Data & Analytics

In October, Walgreens announced plans to acquire Rite Aid in a deal that had been widely anticipated. The deal is most certainly going to reshape the retail market by creating a drug store giant with nearly 13,000 stores in the United States; as well, it foretells of the significant changes occurring in the healthcare market.

Specialty gourmet gift retailer Harry & David wants to make sure information about its stores is as easily accessible as possible.

Harry & David, is leveraging the SIM Partners Velocity local marketing automation platform to manage its local search marketing efforts. With Velocity, Harry & David will be able to manage and distribute its store location data. Thus the retailer will be able to ensure that information about its retail stores is accurate and visible in local and mobile search results.

IDC Retail Insights lays out a blueprint for the future of retail technology in its “IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Retail 2016 Predictions.”

"Retailers are transforming from a business strategy, process, and technology perspective. Executing well requires a systemic change in the way they relate to customers and to their own employees and partners,” said Leslie Hand, VP, IDC Retail Insights, and a co-author of the report.


Here are IDC’s top 10 predictions for 2016:

Enterprise technology provider Software AG is expecting retail to become an increasingly seamless and store-centric proposition in 2016.

The combination of acquisitions, new unit expansion and same-store sales growth enabled Mattress Firm to achieve record third quarter results and the company’s biggest deal ever is expected to close in 2016.

While mobile technology has changed the way people shop, consumers — including the most tech-savvy — still do the vast majority of their shopping in shopping centers.

At least that’s according to a new survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers, which found that 83% of U.S. consumers visit a shopping center at least once a week, including 92% of 18 to 24 year olds. Overall, the young consumers visit shopping centers on average 10.8 times a week.

Looking back on the 2015 edition of Cyber Week, we can reminisce on big traffic, big sales … and big fails?

Several high-profile site outages hit major retailers during a period of historically heavy online shopping. While nobody would call these positive events, they do offer retailers a few valuable lessons about the need to stay one step ahead of digital customer demand.

Not Too Big to Fail