Articles By Christine Kern

  1. Target Launches New “GPS For Your Shopping Cart” 10/2/2017

    New beacon and Bluetooth technology will help consumers find their way through busy stores.

  2. Walmart Employees Adopt Facebook Workplace To Facilitate Tasks 10/2/2017

    Walmart has announced that its employees are now using Facebook Workplace, a suite of business software that allows workers to chat and share documents. Facebook Workplace is essentially a business version of the social network. According to Facebook, more than 14,000 companies now use the Workplace software.

  3. IKEA Nears Release Date For New Augmented Reality App 9/25/2017

    In June, IKEA announced that it was partnering with Apple to create an augmented reality app to drive its e-commerce platform, as Retail Insights reported. Now, IKEA is planning to make its IKEA Place augmented reality application, built on Apple’s new ARKit AR development platform, available before the end this month in the Apple app store, according to a Sept. 12 press release.

  4. While The Future Of Commerce Is Biometrics, Consumers Remain Wary Of The Risks 9/18/2017

    Retailers have a serious challenge before them in terms of the payment options they offer their customers. As technology advances and makes new solutions available, it could have a serious impact on the way customers pay for their orders. But despite these advances, many consumers remain wary about the security risks of biometric solutions. In fact, approximately 40 percent of the more than 3,000 consumers surveyed by payments platform company Paysafe and research firm Loudhouse said biometric solutions are too risky to use right now.

  5. Kohl's And Amazon Team Up To Offer “Smart Home Experience” 9/11/2017

    Kohl’s has announced the introduction of a new "Amazon smart home experience" at 10 Kohl’s stores in the Los Angeles and Chicago areas, opening in October. These new spaces are a “first-of-its-kind experience,” allowing customer to purchase Amazon devices, accessories and smart home devices and serviced directly from Amazon, housed within select Kohl’s stores.

  6. New CFO Says Greater Tech Investment Can Improve Decision-Making For JCPenney 9/5/2017

    New CFO Jeffrey Davis told The Wall Street Journal that JCPenney could improve its ability to cut operational costs and enhance the customer experience by reallocating some of its $400 million in capital spending to be used on technology investments. He is committed to investing in technology to help improve decision-making for the retailer. Davis took over the position in July, succeeding interim chief financial officer Andrew Drexler.

  7. Walmart Aggressively Challenges Amazon With Google Partnership 8/29/2017

    Walmart wants to make online ordering even easier for its customers. The discount retail chain has announced a new partnership with Google that will allow shoppers to select hundreds of thousands of items for voice shopping via Google Assistant. According to a blog post by Marc Lore, president and CEO of Walmart U.S. eCommerce, this is the largest number of items currently offered by any retailer using the platform.

  8. Customers' Omnichannel Retail Expectations Revealed 8/29/2017

    A new study from Radial and CFI Group has demonstrated that retailers who meet rising fulfillment, customer experience and payment and fraud expectations will win the loyalty race.

  9. July Retail Sales Rebound With 3.5 Percent Growth Over 2016 8/21/2017

    July retail sales rose 0.6 percent from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis, triple the revised 0.2 percent growth in June, according to the latest figures from the National Retail Federation. Sales rose by 3.5 percent year-over-year, a continuation of June’s growth and consistent with long-term trends, the NRF said. (The numbers exclude automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants.)

  10. JCPenney Adopts Apple Pay And Integrates Its Store Card And Loyalty Points 8/15/2017

    When Apple Pay debuted in the fall of 2014, it was accepted by some 220,000 retailers nationwide, as Retail Insights reported, with early adopters including Macy’s, Bloomingdales, Walgreens, Staples, Subway, Nike, Subway, Petco, Radio Shack, Chevron, and McDonalds. As retailers and merchants continue to search for ways to entice shoppers with convenience, the list of adopters has steadily grown.