Data & Analytics

Every May, the MIT Sloan School of Management hosts a one-day CIO Symposium where great academic minds mix with great business minds. The result is always an outpouring of IT and business thought leadership, and this year was no exception. A panel of CIOs, including Adriana Karaboutis of Dell and Roger Gurnani of Verizon, discussed what leading the digital enterprise means for today’s top IT executives, and why taking a leading digital enterprise role is so critical. Following are a few insights gleaned from the session:

While the reach of mobile devices has grown dramatically in recent years, we’ve failed to realize the promise of using this ubiquitous device as a mobile wallet.

There are many reason for this lack of adoption, and the following reviews the shortcomings of past and current attempts at mobile wallet implementations — and more importantly, highlights new technologies needed to unlock the promise of mobile payments.

The technology-driven innovation spree occurring in the retail industry offers merchants, marketers and operators unprecedented shopper insights capabilities — and a host of new opportunities.

A recent Infosys Rethinking Retail Survey found that 86% of consumers who have experienced personalization technology while shopping have admitted that it has influenced their purchasing decisions. Moreover, 69% of consumers responded to the study stating that consistency of customer service across physical and online stores was of importance to them.

Stamps.com has integrated its USPS shipping with Shopify, a leading commerce platform that allows consumers to sell online or at their retail locations.

Checkpoint Systems, a leading global supplier of merchandise availability solutions for the retail industry, has launched the next generation of intelligent electronic article surveillance (EAS) solutions.

The Evolve iRange is made up of six different EAS antennas, a broad range of EAS labels designed for visible and source-tagging application to various types of merchandise, and the Counterpoint iD deactivation unit for faster and consistent deactivation at point-of-sale (POS).

Target will test same-day delivery in three markets as the online shipping war among retailers continues to gain momentum. Target will launch a $10 rush delivery pilot in June in the Minneapolis, Boston and Miami markets, offering guests the ability to order as late as 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon and receive a delivery of qualifying items between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. the same day, the company stated in its recent quarterly call with analysts.

The smart shopping brand and magazine All You from Time Inc., doubled its Facebook community during the past year and recently surpassed one million fans.

The car Dollar General sponsored in this year’s Indianapolis 500 may have finished 14th, but the retailer’s race team gained notoriety for another reason.
 
For the first time ever, the pit crew for the Dollar General sponsored Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team contained a female member tire changer. Jessica Mace became the first woman to “go over the wall,” racing parlance used to described those who work on cars when they enter the pit stall, during the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500.
 

AutoZone marked its 31st consecutive quarter of double digit earnings per share growth for the period ended May 10.

The company reported net sales of $2.3 billion for the quarter, an increase of 6.2% from the third quarter last year. Domestic same-store sales, or sales for stores open at least one year, increased 4% for the quarter.

Net income for the quarter increased $19.6 million, or 7.4%, over the same period last year to $285.2 million, while diluted earnings per share increased 16.4% to $8.46 per share from $7.27 per share in the year-ago quarter.