Predictive Analytics

Arlington, Va. -- Data-driven energy management systems provider GridPoint announced that Boddie-Noell Enterprises, the largest Hardee’s franchise operator in the United States, has deployed GridPoint’s state-of-the-art solution at a majority of its 334 restaurants, with plans to deploy to the remaining sites in 2015 and beyond.

For both customers and merchants, the retail experience is going to transform dramatically over the next five to ten years as the Internet of Things moves from novelty to mainstream. With growth from 900 million units installed in 2009 to a predicted 26 billion by 2020, there are five ways the Internet of Things will drastically alter the retail industry:

Columbus, Ohio – Expenses, primarily related to incremental marketing activities, helped decrease profits at Express Inc. during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. But the chain beat Wall Street analysts earnings and sales estimates while also giving an upbeat outlook for its current quarter.

Express reported net income of $41.8 million, down 16% from $49.7 million last year.

Alexandria, Va. - Rising gas prices are taking a toll on consumer optimism about the economy. According to survey results released by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), consumer optimism fell from 54% to 44%, the largest decrease in optimism since August 2014,

New York -- U.S. consumers want a more personalized retail experience but are conflicted about disclosing the type of personal information that goes along with it, according to a survey from Accenture. Nearly 60% of consumers want real-time promotions and offers, yet only 20% want retailers to know their current location and only 14% want to share their browsing history.

The biggest news at the International Home and Housewares Show didn’t involve a new product introduction, but rather an information sharing arrangement between The NPD Group and Nielsen that will help retailers and supplier make sense of the market.

San Jose, Calif. – PayPal has reportedly purchased CyActive, an Israel-based provider of predictive cybersecurity technology, for $60 million. According to Israeli media outlet Globes, CyActive uses an algorithm based on biology to forecast cyberthreats.

By Brendan O’Brien, Aria Systems

You’ve undoubtedly heard about the Internet of Things (IoT) and you might think that it’s all about wearables and energy savings. You might conclude that it doesn’t have much to do with your retail business.

Well think again.

The business impact on the retail sector from the IoT – the monitoring, measuring and reporting of all kinds of interconnected devices – is going to be huge. Bigger than anything we’ve seen before in technology.