends to all facets of the chain’s operations — including the decision to deploy a voice-directed warehouse picking system.

Armonk, N.Y. -- A survey released Thursday by IBM found that chief marketing officers and chief information officers must join forces in order to connect with today’s consumer across new channels including mobile devices and social networks.