Data & Analytics

Robotics and smartphone app power Amazon vet's retail start-up

A Seattle-based retail start-up with an in-store backend robotic system and a smartphone app that rivals the convenience of an online shopping cart is generating big buzz these days. Founded and headed up by Nadia Shouraboura, former head of supply chain and fulfillment technologies for Amazon.com, Hointer combines the best of online and brick-and-mortar retailing to take the hassle out of shopping.

Sometimes the shortest pieces of advice are the best. Here are a few nuggets of wisdom pulled from Chain Store Age’s conversations with five leading real estate advisers and technology experts.

Naperville, Ill. -- OfficeMax on Tuesday reported a lower-than-expected profit, for its first profit, hurt by declining technology sales. Prior to its earnings release, the company also announced a special dividend of $1.50 per share.

OfficeMax's first-quarter profit available to shareholders rose to $56.3 million, from $4.9 million a year earlier. Sales fell 5.65% to $1.77 billion, while analysts expected $1.83 billion.

One hundred and forty one billion dollars. That's the estimated brand value of Walmart, according to Interbrand's "Best Global Brands" report. The annual study ranks the 50 most valuable U.S. retail brands, along with the top store brands in countries around the world.

The use of mobile devices by sales assistants and other associates presents retailers with new opportunities — and new challenges. Of the latter, one of the most critical has do with managing and maintaining the devices. According to one expert, the help desk can't be expected to do it all.

"Every device needs to be configured and supported and managed in some way," said Alan Dabbiere, chairman of AirWatch, a provider of mobile security and enterprise mobile management, in a presentation at the National Retail Federation Conference & Expo.

Montreal -- Jesta I.S. said Monday it has expanded its relationship with Canadian shoe store operator Town Shoes, parent to the Sterling Shoes, Shoe Warehouse and Freedman Shoes banners, to include the implementation of the multichannel order management capabilities delivered by Vision E-DOM.

In deciding to implement Jesta I.S., Town Shoes will further leverage its existing IT infrastructure, at the backbone of which are Vision’s foundational Merchandising ERP and POS systems.

By Rana K. Williamson, PhD, Better Merchant Accounts