Data & Analytics

With approximately 1.5 billion smartphones currently in use today, it is safe to say mobile is radically changing consumer retail behavior. To maximize in-store sales opportunities and minimize hurdles to purchase, retailers must change their approach to reach a new generation of customers steeped in a mobile lifestyle.

But how should retailers best interact with their customers in this new age of mobile? A new innovation from Apple could be one answer: iBeacon.

Omnichannel marketers have gained a new personalization weapon to engage with shoppers thanks to a partnership between nGage Labs and Web Decisions.

The firms announced a new arrangement that combines nGage’s personalized mobile customer engagement capabilities with Web Decision’s omnichannel marketing database solutions to create a fully integrated database-drive mobile customer engagement solution.

The ability to develop actionable insights by listening to social conversations is among several powerful new capabilities that have been added to Microsoft Dynamics CRM portfolio.

Microsoft introduced a comprehensive set of new marketing and social listening capabilities to its Microsoft Dynamics CRM suite which are designed to help organizations match their customers to the right products and services, engage with them in the right way at the right time and nurture relationships.

MasterCard has teamed up with Points International so it can offer cardholders enhanced rewards that give them more ways to redeem, exchange and trade their rewards points.

The flexible rewards management and monetization options are expected to drive engagement and value to rewards programs offered by issuing banks participating in the MasterCard Rewards Platform.

Revionics, a leading provider of end-to-end merchandise optimization solutions, has named the company’s president and CEO Marc Hafner as chairman of the board.

Hafner has served as president and CEO since 2010 and with this newly added role he will lead the company’s strategic planning and accelerate its global growth.

Cal-Maine Foods’ VP of operations-production Jack B. Self has died at the age of 84. Self had been an employee of Cal-Maine Foods since 1968.

Bealls has enlisted JustEnough Software Corporation, a leading provider of demand management solutions for retail, wholesale and direct-to-consumer businesses worldwide, to improve customer service.

Bealls will be leveraging the new technology to streamline its inventory and be able to turnaround stock quickly to meet its customers’ needs.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has entered into a partnership with the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA) to enhance cybersecurity information sharing and expand retailers’ proactive and vigilant approach to cyber threats to protect consumers against criminals.

Delia’s is still in the early stages of its turnaround efforts, but losses in the fourth quarter prompted the multichannel retailer that caters to teenage girls to offer preliminary results.

The company said that headwinds which continue to pressure the retail industry hampered its progress in the quarter.

Seattle — Pinterest will emerge as a stronger alternative to Facebook and Twitter, according to global research and analytics firm Blueocean Market Intelligence. The company analyzed the online data of the nation’s top 100 retailers from September through December 2013 as part of its on-going study assessing the business impact of top retailers’ social media efforts.

Based on the analysis, Blueocean Market Intelligence predicts the following top social media trends for the retail industry in 2014: