Updated. On Wednesday morning, the New York Times sent a number of emails urging customers to call a toll-free number to renew their subscriptions. They seem to have been sent by Epsilon Data Management, an email marketing firm which had a major data breach in March. Read more »
Beyond the crowds that show up for Apple Store events, like iPhones on sale or Friday’s Grand Central Terminal store opening, it’s always amazing the sheer number of employees on hand. Fittingly, Horace Dediu at Asymco has calculated how much each retail employee makes for Apple. Read more »
IBM plans to acquire retail data analytics company DemandTec in an all-cash deal valued at $440 million, continuing Big Blue’s buys in big data businesses. DemandTec has two especially compelling elements for IBM: It adds to its big data expertise, and it’s vertically focused. Read more »
Apple’s experiment with self-checkout in its retail stores is apparently doing well, according to sources. The system, which allows shoppers to buy relatively items using the official Apple Store app on their iPhones, could pave the way to higher profits and lower operating costs for Apple. Read more »
According to the New York Post, Apple has one of the lowest rents of all other retailers for its Grand Central Terminal store and will not pay its landlord (the Metropolitan Transportation Authority) any percentage of its sales, a situation being called “unique.” Read more »
Retailers already parse a ton of data — from ERP systems, from registers, from Twitter and Facebook. That pool of addressable data will only get bigger as more retailers revisit using RFID to prevent losses, says Steve Stone, former CIO of Lowe’s Home Improvement stores. Read more »
Apple was the second-most popular online retailer in the U.K., according to data collected by web stats measurement firm Experian Hitwise and IMRG released Monday. Apple rose to second place from eighth the previous quarter, thanks to a five-fold increase in traffic between August and October. Read more »
VeriFone is looking to become not just a seller of point-of-sale terminals but a provider of managed services for merchants, whic will need help in transitioning to new alternative payment systems like NFC. VeriFone projects half its revenue in 2015 will be from services. Read more »
The traditional ways that retailers and merchants reach out to users and how they expect them to discover, shop and pay are getting disrupted by mobile and social. And that’s created really empowered shoppers, who are using these tools to augment and alter their buying patterns. Read more »
Apple’s search for a replacement for retail chief Ron Johnson continues, but that hasn’t stopped it from shaking up its retail operations despite the ongoing transition, with mobile payment and ordering options, and reportedly planning even more changes in the near future, too. Read more »
Paying for something is still the one part of Apple’s retail experience that isn’t ideal. But Apple may be on the verge of taking payment concerns out of the Apple Store equation entirely, according to a new report. That change could be Apple’s next retail revolution. Read more »
Apple doesn’t willingly telegraph its plans, but thanks to the filing of its 10-K, we get a peek into where the company plans to invest. Based on the reported capital expenditures for 2012, it looks like it’s doubling down on its retail stores and cloud infrastructure. Read more »
Apple has increased its R&D spending from $1.8 to $2.4 billion this year versus last, according to a filing Wednesday by Apple to the SEC. That’s a 33-percent increase, and makes the 2011 spend more than half that of the previous four years combined. Read more »
Any seasoned fashionista knows that shopping is serious business, but that doesn’t explain why most retail sites are so boring. New service Fantasy Shopper wants to inject more fun into buying online by turning it into a social game. Can it succeed? Read more »
The iPhone 4S is now officially available for sale at Apple retail stores in the east coast U.S., as well as at partner retail stores. Retail sales began at 8 a.m. Friday morning, but lines formed long before then, extending into the hundreds in many locations. Read more »
Apple wants to make it easy for its retail employees to get some one-on-one time with its iPad, according to a new report. A new pilot program would allow employees at one store to check out iPads for up to a week at a time. Read more »
What drove Walmart to acquire OneRiot and make it part of Walmart Labs is the same thing plenty of other companies — particularly media entities — should be interested in: namely, making sense of all the data that is coming in from users on social networks. Read more »
If you are or have ever been a college student, then you probably know that textbooks are the biggest racket going. Amazon Student, a new official iPhone app put out by Amazon.com, should help you find better prices than you would at your school bookstore. Read more »
As Apple continues its search for a replacement for outgoing retail chief Ron Johnson, the company is looking to hire someone based outside the U.S., according to a Wall Street Journal report Tuesday. The report says Steve Jobs was “extensively” involved in picking the search firm. Read more »
Apple significantly updated its retail store experience over the weekend, and the star of the show is clearly the iPad. iPads now act as interactive customer displays stationed in permanent enclosures next to Mac and other Apple products. It’s a model that could catch on. Read more »
On the 10th anniversary of Apple Retail, it is amazing to consider the great success that the company has had with a program many thought was doomed to fail. A big part of the secret to that success can be attributed to Apple’s openness to change. Read more »
On May 19th, the Apple Retail Store celebrates its tenth anniversary. Here’s a look back at the unlikely success Apple has enjoyed with its brick-and-mortar stores, and at where we might expect that success to lead future retail endeavors made by the company. Read more »
On the eve of Apple retail’s ten-year anniversary, rumors are suggesting big changes inside Apple Stores this weekend. Those changes might include iPad-based payment terminals and interactive displays, dedicated product setup areas, and more changes designed to improve the brick-and-mortar shopping experience. Read more »
A big factor in the $75-billion theoretical market value Facebook has amassed is the idea that the social network will become a major e-commerce player. But a new report from Forrester Research argues that Facebook may never actually achieve that goal for a number of reasons. Read more »
Apple has just issued a press release confirming details of the Pad 2 launch for tomorrow. The tablet will be available at all 236 Apple Retail stores in the U.S. at 5:00 PM local time, and Apple’s online store will begin sales at 1:00 AM PT. Read more »
You know you want a new Mac, but where to buy? There’s no shortage of sources, but when it comes to getting great service and warranty support, the options narrow considerably. Here’s a list of where your money will go the furthest. Read more »
Apple made a lot of money from direct sales last year, so it isn’t surprising that it would expand its online store to China, a market with huge growth potential. Extending the App Store’s reach there isn’t shocking either. So what does Apple stand to gain? Read more »
Long ago, there were rumors that a concierge app would come to the iPhone platform and bring reservations and other services to the device. Now, those features are here in version 1.1 of the Apple Store app, just released. It brings new location-based services and more. Read more »
A press release just issued by Apple reveals that a partnership between it and Verizon will see the iPad make its way to the wireless provider’s store shelves Oct. 28. Apple also announced that the iPad will be available at AT&T stores on the same day. Read more »
U.S. retail giant Walmart confirmed that it will be offering the Apple iPad at hundreds of its stores beginning Friday, Oct. 15. Despite the small initial launch pool, by the time Black Friday rolls around, that number is expected to grow to 2,300 nationwide. Read more »
The Apple TV is facing stiff competition from Google TV and others, like Roku, for consumer dollars. But is that really where it stands to gain the most? The blue screens of death we see all too often in retail displays say otherwise. Read more »
The iPad will be appearing alongside its predecessor the iPod touch at many more locations starting today. Adding to its retail presence in the U.S. at Apple Stores and Best Buy, the iPad is now available at Target retail locations, and online at Amazon. Read more »
My last visit to an Apple Store was a week ago when I picked up my new iPhone 4 and, though I’ve visited the stores plenty of times before, waiting in line reminded me of what makes Apple’s retail plans such a success. Read more »
In what’s becoming the standard move for Apple as it approaches the launch of a new generation of iPhone hardware, the company has begun to offer the iPhone 3G/3GS for sale without contract at full price on its websites and at its brick-and-mortar retail stores. Without […] Read more »
Apple’s Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook wasn’t shy about the company’s focus through 2010, in a conversation with Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey. The talk took place at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference this Tuesday in San Francisco, and was given before an audience […] Read more »
In some interesting tablet news that falls a little off the well-trod rumors path, Apple officials have apparently paid a visit to LA’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center a few times to talk up the potential of an Apple tablet in terms of the medical field. VentureBeat is […] Read more »
“Dream bigger,” Steve Jobs told a Disney executive as they discussed plans to reinvent the media company’s retail outlets. He insisted Disney develop a prototype store, much as Apple did before it launched its first brick-and-mortar outlet at Tysons Corner, Virgina, in May 2001. As the […] Read more »
In this research study, MindClick SGM sought to compare the relative greenhouse gas emissions of online and in-store holiday shopping during the post-Thanksgiving shopping weekend. We modeled the environmental impact of purchasing consumer goods either online or through a trip to a retail outlet for an ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Apple’s 13-inch MacBook was the top-selling laptop and the 21.5-inch iMac was the top-selling desktop in the retail channels during the month of October, according to data collected by The NPD Group, a research firm that closely follows the retail industry. Read more »
Scheduling a Genius Bar or One to One training session appointment has never been that difficult. Just go to Apple’s web site, enter some information, and you’re done. But a new rumor over at AppleInsider suggests that it’s about to become even easier, thanks to a […] Read more »
