Software

Glitch Preventing Target Customers From Making Purchases Has Been Fixed
June 17, 2019 at 1:38 pm

Target said a systemwide outage that prevented customers from making purchases at its stores on Saturday has been fixed. The two-hour outage, which affected its cash registers, was caused by an internal technology problem, the retail chain said, without giving further details. “After an initial but thorough review, we can confirm that this was not…

Amazon Launches AI-Powered Shopping Feature in App
June 6, 2019 at 5:05 pm

Amazon.com launched an artificial intelligence-powered shopping feature in its app called StyleSnap at the re: MARS 2019 conference in Las Vegas yesterday. The tool enables users to upload a photo or screenshot of a particular fashion look they admire from pictures on magazines, websites or social media posts, and then get similar product recommendations from Amazon's apparel…

Reducing Costs: Improving Customer Data Solves Both Fraud and Shipping Problems
May 30, 2019 at 10:56 am

Not quite everything in the world of e-commerce is digital. Shipping, based on customer-provided data, may be the weakest link in a smooth, cost-effective transaction. Even slight inaccuracies can delay deliveries, add expensive reshipping fees, and create unhappy customers in the process. Equally painful to any supplier are credit card chargebacks, charges to cover return…

A Single Customer View is the Key to Data-Driven Engagement
May 9, 2019 at 10:25 am

You may be under the impression that the more technology you use for customer engagement, the more information you're gathering about your customers. However, more data doesn't necessarily mean better data; in fact, more data coming from different sources makes analysis and action far more complicated. Data from one solution might be telling you one…

Carhartt is Using AI to Make Smarter Merchandising, Marketing Decisions
April 25, 2019 at 2:49 pm

Artificial intelligence (AI) was chosen as the emerging technology most likely to have the biggest impact on the retail industry in 2019, according to Total Retail's 2018-2019 Retail Technology Report. Retailers and brands are investigating ways to leverage the power of AI across their organizations, from marketing to logistics to customer service, and more. Workwear…

Understanding the Emergence of Retail-as-a-Service (RaaS)
April 23, 2019 at 11:26 am

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to retail organizations to hear that consumer purchasing habits have drastically changed. With the majority of growth happening online, traditional brick-and-mortar stores are challenged with establishing an online presence, transforming their business model, and harnessing the power of innovative technologies. We’ve seen brick-and-mortar stores struggle to adapt to the…

How to Ensure an Earn vs. a Return
April 22, 2019 at 10:20 am

Between rapid technology evolution’s effect on sales and smaller businesses stuck hiding behind the shadows of e-commerce giants, retailers are grappling with a great deal of uncertainty. Even in the best of retail sales and revenue growth, product returns are expected to have accounted for 30 percent of the 2018 retail economy — an estimated $37 billion. So,…

Among an Avalanche of Choices, How to Choose B-to-C Software for Your E-Commerce Company
April 15, 2019 at 9:39 am

The e-commerce industry will be responsible for about $3.45 trillion in sales this year, and is only continuing to grow. It’s not surprising that business-to-consumer (B-to-C) e-commerce is a huge part of this growth, with the global B-to-C e-commerce market expected to reach over $7.7 billion by 2025. For brands that want to create meaningful…

Where Are the Retail Industry’s Software Security Strengths and Weaknesses?
February 28, 2019 at 11:20 am

The retail industry’s reputation for providing software security has taken some hits over the years. The top 15 data breaches of the current century include Target in 2013, with account information on an estimated 110 million customers compromised; TJX in 2006, with 94 million credit cards exposed; and Home Depot in September 2014, with about…