From The Editor's Desk
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Who’s Ready For EMV? Not It!
9/24/2015
October first is this Thursday. It’s D-day for the EMV liability shift, the big deadline that’s been all the hullabaloo in retail payment circles for the last, I don’t know, five or ten years. And despite estimates that some 8 in 10 small to midsized retailers hadn’t adopted EMV-ready systems as of mid-September (according to a Software Advice study), the sky has not begun to fall. Further, regardless of the more than half of U.S. adults who admit they don’t know anything about EMV or the move to chip-enabled credit cards (according to recent research conducted by HarborTouch), they’re still swiping plastic. That’s the good news.
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Overwhelmed By Retail’s Digital Transformation? Don’t Be.
9/16/2015
Retailers came to the realization long ago that accommodating the mobile-savvy consumer isn’t innovative retailing, it’s business as usual. Cut to a few years later, and the retail industry is in the throes of a full-fledged digital transformation. Here we are with another behemoth term, and depending on whom you ask, the definition of digital transformation differs slightly, but most will agree that the digital transformation occurring in retail means embracing technologies such as cloud, mobile, predictive analytics, as well as social networks to improve the business.
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AP/LP Priorities Follow Omni-Channel Initiatives
9/15/2015
The digital transformation of stores is the big news coming out of our annual retail tech spending survey (due out next month). Mobile POS hardware and digital signage will lead in-store hardware spending in 2016, and wireless networking/WiFi will lead in-store software spending.
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An Early Look At Retail Tech Spending In 2016
9/10/2015
Nearly 78 percent of the 500 retail executives we surveyed for our 2016 Retail Tech Spending Report (due out next month) said their companies place emphasis on innovative technologies and processes to increase margins and improve the customer experience.
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Want Your Next Project Funded? The Green Light Is In The Data
8/26/2015
Big data isn’t all about consumer intelligence. There’s an equally important, albeit less flashy application for big data in retail, and it addresses a challenge virtually all technology and operations budget stakeholders face: getting signoff on capex initiatives.
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Welcome To Innovative Retail Technologies!
8/24/2015
Cue the drum roll. Welcome to Innovative Retail Technologies!
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You Want It Fast, Or You Want It Good?
8/13/2015
I think the tech accelerator concept creates wonderful opportunities for startups and investors alike. But it’s worth noting that the most innovative applications of technology that we’ve covered are homegrown. They’re conceived through interdepartmental collaboration, born on the store floor, and nurtured by vendor and third-party support.
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The Countdown To Innovative Retail Technologies Is On
8/5/2015
Only two weeks to go until we launch our new website, www.InnovativeRetailTechnologies.com, and only two weeks until the inaugural print issue by the same name ships to your mailbox. We are so excited to bring you what you’ve asked for — insightful commentary around pragmatic innovation in retail.
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Amazon Takes On Airspace
7/30/2015
Given an inch by the FAA, Amazon is now asking for a few hundred feet.
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Why SMRs Compete On Service
7/22/2015
Why do SMRs compete on service? Because they have to. If you’re a small to midsize retailer, you probably can’t compete with the big boxes on product and price, but you can compete (and win) on service. Yet, service goes beyond the knowledgeable, friendly associate, a user-friendly e-commerce site, and call center known for its speedy problem solving capabilities. Immense amounts of valuable data are available to SMRs that can help them better understand their best customers and better understand why they’re unable to drive others to conversion.