Data & Analytics

Target adds in-store navigation features to app
Minneapolis -- Target Corp. has gone live with several new in-store navigation features. The features include new interactive maps along with enhanced shopping lists and search capabilities. Leveraging Point Inside technology, Target customers can use the app to more easily build shopping lists, find product locations and determine item availability at local stores. New features include:
Report: Sears Canada, J.P. Morgan to end credit card agreement in Nov. 2015
Toronto, Canada –- J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. will reportedly end its agreement to issue credit cards for Sears Canada when the term expires Nov. 15, 2015. According to the Wall Street Journal, in the meantime the two companies will explore opportunities to sell the credit card program to a third party, with Sears Canada receiving as much as $154 million if a sale goes through.

Simon: 4 in 5 consumers begin holiday shopping before Thanksgiving

Indianapolis -- Nearly four-fifths of holiday shoppers (79%) begin their holiday shopping prior to Thanksgiving weekend. According to new data from Simon, Millennials are significantly more likely than all other generations to plan to shop on Black Friday (67%) and Christmas Eve (20%) this holiday season. Other notable findings include:
UPS: 1 in 3 Canadian consumers will shop Black Friday, Cyber Monday

Mississauga, Canada -- Canadian shoppers are off to an earlier start with holiday shopping. UPS Canada's annual Black Friday survey conducted by Leger shows that one-third of Canadians plan to take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. The findings forecast that 20% of Canadian consumers will travel to the U.S. to shop for Black Friday deals and 32% of Canadian consumers will make online Cyber Monday purchases from U.S. retailers.
Shared WiFi app wins PayPal ‘BattleHack’ contest

San Jose, Calif. -- PayPal and Braintree have named named the $100,000 grand prize winner of the 2014 BattleHack Series. At the World Finals, competitors were tasked with building an application that incorporates PayPal, Braintree or Venmo APIs. The grand prize was awarded to the team from Tel Aviv, with two hackers, Shai Mishali and Pavel Kaminsky.
Wal-Mart, Holoma partner on exclusive online photo service

Bentonville, Ark. –- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is partnering with Holoma Inc. to provide a service that is a Walmart exclusive through the holiday season. Consumers can use the online service to create interactive photo cards and gifts that play a related video.
Boston Pizza selects Paytronix for loyalty program

Richmond, Canada –- Canadian casual dining chain Boston Pizza has selected the Paytronix Rewards platform as the foundation for its new Boston Pizza MyBP Program. Boston Pizza selected Paytronix because of its expertise in casual dining and integration with both the POSitouch point of sale system and the ONOSYS online ordering system.
Tech Guest Viewpoint: Palming the Power of Mobile Commerce

By Ed Stevens, Shopatron Technology is changing the way people shop. Today’s retail customers typically touch multiple channels before making a purchase--researching products, comparing prices and checking inventory online or via mobile and buying online, via mobile or in-store.
Three Hot Workforce Management Trends from KronosWorks

As a focus area of retail technology, workforce management may not be quite as sexy as CRM or omnichannel commerce. However, a lot of very exciting stuff is currently happening in the world of workforce management, as attendees of the recent KronosWorks 2014 conference in Las Vegas discovered. Here is a brief summary of three of the hottest current workforce management trends.
Mobile mindset evident at Target

New functionality such as interactive maps, enhanced list-making and search capabilities are designed to make it easier than ever to shop Target.

Working with shopper engagement solutions provider Point Inside, Target has upgraded its mobile capabilities ahead of a holiday season in which shoppers will be more digitally engaged than ever.
Omnichannel: What you need to know for 2015

If you think embracing omnichannel is tough, you’re not alone. According to the third annual Retail Insight industry benchmark report, 94% of retailers, suppliers and logistics firms surveyed haven’t executed a longterm omnichannel strategy, and 37% don’t even have one.
Sears seeks fit with 'Reserve It' service

Just in time for the peak holiday shopping season, Sears is introducing "Reserve It" – a free service that lets Shop Your Way members pick out apparel and footwear in stock at their local Sears, put the items on hold, and then try them on once they arrive at the store.