The turkey is browning, your guests are on route, and you suddenly remember a forgotten ingredient. Amazon stands ready to bail you out.

For Walmart, Macy’s and many other U.S. retailers, sales growth is back. But it’s coming at a heavy cost.

Technological innovations these days seem to come and go with the speed of high fashion. It’s no surprise, then, that we tend to stick with legacy systems well beyond their maximum effectiveness.

Researchers and trade groups expect retail sales in stores and online to grow 5 percent or more — which could make this Christmas shopping season the best in recent memory.

Meeting ever-shifting customer expectations is the only way to succeed in the digital era — and the internet of things is the cornerstone of Warehouse 4.0.