Tomorrow's retail stores want to take a page from their online rivals by embracing advanced technology - everything from helpful robots to interactive mirrors to shelves embedded with sensors.
Thanksgiving Day shopping - a delight to some, an anathema to others - isn't going away, but some stores are rethinking their strategies on whether it makes sense to be open on the holiday itself. Many of the nation's major mall operators and the big retailers that anchor them, such as Toys R Us, J.C. Penney and Macy's, are sticking with what they want to be a new tradition, kicking off the holiday shopping season on Thanksgiving Day.
For an American public that relies on data for everything from where to find the best taco to the likely victor in a baseball game, Election Day offered a jarring wake-up: The data was wrong. Donald Trump's stunning electoral win came despite prognosticators' overwhelming insistence he would lose. And it has forced many to question not just political polling, but other facets of life that are being informed and directed by data.
The holidays are coming, and Amazon says it plans to add 120,000 seasonal workers in an effort to meet an expected spike in demand as more and more people trade bricks for clicks. The seasonal positions will be created at fulfillment centers, sorting centers and customer service sites in 27 states. The move marks a 20 percent boost from the 100,000 seasonal hires a year ago.
For the better part of the last decade, Amazon Fresh has been an enigma. Now, with a change to its pricing, Amazon positions Fresh much more favorably, said Keith Anderson, a vice president at Profitero, an e-commerce analytics start-up that works with retailers and consumer brands.
Dell Technologies has announced completion of the acquisition of EMC Corporation, creating a unique family of businesses that provides the essential infrastructure for organizations to build their digital future, transform information technology and protect their most important asset, information.
As more and more enterprises give up license-based software in favor of faster, more convenient cloud services, the software industry itself is changing dramatically, according to advisory firm. Although legacy software companies that have moved into the cloud are reaping the benefits of the growing "as-a-service" ecosystem, they are also facing some risks.
Retailers will need to do some serious marketing and brand shifting going forward given the biggest consumer base, those millennials, aren't as loyal or brand committed as previous generations of consumers.
A large number of traditional retailers are struggling to grow profitably. In addition to bankrupt retailers like Sports Authority, many others are closing stores. Yet, the "Beast from Seattle" continues to thrive ... posting double-digit year-over-year growth, and now even quarterly profits.
