Predictive Analytics

Excess energy consumption in retail can exceed 30%, which means there is a huge opportunity for savings that many retailers s have not yet fully explored.

Retailers spend nearly $20 billion annually on energy expenses, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. By saving just 15% from optimizing operations and eliminating waste, we can save $3 billion as an industry.

Merriam Webster defines democratize as “to make (something) available to all people.” We are
witnessing the democratization of technology as technology providers are able to put
increasingly powerful solutions in the cloud, making industry-leading capabilities available to
even the smallest retailers.

E-commerce platform provider Demandware has released its annual list of retail predictions for 2016, and many of them center on how machines will continue taking over tasks once done by people.

Out of the nine trends Demandware identifies, four are related to growing IT automation: machine learning driving voice-based intelligence assistants, in-store payment evolving dramatically, data-driven decision marketing replacing gut instinct, and last-mile fulfillment providers driving instant gratification.

Delivery.com is focused on providing on-demand delivery from small, local retailers, but that doesn’t stop the company from thinking big.

Delivery.com is unveiling a new iOS app with an optimized user experience within each of Delivery.com's core categories of food, alcohol, groceries and laundry. Enhancements in the new app include visual design, customized recommendations for users, and a complementary app for Apple Watch.

Mobile commerce is getting a lot of attention, but may not play much of a role in the 2015 holiday shopping season.

According to a new survey of more than 1,500 U.S. consumers from Accenture, only 2% of holiday shoppers are planning to do the majority of their holiday shopping on mobile devices, with most (43%) citing privacy and security issues as a major reason.

Levi Strauss & Co. is turning to the Internet of Things (IoT) as a solution to improve inventory visibility.

Levi’s is partnering with Intel to run a proof-of-concept of the new Intel IoT platform at three of the vertical apparel retailer’s stores. The pilot allows the Levi’s stores to gain visibility into what’s on the shelf or what might be running low. The goal is to make the process of inventory management more effective, maximizing in-stock and on-shelf availability of products.

Current retail planning systems may be out-of-date and not effectively addressing requirements for an omnichannel planning environment.

According to the new Boston Retail Partners’ 2015 Merchandise Planning Benchmark Survey, many retailers are using planning applications designed for old retail business models. Results show a large percentage of these systems were installed in the late 1990s or early 2000s.

It’s not your imagination – a lot of new players are entering the mobile payment market.