BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE/ANALYTICS

Retailers are eager to combat the force of Amazon, but they lack the strategy, marketing dollars and digital resources to do so.   Specifically, 44% of retailers do not know how to respond to the power of Amazon, according to “A New Path for Retail: Co-Existing with the Force of Amazon.” The report is from Bluecore, a commerce decision platform provider.  

Aldi has extended its partnership with Nielsen to gain more shopper and advertising effectiveness insight.    Nielsen and Aldi announced an expanded multi-year relationship for integrated analytics data around shopper panel, custom retail analytics and advertising effectiveness. Under the agreement, Nielsen will be Aldi's preferred data and analytics provider, covering the chains' nearly 1,700 stores in 35 states across the U.S.  

Driven by the need “to solve problems for its shoppers,” Boxed is about to make it easier than ever for customers to reorder merchandise — without even having to think about it.   

Subway is more accurately planning new locations.   The fast-causal restaurant chain is partnering with location intelligence provider SiteZues, to augment its development strategy. The company’s data-driven solution will combine advanced geospatial technology and visualization with Subway’s market data. The result will be more thorough and accurate insights — the foundation Subway needs to plan and expand its market growth.   

West Elm is upping the ante on how it recommends merchandise to customers.    The company, a division of Williams-Sonoma, introduced a new online tool that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to detect customers’ style patterns and connect them with products they can buy at West Elm stores and online. Called the Pinterest Style Finder, the tool is powered by Clarifai’s image and video recognition AI technology.  

Digitally-savvy customers will be contributing to a high volume of holiday traffic — and they have high expectations for retailers.    Seventy-six percent of U.S. consumers expect their interactions with a brand to be easy, according to “The Holiday in July 2017 Holiday Retail Outlook” report from Alliance Data  This will be a mantra this holiday season, regardless of the channel shoppers use to connect with their favorite retailers.  

The newest batch of start-ups are making their way to Minneapolis for the second annual Target + Techstars retail accelerator program.   After receiving applications from more than 3,000 technology start-ups — 70% of which had a co-founder who is either female or comes from an ethnically diverse background — Target whittled the list down to 10 finalists for this year’s tech accelerator. Companies range from online advertising to rebates to clothing alterations, and hail from Minneapolis to as far as Belgium.

Businesses are eager to better serve their clients, but most lack the skills, processes and technology needed to leverage data effectively.   In fact, 61% of U.S. companies agree that inaccurate data is undermining their ability to provide an excellent customer experience, according to “Investing in Digital Transformation: The Year’s Most Sought-After Data Roles,” a report from Experian Data Quality.