TECHNOLOGY

Three very different retailers earned the top score in a survey of customer experience.   Ace Hardware, BJ's Wholesale Club, and QVC deliver the best customer experience in the retail industry, according to the 2017 Temkin Experience Ratings, an annual customer experience ranking of companies based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers.   

Electronic shelf labels are poised to gain momentum.   That’s according to a new report by ABI Research, which said that several big-box retail deployments of the technology will trigger a domino effect in market growth over the next two years. The company predicted that the electronic shelf label (ESL) market will grow tenfold by 2022, hitting more than $4 billion in global revenues.    

Shoppers want their favorite brands to know who they are, feature their preferred merchandise, and overall, offer an “experience” that appeals to them — and only them.    This point was driven home at Oracle Industry Connect, held in Orlando, Florida, March 20-22. During the conference, industry observers defined how retail is undergoing a “transfiguration,” or a shift to providing an elevated customer experience. What’s at the core of this change? In a word: personalization.   

Amazon is keeping all its options open when it comes to exploring new concepts.   The online giant is exploring an array of brick-and-mortar ideas, from electronics stores to stores that sell furniture and appliance, that would use technology in ways and have a dramatic impact on how other stores operate, reported The New York Times.   

Chain Store Age will sponsor a Webinar on one of the most important issues facing store retailers: How to connect emerging solutions and technology disruptors — and take advantage of rich data sets filtering through these systems — to meet new demands across retail operations and the customer experience.     

The department store chain is putting a new spin on formalwear rentals.   Through its partnership with tuxedo rental startup The Black Tux, Nordstrom hopes to attract male millennials to its new formalwear showrooms in six stores, according to ReCode.  

Williams-Sonoma is throwing its hat into the 3D app ring.   Later this month, the chain’s Pottery Barn banner will introduce 3D Room View. The augmented reality mobile app, which is based on Google’s AR technology Tango, enables shoppers using Tango-enabled smartphones to “virtually” place Pottery Barn merchandise in any of their rooms. The goal: to enable shoppers to see how products look and fit with their existing furniture and decor — or in an empty room.