Business Intelligence (BI)

Veteran retail information technology executive Kathy Persian is the new CIO at a leading integrated food retailing company.

The Schwan Food Company named Kathy Persian senior VP and CIO with responsibility for the strategic direction and execution of the company’s information services department.

In the next few years, retailers around the world are set to substantially increase their investments in e-commerce software, with five vendors spearheading the growth.

According to a new study from Research and Markets, the global retail e-commerce software market will expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.95% during the period 2014-2019. Research and Markets has identified Magento, Oracle ATG Commerce, PrestaShop, Shopify and WooThemes as the five key retail e-commerce vendors.

Vertical specialty denim retailer Lucky Brand is bringing together disparate parts of its business onto one platform.

Lucky Brand has implemented NetSuite OneWorld to run a variety of omnichannel business processes across its consumer- and business-facing operations. These include inventory management, procure-to-pay, fixed assets, and multi-currency and multi-tax compliance management.

Retailers still working on compliance with the EMV chip-based card payment standard have a new technology option.

Verifone is partnering with Microsoft to provide comprehensive EMV-ready payment as a service solutions certified for Microsoft Dynamics AX for retail and commerce solutions.

The offering bundles payment hardware, software and support services into a single integrated solution, enabling retailers to centrally manage their entire payment system.

Big 5 Sporting Goods had a lackluster fourth quarter despite saying that cold weather in its Western markets drove strong traffic during the holidays.

For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 3, the company reported that net sales were $275 million, compared to net sales of $250.3 million for the 13-week fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. Same-store sales increased 0.1%. For the full year, net sales were $1.03 billion, compared to net sales of $977.9 million for the 52-week fiscal 2014 full year. Same store sales increased 1.3% for the fiscal 2015 full year.

Dick’s Sporting Goods is applying advanced analytics to better understand what products it should sell, and at what cost.

Dick’s is partnering with predictive analytics solutions provider First Insight, to help make faster and more accurate decisions in the areas of product design, merchandise buying and pricing decisions on thousands of goods and designs.

Dick’s Sporting Goods is applying advanced analytics to better understand what products it should sell, and at what cost.

Dick’s is partnering with predictive analytics solutions provider First Insight, to help make faster and more accurate decisions in the areas of product design, merchandise buying and pricing decisions on thousands of goods and designs.

Vertical specialty apparel retailer Brooks Brothers is known for neat and tidy fashions, and that ethos extends to how it manages the flow of goods from source to shelf.

Brooks Brothers has selected the SAP Fashion Management platform to gain better control of movement of merchandise through the supply chain, which in turn supports an omnichannel customer experience. The retailer began the process of revamping its demand chain by implementing the SAP Apparel and Footwear application, which provides better insight into inventory and financials.

For millennials it’s little more than legend, but the dotcom crash of the early 2000s was a very real event for any retail IT professionals of the Gen X or Baby Boomer demographics.

As retailers prepare to kick off the technology conference/user group season with the upcoming NRF “Big Show,” it might be a good idea to review a few lessons from that era about how to properly evaluate vendors and solutions.

A Shaky Investment

Whole Foods had a difficult 2015 that included falling sales and stock value, as well as a pricing scandal. However, as Marketplace Business reports, Whole Foods is looking to regain its footing in 2016 with help from a redesigned, IT-centric customer experience. [Marketplace Business]