Omnichannel

INDIANAPOLIS — Simon, a leading global retail real estate company, has announced a collaboration with elevate Digital, a developer of interactive digital technology, to install "digital concierge" solutions in a number of Simon's U.S. retail properties.

The interactive displays will provide Simon mall visitors with a virtual way-finding experience to help them navigate the mall, find deals, events, promotions and also take relevant information with them on a mobile device.

With coupons for anywhere from J.C. Penney to Jos. A. Bank, instant savings are now in people’s pockets with the addition of Groupon Freebies to the coupon giant’s mobile app.

The feature, which was launched late in 2013 on Groupon’s website, was added to its mobile app on Tuesday. With Freebies now available to deal seekers on the go, some 30,000 coupons, discount codes and other deals that it features will be at customers’ fingertips.

A new app from Seattle-based Shoppost bills itself as the first in-stream e-commerce app that lets online retailers sell via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+.

Shoppost is a free app that gathers product information and pulls it into an interactive post that can be shared via social channels in a few clicks. The app is available for free to sellers who use BigCommerce and Shopify with additional e-commerce platform support rolling out in the near future, according to the company.

New York — More than eight in 10 (83%) consumers prefer shopping in traditional grocery stores. However, a new survey of more than 1,000 consumers from PwC, “Front of the Line: How Grocers Can Get Ahead for the Future,” indicates more than half of the shoppers surveyed complained of long lines and crowded stores.

Crowdsourced same-day delivery service provider Deliv has joined IBM’s Ready for Smarter Commerce program in a move that creates new opportunities for other program partners.

Atlanta — Kathy Daly-Jennings, who most recently served as head of industry, retail vertical for Google, has joined Havertys as senior VP, marketing. She will replace Thomas P. Curran, who will retire at the end of June 2014, and report to Richard D. Gallagher, executive VP, merchandising.

Prior to Google, Daly-Jennings held marketing leadership positions at The Home Depot and The Coca-Cola Company.  

San Luis Obispo, Calif. — Shopatron, a provider of cloud-based distributed order management solutions, is releasing a free inventory visibility API. Shopatron Retailer Inventory Lookup is a cloud-based solution that offers enterprise-wide inventory visibility and also provides retailers with actionable analytics to improve in-store operations, stocking, merchandising and product marketing.

The solution enables retailers to instantly connect customers with local, available inventory.

Burlington, Mass. — Attune Consulting, a global solutions provider to the fashion and lifestyle industries, today has collaborated with SAP to co-develop the SAP Fashion Management application. SAP Fashion Management is a vertical wholesale, manufacturing, and retail solution designed to bring all business operations onto a single platform powered by SAP Hana to create cross-channel, integrated fashion companies.  

Attune's first customer implementation of SAP Fashion Management will begin in July with Tommy Hilfiger Europe.