Predictive Analytics

Macy’s is supporting a new omnichannel order fulfillment program called “Pick to the Last Unit” (P2LU) with Tyco’s TrueVUE RFID inventory visibility platform.

A seamless customer experience begins with a complete, real-time view of enterprise product assortment. However, RFID technology is taking this concept of “inventory awareness” to previously unimagined levels.

In fourth quarter 2015, mobile phones served as the primary engine of online retailing.

According to the fourth quarter “Demandware Shopping Index,” mobile phones were responsible for all growth in digital visit (112%) and basket (104%) size. Rates exceeding 100% indicate that digital visits and baskets actually shrank among users of tablets and PCs.

Mobile phones also accounted for a solid 68% of majority of digital order growth, with tablets and PCs accounting for the other 32%.

Discount grocer Aldi has deployed an energy management solution that gives it control and visibility across its nearly 1,500 U.S. stores.

The chain has implemented Siemens’ Site Controls energy management system, with the majority of the installations involving retrofits at existing stores where thermostats or third-party energy management systems were replaced. But the system has been deployed in newly constructed stores as well. Aldi will also install the Site Controls system in new stores as it continues to expand across the nation.

Vendor partners of Target and Walgreens will soon be receiving actionable insights and alerts aimed at improving assortments, product availability, new item retail launches and promotion effectiveness in the Midwest.

Carlin Group (part of Beacon United), a regional sales and marketing solutions company focused on the Midwestern market, is leveraging the retail analytics platform from Retail Solutions Inc. (RSI) to help clients including Target and Walgreens suppliers improve their overall customer experience in the region.

Schenectady, New York-based The Golub Corp. may be a smaller grocery retailer, but it’s taking a big approach to vendor collaboration.

The operator of more than 130 Price Chopper and Market 32 grocery stores in the Northeast has selected Park City Group’s Scan-based Trading solution to support a new go-to-market strategy for direct store delivery (DSD) vendors.

When it comes to fraudulent online transactions, one state in particular may warrant a little extra attention from retailers.

Analysis of millions of 2015 e-commerce transactions by Experian indicates Florida is the overall riskiest state for billing fraud, followed by Delaware; Washington, D.C.; Oregon and California. Billing fraud states are determined by where the consumer whose information was illegally used resides.

Sales has come a long way. Gone are the days of door-to-door and the other tired sales methods. And salespeople? They’ve evolved, too.

Training a sales team can be hard — especially when it comes to building a new workforce. You know, those employees whose only door-to-door experience consists of trick-or-treating. Yep, we’re talking about Millennials.

Niemann Foods, a 100-plus-store independent supermarket chain headquartered in Quincy, Illinois, is individually engaging customers wherever they are.