Predictive Analytics

A new survey reinforces what many already know: EMV makes in-store fraud much harder, but it drives would-be criminals online.

Based on the experience of other predominantly English-speaking nations that switched to EMV-compliant payment cards, terminals and processors, online retail fraud will more than double in the U.S.

According to a new infographic from online fraud prevention technology provider Trustev, online retail fraud will rise 106% in the U.S. in the first three years after the Oct. 1 EMV compliance deadline.

Don’t assume that the layoff of 275 IT employees in August 2015 by Target Corp. means the retailer is reducing its focus on in-house technology operations. According to the Wall Street Journal, the layoffs actually set the stage for a big push away from IT outsourcing and toward hiring 1,000 new global technology workers.

Gelson’s Markets, which operates 18 full-service specialty grocery stores in Southern California, is supporting ambitious growth plans with a back-end technology upgrade. Gelson’s will implement JDA space and category management solutions to increase the efficiency and automation of its planning activities.

Key forecasting metrics have remained essentially flat for five years, but one emerging technology offers retailers the chance for improvement. According to the sixth annual Forecasting Benchmark Study from supply chain software provider Terra Technology, companies using sensing demand systems consistently double overall forecast value-add and reduce error by 37%.

Levi Strauss & Co. knows that the most valuable service store associates can provide is serving customers.

The specialty apparel retailer is working with Intel on a pilot concept at one of its store in San Francisco to give associates near-real-time visibility into store inventory, reducing the time they spend managing inventory.

New York -- Learn how Saks Fifth Avenue used data as the foundation for its energy efficiency initiatives at a Webinar on Thursday, September 24, 2015, at 2 p.m. (EST).  

Gary Levitan, senior manager of energy and utilities for Hudson’s Bay Company, parent of Saks Fifth Avenue, will explain how Saks used data — and how it efficiently identified and leveraged the right data — to make the business case for an efficiency initiative that drove the following benefits:   

Target Corp. is going high-tech with efforts to improve employee fitness. All 335,000 U.S. employees of Target will be offered free or subsidized wearable digital activity trackers from Fitbit Inc.

As part of the program, management will have a dashboard that can track individual employees by activities such as how many steps they take in a day. The basic FitBit Zip device will be provided free, or Target will help employees pay for a costlier FitBit wristband device.

NFC-enabled contactless mobile payments, such as those enabled by smartphone-based digital wallet services like Apple Pay and Android Pay, currently make up a tiny fraction of card transactions. However, a new study from Indian mobile solutions provider Mahindra Comviva suggests contactless mobile payments are set to grow quickly.

Mobile marketing platform provider OtherLevels has some advice for retailers looking to looking boost usage rates of their consumer apps.

According to the company’s “2015 Mobile Retail Messaging Study,” regular mobile messaging can increase consumer usage of retail apps.