Retail Operations

Linking Online Retail Inventory Management to the Real World

online retail inventory tied to offline store inventory

The NY Time recently outlined how Nordstrom has accelerated its business by tying online and offline inventory together. If an item is not available or out of stock at Nordstom’s online store, the customer is offered a view of item availability at Nordstrom’s physical stores nationwide. She can pick it up at the store or [Read More]

Retail Operations

Facebook privacy controls, online ad tracking, credit card data mining, retail loyalty clubs... is there any personal privacy left online or off?

Facebook is rolling out new privacy controls, having been forced to rethink their “grab it, sell it” approach to personal information.   Online advertising platforms are also under attack for tracking online activity to match ads with viewer interests and to re-target previously seen ads.  Credit card companies literally “mine” the personal data of their customers for nuggets of valuable information which they sell [Read More]

Retail Operations

Retail Observation and Store Surveillance Sells

Watchme

That camera in the ceiling, red light blinking at you as you search the rack for the perfect graphic tee…. it isn’t watching to see if your are stealing…. it’s watching to see how you shop!  While loss prevention surveillance is still an important part of retail operations, in-store cameras are often focused on catching [Read More]