Evan Schuman's StorefrontBacktalk

"I wonder when people will realize that mobile devices communicate via, ummm, radio?" asked the IT exec. "And that microwave radio signals (which GPS, mobile phones and microwave ovens all use) don‘t transit solid surfaces, especially conductive ones like metal mall roofs, all that well? And that carriers make no promises relative to in-building coverage (and virtually no promises relative to out-of-building coverage)? And the U.S. government makes no promises at all relative to GPS signal penetration or even availability?"Read more...

Most of the software packages on the Bad Apps list come from conventional commercial software vendors. If there's a problem with their applications--specifically, if those apps keep sensitive authentication data after a transaction has been authorized--the vendors are usually quick to create a new version or a patch that solves the problem. Result: Only older versions of the software contain the security problem that makes PCI unhappy. And next to the bad version of the app is a note listing the later versions that don't have the problem.Read more...

Visa routinely compiles a list of applications that, it believes, store sensitive authentication data after a payment has been authorized. Many app versions on this "Bad Apps" list are outdated and no longer being sold. But that doesn't mean they are not lying around in hidden corners of quite a few major—and some not-so-major—retail chains.Read more...

Outsourcing is a great way to get into a new technology, because someone else has already made the investment, built the infrastructure and collected the necessary expertise. As a retailer, you don't have to reinvent that particular wheel?just pick the right outsourcer for the job. But you can't assume that the outsourcing deal will last forever, or even that you can trust it just to keep doing what you need.Read more...

This effort replaced an earlier rewards program where cardholders were given 10 percent off, but the savings could only be used for a subsequent shopping trip. In short, when the discounts were cut in half—from 10 percent to five percent—purchases sharply increased. That's how powerful a difference there exists in consumers' minds between "give it to me now" and "give it to me later."Read more...

His advice to retailers: If an application is not on the list, don't even include it in an RFP.Read more...

When it comes to running a restaurant, investing time and money into learning the store's technology can mean the difference between a money-making hit and a bankruptcy-inducing nightmare. Technology plays a critical role in both the front and the back office. Michaud says he is befuddled by the notion that the same operators who clamor for a Limited Time Offer that may bump sales 1 percent won't invest their energy in systems they already own that could easily save them 3 to 5 percent.Read more...

This payment might be made to the handset manufacturer, but more likely it would go toward a pre-arranged credit or debit card. Let's take this approach one step further. Why not buy from Wal-Mart a Wal-Mart phone—or from McDonald's a McDonald's phone—that allows one-click purchases for anything at all? The consumer would then receive a monthly bill with everything itemized. That's one way to get around interchange and to build some wonderfully deep CRM databases—with lots of your rivals' sales—at the same time.Read more...

This week, China's Alibaba Group opened up a two-way e-tail portal between mainland China and Japan. Alibaba's goal is to make cross-border sales to consumers easy enough for tiny retailers who can't afford all that cost and effort. But the China-Japan portal may also be a model for big retailers to do the same thing.Read more...

When someone sends someone else a gift card, why not first send an E-mail alerting the recipient to the card's imminent arrival and have that E-mail include a password to activate the card after it arrives?Read more...

But which of several approaches each chain will use has yet to be determined, according to the CEO of the vendor (Shopkick) providing the software.Read more...

But what Sam's Club discovered is that it quickly became its own direct revenue stream.Read more...

Sending in senior people to convince the client that it has expertise in the topic and then sending in inexperienced, low-cost worker bees to do the actual work—this somehow surprises the people who run Marin County?Read more...

The new PTS specs become effective in one year (May 2011). Although you can buy currently validated equipment up until that time, why would you? If you are looking at a terminal (think kiosk, gasoline pump, vending machine) that combines several individual components, you'll want to check each component (including software) against the Council's list, noting version numbers. Walt also suggests getting something in writing from the seller that indicates every component associated with the PED has been assessed by a PCI PTS lab and is compliant.Read more...

Put simply, Technical Debt is any technology decision that has a long-term negative impact on the business. Although it would seem obvious that companies would want to avoid accumulating Technical Debt, Michaud argues that, in some businesses, as many as 8 out of 10 technology decisions carry some level of Technical Debt. As Technical Debt accumulates, the results can be devastating.Read more...

The big challenge with trying to answer those questions is that the established social sites are moving targets. Facebook, for example, on Wednesday (May 26) announced it will be offering tighter controls over consumer information. Where will this option lead six months from now? Your operation may put in a huge amount of cash to develop a spectacular site on Facebook, only to later learn that the site won't permit you to track user activity--even in your page clicking on your products. Facebook might prohibit you from knowing anything someone does in your site short of making a purchase.Read more...

Then customers, who are used to the niceties of that sales associate interaction or the tactile feedback from inside a high-end clothing store, show no interest and developers are baffled. That's where a bunch of Amazon Kindle developers find themselves today.Read more...

On his site's blog, Hsieh wrote that the current software—which is all homegrown by Zappos—was so complex it was difficult for non-programmers to feed it information. "Unfortunately, the way to input new rules into the current version of our pricing engine requires near-programmer skills to manipulate, and a few symbols were missed in the coding of a new rule, which resulted in items that were sold exclusively on (Zappos partner site) 6pm.com to have a maximum price of $49.95," he wrote.Read more...

The brand was having a somewhat good day in that it learned of the glitch, fixed it and republished the form in less than four hours. That's impressively fast, even in Web time.Read more...

The exact number of retailers in Level 1 was 360 chains in the figures released this week, which is the exact same number that Visa reported last month. Last month's report covered activity through Dec. 31, 2009, and this week's figures are current as of March 31, 2010. Those results suggest that four of last year’s compliant chains no longer are, bringing the number of non-PCI-compliant major chains up to about 18.Read more...

Visa has given ExxonMobil branded retailers an extension from July 1, 2010, until Dec. 31, 2010, to update their EPOS systems. This change is a big part of the perception problem with PCI enforcement. Deadline exceptions need to be rare. But when they happen, they should be announced by the card brands—not via a leaked letter—along with the specific reasons for the extension.Read more...

Wal-Mart isn't in the trucking business any more than its suppliers are, and just squeezing out a little savings in fuel costs would be a wasted opportunity. By stretching its supply-chain perimeter though, Wal-Mart will get much better control over the inventory coming in: when it arrives, how it arrives and how quickly it can be turned around. And that's all about IT.Read more...

Conway can imagine a few scenarios, but none seems to be the answer. This issue is important to every retail CIO, so we need to understand what Chip-and-PIN will and won't do, in addition to what the business case, if any, is for the U.S. and other markets to convert from magnetic stripe to Chip-and-PIN cards.Read more...

But now comes news of this unusual response from the plant's management. The Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper is reporting workers are being required to sign letters promising they won't kill themselves and agreeing to be institutionalized if management thinks it's needed. The employee who died, Li Hai, was 19 years old when he killed himself. That's the exact age of Steve Jobs' son. There's a lot more at stake here than a lower-cost iPhone.Read more...

By early next year—and possibly by this year's holiday season—Wal-Mart will start accepting Chip-and-PIN cards at all U.S. locations, said Jamie Henry, Wal-Mart's director of payment services. Because of the global needs of world's largest retailer—its stores in much of the rest of the world already have Chip-and-PIN—Wal-Mart's POS hardware in the States has supported Chip-and-PIN for years.Read more...