Omnichannel

On the heels of announcing its ambitious expansion strategy, Starbucks is putting another project on its plate.  

Costco Wholesale Corp. has been playing catch up with its competitors in the online space — and its efforts may be starting to bear fruit.      The retailer has been adding more higher-end brands to its online merchandise mix and also improved stock levels for high volume items, Bloomberg reported.   

Todd Sprinkle has been appointed CIO at QVC.   Sprinkle, who served as the company’s VP, IT strategy, planning and effectiveness, will now oversee QVC's global IT organization spanning the U.S., U.K., Germany, Japan, Italy, France and China, and at QVC's global business service operation in Poland.     Under his leadership, QVC’s IT team will continue delivering a seamless and engaging multi-platform experience for customers and team members, globally.   

Women have long struggled with how to recreate a look from a department store’s makeup artist. Neiman Marcus is now streamlining the task through its newest interactive mirror.  

Starbucks Corp. is taking its already robust mobile ecosystem to the next level.     As part of an ambitious five-year strategy that includes aggressive store expansion, the coffee giant is extending the accessibility of its mobile app with a conversational ordering system, powered by artificial intelligence.      

Alibaba’s newest partnership is further expanding the global reach of mobile payments.   Alipay, a digital wallet payment platform run by Alibaba's affiliate Ant Financial, and Quest Payment Systems Pty Ltd, an Australian payments provider, are teaming up to roll out Alipay at select stores in Australia. The digital wallet, which is currently used by Chinese nationals to pay for in-store purchases using their mobile phones, is now available at select stores within The Chemist Warehouse and My Chemist pharmacy groups.

An end-to-end e-commerce solution now enables Rent-A-Center visitors to shop online from their desktop, laptop, or mobile device.   Rent-A-Center’s new platform enables guests to choose from more than 73 available products, primarily consumer electronics. The new solution also gives shoppers the option to complete an online form to obtain pre-approval to rent from within one of Rent-A-Center’s approximately 2,600 store locations.