Data & Analytics

Sears Holdings has tapped Arun Arora as SVP and president, Home Services, in which role he will take charge of the business unit's In-Home Repair Services, Service Contracts, Carry-In Repair, Sears Home Improvement Services, Parts Direct, Commercial Sales and Sears Franchise Businesses.

Building and delivering unique and connected digital beauty experiences was the rationale behind L'Oréal's selection of Sitecore as a provider of customer experience management software.

Sitecore announced that its customer experience platform was selected by The L'Oréal Group to enable their marketers to deliver personalized customer experiences for its leading brands such as Vichy, L'Oréal Paris, Maybelline and Garnier.

Leading B2C mobile messaging company Outspoken greatly expanded the capability of marketers to use its service this week with a major upgrade involving Apple devices.

Increased personalization is at the root of the latest upgrade to ShopSavvy’s mobile shopping platform allowing users greater targeting of in-store contextual ads.

ShopSavvy, the world’s largest mobile shopping platform, said its AdOns advertising network was enhanced to support iBeacon integration allowing greater personalization. Apple’s iBeacon technology uses Bluetooth and location-based services to ping nearby smart phones with advertisements, coupons, or messages. The technology is available on both the Apple, and Android operating system.

The National Retail Federation today told a congressional panel that the retail industry is committed to safeguarding and protecting consumer data and information from highly motivated and sophisticated cybercriminals and hackers.

“Retailers make significant investments every year in order to protect [consumer] data,” NRF VP for retail technologies Tom Litchford testified. “Collectively, retailers spend billions of dollars annually to safeguard data and fight fraud, as well as hundreds of millions annually on [credit card security] compliance.”

New York -- Chain Store Age and IFTI will present a free webinar on moisture-related flooring problems on Thursday, April 24, at 2 p.m. ET. Industry expert Lee Eliseian will share insights on the critical role concrete-slab moisture testing plays in preventing flooring failures and offer tips on how to avoid the financial impact and headache of such failures.

Click here for more information and to register.

Atlanta -- Simon Property Group said it will undertake a series of improvements to Phipps Plaza, which is located in Atlanta's Buckhead district.

The plans include extensive interior makeover, providing a fresh new look and feel to the interior space of the mall, with upgraded LED lighting, new paint, new warm wood accents, an updated railing system, luxury soft seating and lounging areas with Wi-Fi connectivity and chargers. In addition, restrooms will be upgraded and a hotel-like concierge service center will be installed.

By Jason Glassberg, co-founder of Casaba

Target’s massive data breach continues to reverberate in the headlines, but in reality it’s just one of countless attacks that affect the retail industry on a daily basis. Whether it’s highly sophisticated malware developed out of Russia, local hit-and-run point-of-sale thieves or insider threats, retailers must adapt to this increasingly risky environment.

By Jim Rallo, president, retail supply chain group, Liquidity Services Inc.

The retail industry has seen its fair share of challenges in recent years with decreased foot traffic through stores as consumers move online to purchase products. Regardless of where consumers purchase goods, returns are an issue with the NRF estimating the amount of merchandise returned in 2013 totaling $267.3 billion.

Atlanta -- Pricer, which provides electronic shelf label solutions, has announced that Carrefour, the world’s second largest retailer, will use Pricer’s latest retail technology for a fully connected store that significantly improves the customer experience.

Carrefour’s store in Villeneuve la Garenne is the first store worldwide that allows customers to benefit from Pricer’s integrated solution using indoor navigation, mobile shopping and SmartTAG graphic labels.