Store Systems

By Alex Brown, CEO, 10th Magniture

I certainly don’t have to tell you that the 2013 holiday retail season is upon us, since you’ve probably had to plan your technology all year to handle the imminent spikes in in-store and online traffic. And, in just a couple of weeks, you’ll start planning your technology budget for 2014’s holiday season.

Columbus, Ohio -- Strategic brand and design firm Chute Gerdeman has named Jim Crawford to the new position of VP of technology and experience design. He will be responsible for integrating next-generation technology into the shopping experiences and store designs that Chute Gerdeman creates for its clients.

Ankeny, Iowa – Casey’s General Stores’ net income rose more than 24% during the second quarter of fiscal 2014, to $41.3 million from $32.8 million. The company also boosted revenue 5% to $2.01 billion from $1.91 billion.

Framingham, Mass. -- Expect renewed investment in the transformative capabilities of PLM and sourcing, marketing and advertising, and big data and analytics according to IDC Retail Insights, which on Tuesday released its Top 10 Predictions for 2014.

Here are the IT consulting company’s top 10 predictions for 2014:

1. In 2014, fast-followers will chase the 50 global retailers already transforming store, mobile, and e-commerce channels, supply chains, merchandising, and marketing for the omni-channel customer experience

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

The holiday deals started earlier this year and all signs are pointing to a robust shopping season for retail. But what did consumers really think about Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Were they braving the lines with high spirits or counting down for discounts they could nab at home? More importantly, what were they looking for — and where?

The Pep Boys is converting 18 recently acquired Service & Tire Centers in Southern California to its new Road Ahead format and preparing for the grand reopening of six supercenters and five Service & Tire Centers in Tampa, Fla.

The company already converted nine Service & Tire Centers to the Road Ahead format this year, and reported that performance at those stores has been ahead of original projections. The company also plans to convert three additional smaller markets (20 supercenters) in the first half of 2014.

St. Petersburg, Russia – Russian grocery chain Land is piloting Synqera Loyalty Generators, compact printing devices with interactive touch-screens at the entrance of each of the chosen piloting store locations, as well as Simplate devices at checkout, providing targeted content relevant to new and returning customers.