Omnichannel

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens is conducting a developer contest to encourage integration of its Balance Rewards application program interface (API). It allows users of other apps to earn Balance Rewards loyalty program points for making healthy choices, with rewards points redeemed for merchandise in-store or online.
 

Coach is using the MicroStrategy Analytics Platform and MicroStrategy Mobile to build an interactive mobile app that provides its retail teams with the ability to examine sales trends for any given geography, including at the individual store level, with a swipe or tap on their iPad devices.

New York -- By 2023, online grocery sales are projected to range between $80 billion and $123 billion according to statistics released by Steve Bishop of Brick Meets Click (BMC) in a presentation at The Food Institute webinar "Get In On The Growth of Online Shopping." If realized, at the middle of those two projections online grocery sales would exceed today's sales of the nation's largest supermarket chain, Kroger.

Dallas - AT&T's new store design focused on the customer's mobile lifestyle is now open in Worcester, Massachusetts. The new store concept is the result of more than two years of research centered on the design goal of creating a more interactive and inviting store environment.

Customers in Worcester will be among the first to experience the new store concept.

San Francisco - Salesforce.com has delivered Desk.com for Retail, with features including new pay-as-you-go pricing, reporting tools and e-commerce integrations to transform how retailers deliver a personalized service experience to every customer. The new Desk.com for Retail includes snapshot reports of cases coming in from distributors and manufacturers, as well as one-click integration to retail platforms such as Big Commerce and Shopify.

Denver – In the past two years, the number of shoppers using mobile devices to make purchases has increased by 10 percentage points to 35% in 2014 from 25% in 2012. According to a new study by The Integer Group, increased purchasing by Hispanics, Asian-Americans, and the 15–34 and 35–49 age groups were largely responsible for this increase.

Los Angeles - DinCloud, a cloud services provider that helps businesses migrate to the cloud through business provisioning, has released customized cloud services for the retail industry including hosted virtual desktops. Store owners and employees from traditional brick-and-mortar or online retailers can use the desktops to manage store operations remotely from any device including a desktop, laptop, or tablet.

Spending on consumer electronics this holiday season is projected to reach a record level of nearly $34 billion as shoppers clamor for ultra high definition televisions, smart watches, tablets and a new crop of smartphones.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) predicts the 2014 holiday season will see the highest levels of consumer spending on consumer electronics since the group began tracking the category two decades ago. The trade group’s holiday outlook envisions total tech spending increasing 2.5% to $33.76 billion.