In-Store Technology

What Retailers Can Learn From Wal-Mart’s Tech-Savvy Transformation
August 4, 2017 at 9:42 am

We've all heard it. The retail apocalypse is here — lock the doors, board up the window displays, hunker down in a distribution center and take all your business online. Shoppers don't visit stores anymore. But is that really true? Consumer spending increased 3.8 percent in 2016, a marginal improvement from the 3.5 percent increase…

The Future is Here: The Queue-Free Checkout Trend
August 2, 2017 at 10:45 am

Hurried shoppers everywhere have complained about the time spent waiting in line to check out. Retailers have tried all sorts of methods and techniques to ease the process, from bulky self-checkout lanes to line-busting to distracting shoppers with impulse purchases. But what if the solution is to just get rid of the queues altogether and…

The State of Brick-and-Mortar Retail in 2017
August 2, 2017 at 10:23 am

To better understand what influences consumers’ decisions to choose brick-and-mortar over online shopping, Mood Media conducted a quantitative study, probing over 11,000 consumers across nine different countries. We wanted to understand what consumers like (and dislike) about the in-store experience, and what motivates or influences them within the space. Seventy-two percent of Americans cite the…

Retail Therapy: 3 Secrets Behind Thriving Brick-and-Mortars
August 1, 2017 at 9:15 am

When it comes to the fate of brick-and-mortar stores, the jury is still out; for every store closing, there seems to be another one opening. Yet the numbers don’t lie. In the first quarter of 2017 alone, nine major retail chains filed bankruptcy. This is equal to the total number of all filings in 2016.…

A Conversation About Commerce
July 25, 2017 at 9:59 am

The idea of "conversational commerce" has gained traction in recent retail conversations, particularly emphasizing the rise of online technology like chatbots and how retailers are using them to engage customers. The term, coined by ex-Uber, ex-Google product and UX designer Chris Messina in 2015, continues to grow in popularity in many retailers’ strategies, but a…

3 Ways Tech Could Help Brick-and-Mortar Brands Escape the Retail Apocalypse
July 24, 2017 at 9:34 am

While e-commerce has been the fall guy for struggling brick-and-mortar retailers, a recent survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers commissioned by Bouncepad shows how technology could drive foot traffic — and purchase power — back in-store. An overwhelming majority of consumers (three out of four) want more tech in-store to improve their experience, but feel like…

Wal-Mart Developing Facial Recognition Technology to Help Unhappy Shoppers
July 21, 2017 at 10:01 am

Wal-Mart is developing facial recognition technology that's able to spot frustrated or unhappy shoppers in its stores. Business Insider reports that the technology uses video cameras and store checkout lines that monitor facial expressions and movements to determine varying levels of dissatisfaction. If the system detects an unhappy shopper, it will ping employees in other…

Beyond the Hype: AI and the Future of Commerce Marketing
July 19, 2017 at 10:09 am

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a hot topic in commerce marketing and may be the fastest-growing technology trend today. Experts predict it will soon have a huge impact on our daily lives, our interactions with one another and the global economy. Gartner research estimates that AI bots will power 85 percent of customer service interactions by…

Using Technology to Engage Customers and Drive Sales
July 18, 2017 at 9:23 am

Just glance at your latest news feed and you’ll see that the retail industry is bifurcating into a world of haves and have-nots. Store closings and consolidations stand in stark contrast to e-commerce retailers opening up a fleet of brick-and-mortar stores. One of the clear advantages the latter has is the ability to employ customer…