Predictive Analytics

Louisville – Convenience chain Thorntons Inc. has implemented the Paytronix Loyalty Platform to support its new Refreshing Rewards customer loyalty program across 174 locations. Leveraging the Paytronix loyalty engine enabled the c-store chain to quickly test a variety of elements in a secure, market-focused pilot program and then rapidly roll out the program to all its stores.

By Greg Smith, president & CEO of Accudata Technologies

The holiday season is right around the corner, and you know what that means — shopping, upon shopping, upon shopping! This is a great time for any e-retail business, but are you ready?

New York -- SmartFocus announced that U.K. department store retailer House of Frasier has selected SmartFocus' Insights technology to gain a holistic view of their customers and continually deliver personalized interactions that increase engagement.

E-commerce technology company Qubit has announced a $26m Series B investment led by Accel Partners, with participation from original investor Balderton Capital and Salesforce Ventures, Salesforce.com's corporate investment group.

Qubit's personalization platform collects detailed information about users' interactions with a website and analyses it to identify patterns of behavior that drive revenue and inspire business-wide optimization decisions.

For the U.S. as a whole, temperatures will trend similar to last year and below normal, but there will be a split in trends across the nation with warmer temperatures in the West and cooler temperatures in the more densely populated East. The month will begin with warm weather across much of the nation and that will continue into the Columbus Day weekend in the East before turning cooler. The Northwest region will trend wetter than last year, but it still remains drier than normal, while the Southwest will be wetter than last year and normal.

Curbing the rising cost of utilities can improve the bottom line

For multi-site retail companies, energy efficiency makes business sense. It allows retailers to reduce cost and risk, and create good will with investors, employees, customers and the government. Ultimately, it also helps improve the bottom line.

When it comes to energy management, reducing operating cost should be the focus where the cost of energy is a sizeable part of operating the business.

Ace Hardware has saved an average of 81% on lighting-related energy use in its 1 million-sq.-ft. retail support center in Rocklin, California, since implementing a LED upgrade.

The upgrade, completed in October 2013, involved replacing 1,551 T5 fluorescent and 102 metal halide lamps with an intelligent LED system from Digital Lumens.

On July 1, 2014, recent updates to the 2013 California Building Energy Efficiency Standards — Title 24 — went into effect.

The new, tougher standards are estimated to increase energy efficiency by 30% in non-residential buildings compared with the 2008 version.

Helping customers achieve a perfect fit the first time around is the holy grail for many online retailers, and there’s little mystery why: A less-than-ideal fit is the No. 1 reason online purchases are returned. It’s difficult for a consumer to visualize how an item on a digital screen will look on their body. It’s especially challenging for women’s apparel because no two brands size their products the exact same way.

Bob Russo, general manager, PCI Security Standards Council, offers the following advice about complying with PCI Data Security Standards, including the upcoming October 2015 deadline for U.S. retailers to accept cards with Europay, MasterCard, Visa (EMV)-compliant chips.

No Single Security Solution: “As evidenced by recent high-profile breach incidents, keeping payment data secure in today’s world is an increasingly complex challenge,” explained Russo.