From The Editor's Desk

  1. Saving Money, Saving Stores 5/5/2016

    Last week brought brick and mortar retail some solemn news. Aéropostale is closing 154 stores on the heels of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing, and Sports Authority is considering the liquidation of all 450 of its stores after its own Chapter 11 filing in March.

  2. Miya Knights On The Digitally Enabled Shopping Journey 4/27/2016

    Every year, Innovative Retail Technologies publishes our Mobility Special Report, which takes a deep dive into the state of mobility in retail. In 2015, we partnered with Miya Knights, global research technology director at Planet Retail for our Mobility Special Report, in which she penned compelling content explaining why retailers must put the shopping journey and its delivery via mobile at the forefront of customer-facing strategic initiatives.

  3. Is Security The Killer App For Drones In Retail? 4/21/2016

    The latest software release from ISV Alert POS is designed to return the point of sale to its roots. In a recent interview for a story in our sister publication, Business Solutions magazine, Alert POS founder Brad Jarrett stressed that the original cash register was designed first and foremost to secure assets. Even the charming ring of the register’s bell was a security feature designed to alert store staff that the cash drawer was open and cash was exposed.

  4. Tackling Browse Abandonment 4/14/2016

    Cart abandonment has been all the rage over the past two years. Marketers searched for applicable technologies and fine-tuned their processes in order to entice customers to revisit their online shopping carts and complete the purchase. Recent research conducted by Bronto found that many customers do not find cart abandonment emails intrusive but rather regard them as useful, personalized reminders about their idle carts.

  5. Customer Experience: The Associate That Matters Most 4/7/2016

    I’m generally not one to publicly opine on my personal retail customer experiences. When I do, something went either exceptionally well or terribly wrong. I prefer to share when things go well. Last week I went to Jared. My wife wasn’t the only one happy that I stopped.

  6. The Key To Customer Engagement Success 3/30/2016

    There’s no question that in retail, turnover’s high and employee training takes time, money, and effort, but it behooves retailers to invest in their most valuable asset — the associate.

  7. Does Your Technology Sell, Or Does It Distract? 3/23/2016

    Last week, Nadia Shouraboura gave me one of the most interesting interviews I’ve had in a long time. Shouraboura is the founder of Hointer, a boutique retailer-turned in-store technology company that’s hell-bent on turning the physical retail experience as we know it on its ear. Her story is inspiring and I don’t hesitate for a second to call her a pioneer, which is why I’ll be writing a profile of Shouraboura for an upcoming story in Innovative Retail Technologies. In the meantime, I thought I’d reflect on a particularly poignant comment she made while we spoke.

  8. Location-Based Marketing Tech Spending On The Rise 3/17/2016

    Location-based technologies continue to help retailers build brand advocates and deliver contextually relevant messaging to customers. Indeed, The Location Based Marketing Association (The LBMA) just released its Global Location Trends Report, which is based on the findings from an online study conducted in the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Singapore. Owners/co-owners, CEO/Presidents, CMOs, and Marketing Managers participated in the online survey to share their current usage and investments in location-based marketing as well as future goals on implementing this technology. 

  9. Is EMV An Open Invitation To Fraudulent Chargebacks? 3/10/2016

    I was talking with a value added reseller (VAR) of restaurant POS and payment systems last week. He’s on the front lines of EMV. His company is exemplary of the ground-level VARs that banks and payment solutions providers are relying on to saturate the small and mid-sized retail and restaurant markets with EMV technology. Those big banks and payments companies are spending gobs of time and money to push, pull, and prod thousands of VARs and independent software vendors like him—those who serve the small and mid markets—to move the technology downstream. 

  10. Retailer Donation Challenge: Give The Gift Of A Loving Home 3/8/2016

    Is your organization is interested in giving back? Today’s your lucky day. Darren Singer, SVP Retail Health and Wellness at Shopko Stores, has issued a donation challenge to like-minded retailers and partners to join Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI) to make a difference. If you're unfamiliar with RetailROI, its purpose is to raise awareness and provide real solutions for the more than 400 million vulnerable children worldwide.