Digital services are now expected as standard by consumers, with retailers needing to adapt or risk their losing business altogether, according to a report from Kibo, a cloud-based omnichannel platform.

Turtle Wax drove 1.3 million page views with its content when it added consumer-generated content to its website. The goal for Turtle Wax was to transform a static website into a dynamic place where showcasing its products was a priority.

Nearly 70 percent of retailers are still struggling to evolve from an omnichannel model to one that truly puts the customer front and center, according to The O Alliance, a consulting firm focused on helping retailers create circular commerce.

Macy's has taken live a new program that employs radio frequency identification to allow omnichannel fulfillment of consumer purchases, right down to its last available unit of in-store merchandise. The program, which Macy's has named Pick to the Last Unit (P2LU), enables the retailer to list goods for sale online even when there is only one such item available at the store.

Circuit City was liquidated in 2008, but there are new owners and a new plan to bring the defunct electronics chain back.

Denimwall Inc. has launched a radio frequency identification solution at the G-Star RAW clothing store that it owns and operates in New York City's Union Square, to do everything from tracking inventory, managing sales transactions and providing electronic article surveillance to letting shoppers view product information on a touchscreen.

Next time you're at the mall, take a closer look at the paper price tag dangling from the clothes you take into the dressing room. If you hold the tag up to a light, you might see a dark, salt-grain-sized speck in it. Or, if you run your thumb over the tag, you might feel an almost imperceptible bump.

Since retailers - even major ones - tend not to spend money on research and development, many need guidance to keep up with the changes technology is bringing to the industry. What they need is Innovation as a Service.