Storefront BacktalkMore from Storefront BacktalkGlobal Supply Chain ManagementStores May Be Prepared for Power Outage of a Day or Two - But Not for Almost Two WeeksAs Superstorm Sandy blew its devastating winds through much of the Eastern U.S. starting on Halloween, retailers had to deal with it just like everyone else. But few seemed to have anticipated the more than eight days - and more, in some cases - of outages, along with the gas shortages, closed roads, lack of food and water, plus the dead phone lines, lack of internet broadband access and dead cell towers.November 12, 2012All TechnologyFTC Eyes Use of Appliances That Spy on Purchasers After They Leave the StoreIn a case that has potentially significant consequences for NFC and RFID applications, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on so-called "phone home" technologies used by computer rental companies to monitor consumer behavior. When contemplating the use of any technology that provides use, location or other information about a product, retailers should be careful to ensure consumers know - or are at least able to know - exactly what the product is doing once they leave the store.October 22, 2012All TechnologySo Many Retailers Still Operate with Outmoded TechnologyA victim mentality seems to be sweeping through the retail industry. Every day, good retail organizations make horrible decisions (or, in some cases, do not make a decision) that even they know will have a long-term negative impact on their business.October 16, 2012All TechnologyHow Risky Is Updating Digital Signage with Apps?Is updating your digital signage with a mobile device really such a good idea? That's the question raised by the recent announcement that Swedish retail giant ICA will begin using mobile apps next month for making changes to its in-store signs.October 15, 2012All TechnologyRetailers' Dream: Cellphones Revealing Consumers' Exact LocationFor quite a few years now, retailers have salivated over the idea of mobile phones revealing exactly where shoppers are at all times. Retailers would know which displays customers are standing in front of, for how long and what actions they take right afterward. Unfortunately, even though mobile devices have advanced quite a bit recently, the ability to know location with any precision has been elusive.October 1, 2012All TechnologyGlitcha, Glitcha: Little Caesars POS Systems Doesn't Process Card Payment for Eight Months!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.September 24, 2012All TechnologyNow You Can Follow the Leader: Walmart Eagerly Embraces TechnologyWith 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.September 19, 2012Logistics OutsourcingThe Retail CIO's Impossible Job of Making Everybody HappyWhy is it that the same retailers who will replace a finance clerk's desktop like clockwork every four years will let their POS linger for eight, nine, 10 or more years? Why is it that data centers can be consolidated and servers can be virtualized but e-commerce still operates as a separate channel? The answer is simple: politics.September 17, 2012Business Strategy AlignmentFor Brick-and-Mortar Retail to Succeed Against Amazon, IT Must Be Given Free ReinIf a retailer really wants to compete with Amazon and the changing realities of today's retail environment, it needs to kill the IT budget, disband the IT Steering Committee and throw away the IT project list. It's time for IT to be moved out from under the CFO's reigns. It's time to let go of the past and start thinking about IT as a business enabler, unleashing its full potential to the organization.September 11, 2012Business Strategy AlignmentCourt Seems to Say Retailers Can Track Shoppers' Movements In and Outside StoresRetailers wrestling with how far they can legally go with tracking shoppers' movements within their stores and in neighborhoods near their stores have been given an unexpected green light from a federal appeals court.September 10, 2012Previous PagePage 4 of 8Next Page