Data & Analytics

Urban Outfitters' store operations and visual teams are benefitting from a cutting-edge solution that provides upstream visibility with regard to store-delivery shipments and more robust tools with which to plan receiving the goods.

The application, StoreTrac from Philadelphia-based PCSTrac, is a Web-based inventory control and management application that delivers a store-level snapshot of shipments. It has been deployed across all the company's retail brands, a total of approximately 430 stores.

Managing labor remains one of a retail company's biggest challenges — and most untapped opportunities. JDA Software's Scott Welty talks about workforce management trends with Chain Store Age.

What are some common mistakes retailers make when it comes to managing labor?

According to Rick Chavie, VP of OmniCommerce at hybris Software in Atlanta, there are a few steps brands can take to make the most of Facebook Home.

"Give customers an incentive to activate push notifications through to Facebook," Chavie said. "You may not be able to get people to check your brand app regularly, but you indirectly feed it through Facebook Home."

Another way is to focus on time-of-day placement based on extrapolation of when customers tend to use your own app.

Social media giant Facebook is generating lots of buzz with the debut of its app launcher, Facebook Home, which turns existing Android smartphones into a Facebook-centric mobile device. (App launchers are applications that allow users to customize the home screen on their personal devices and add various other functionalities to it.)

Here are some recommendations from Alan Dabbiere, chairman of AirWatch, for in-store mobility management:

• For corporate-shared devices, retailers should take into consideration how to reconfigure devices when they transfer from one employee to another.

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.

After a successful pilot, Best Buy Canada is expanding its use of fully integrated, enterprise mobile point (mPOS) solutions on its selling floor. The new, tablet-based technology has improved customer service, including reducing checkout times, and staff productivity.

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.

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.

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.