Cognex Corp. has incorporated 2DMax+ software for barcode reading into its DataMan 100 and 200 fixed-mount readers.

Many companies are investing in strengthening their social media presence and related capabilities. In the summer and fall of 2011, Booz + Company and Buddy Media, a social enterprise software provider, conducted a quantitative survey of 117 leading companies and a series of in-depth interviews with senior marketing and media executives. The results revealed that strengthening social media is on the CEO's agenda at 40 percent of responding companies and is a top marketing priority for about 60 percent. Seventy-eight percent believe that social media efforts enhance their marketing effectiveness; 95 percent expect to invest more in social media.

Toys "R" Us CEO Jerry Storch has taken a light saber to the idea that the future belongs to the internet and that big box retailers are doomed to irrelevance. Storch says the successful brands will be those with a consumer-facing network across all channels, and says Toys "R" Us is leveraging its strengths, including its store base, to grow and thrive over the long term.

A glitch that sat between a Little Caesars franchisee's POS system and its payment processor, Fifth Third, caused one of its pizza shops to process zero payment card transactions for more than eight months. (A second store didn't process transactions for two months.) And then, to the non-delight of that store's customers, the glitch was fixed and they started getting collectively hit with thousands of charges for eight months of pizza purchases.

Following a better-than-expected back-to-school season, retailers are optimistic for year-end retail sales. According to a new survey from BDO USA, LLP, retail CFOs expect a 4.5-percent increase in total 2012 sales.

A slew of luxury goods retailers are leaving Argentina in response to import barriers, currency controls and soaring inflation. American designer Ralph Lauren was the most recent departure when it announced last month that it was closing three of its stores in Buenos Aires, including its flagship in the upscale Recoleta district, as draconian measures on imports have all but left it unable to stock its shelves.

Research by Evoco Inc., a provider of design and construction project management software, has found that retail store growth, especially among retailers with 1,000 stores or more, is either steady or is positive.

The days of most tax-free internet shopping in California are over. After years of controversy, the world's largest online retailer, Amazon.com Inc., has begun collecting state and local sales taxes on California purchases. Depending on where you live, sales taxes in the state range from 7.25 percent to 9.75 percent.

Advocates for a level playing field between traditional brick-and-mortar retailers and their online-only competitors are celebrating the implementation of "sales tax fairness" in California. Last week, online-only retailers, such as Amazon.com, began collecting state sales tax in California.

With a staggering $444bn in annual revenue, Walmart has generally been sluggish and conservative, allowing tech innovations to be toyed with by rivals such as Amazon.com. But in the last few months, Walmart has quietly started acting like quite the aggressive start-up.