While there is no shortage of praise for the various improvements that digitization promises to bring to consumers, institutions and businesses, there is often a gap between expectation and execution. Old processes and legacy systems have a way of sticking around, black swan events like...
There are all kinds of ways for a business to directly lose money, and even more ways to simply fail to save it. Among direct losses, there is fraud, both internal and external, which tends to eat up revenue. Then there is waste, usually issuing...
The need for innovation springs from many sources. It might come from the rapid evolution of consumer preferences, and in the incumbent pressure to keep up. It might come from the need to solve issues like waste fraud and abuse in the byzantine world of...
The 2020 outlook report from the National Restaurant Association illustrates an industry contending with the countercurrents of solid consumer spending and disruptive technology. The organization expects that technology could change the face of dining by the turn of the next decade. And in delivery, news came last week that DoorDash filed...
There is no shortage of pressure points where consumers are pushing for progress – faster payments, mobile wallets, unattended retail, 5G … take your pick. But for all the pressure to push forward, there are plenty of stumbling blocks and stutter steps when it comes...
The resale market is turning out to be one of the hottest trends of the young new year, and is gaining momentum as brick-and-mortar retailers roll out high-end resale platforms. Gap has now joined forces with thredUP, which has taken the lead as a third-party “circular economy”...
The concept of brand voice took a literal turn this month, with Amazon’s latest rollout, Amazon Polly, an AWS product that provides neural network-based text-to-speech services. And in dining, restaurants are teaming with online platforms to bring diners their favorite menu items. Krispy Kreme, in one case, plans to roll out nationwide...
Experiential marketing is one of the most commonly discussed and executed strategies in the 2020 connected commerce world. Anthropologie, for its part, is renowned for its creativity and innovation in experiential marketing, while Macy’s is focusing on experiential stores as part of its comeback plan for the year. And in subscriptions, eCommerce innovators such...
The fact that the last mile is the hardest mile has become something of a truism in online shopping. Bond, however, aims to help even the smallest online brands improve their logistical offerings by allowing them to deliver products and accept returns. And in fashion retail, Gap Inc. is teaming with thredUP to allow shoppers...
