TECHNOLOGY

An online giant and the world’s biggest retailer claim the top two positions in a study that ranks retail companies by their brand value.   Amazon ranked as the world’s most valuable retail brand in the annual study by valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance. The company’s brand value, $106.4 billion, is nearly double that of Walmart ($62.2 billion), which ranked as the second most valuable retail brand. (An explanation of the ranking is provided at the end of article.)    

Shoppers will soon be able to personalize and accessorize the shoes they buy at DSW Inc.   The retailer has entered into a partnership with Trend:Bar, a new, Los Angeles-based  company that produces luxe fabric stickers, appliques, charms, shoelaces, patches, and creative add-ons that customers can use to personalize footwear and accessories.       Under the partnership, DSW will offer Trend:Bar items in select stores and on DSW.com.  

A new partnership will help retailers make smarter business decisions faster.   Based on a new alliance between IBM Watson and Salesforce, the companies will seamlessly connect their solutions — a move that will enable a new level of intelligent customer engagement across sales, service, marketing, and commerce, among other operations.     

Less than a month after closing its New York City pop-up store, Snap is back in the brick-and-mortar game.   Snap, the social media company formerly known as Snapchat, opened a temporary store on the boardwalk in Venice, California, near its Los Angeles headquarters, according to TechCrunch.   

Generation Z is called the mobile-first generation. However, their preference for shopping in physical stores presents new opportunities for retailers.   That’s according to a new report from Euclid Analytics, “Evolution of Retail, 2017 Generation Z Shopper Survey,” which found that 66% of Gen Z prefer to shop in store because they like to see, hold and try on products before buying. Also, 28% want to engage with store associates while shopping, the most of any generation.  

Pinterest’s visual search capabilities just got broader.   On Monday, March 6, the social media site expanded its visual search technology into its browser extensions — a move that enables pinners to save images found online and use them as a jump-off point for discovering similar ideas on Pinterest, the company said.   Chrome is the first extension to receive the functionality.  

There’s a lot going on at the company formerly known as Quiksilver.    In a new phase of its turnaround, the company has changed its name to Boardriders, a name designed to reflect the company’s portfolio of action sports brands — Quiksilver, ROXY, and DC Shoes — which are unified by the boardriding culture and heritage.    

Supermarkets and fast-casual restaurant brands took the top positions in an annual ranking of customer experience. Publix, Chick-fil-A, and H-E-B earned top three positions in Temkin Group’s 2017 Temkin Experience Ratings, a cross-industry benchmark of customer experience. Publix had a score of 84%, closely followed by Chick-fil-A and H-E-B, which both scored 83% in the seventh annual rating.