Evan Schuman's StorefrontBacktalk

That conclusion came out of a Borders analysis of a weekly newsletter it has been sending to most of its loyalty program members. Although newsletters drove people into the stores, those consumers who wanted coupons were 31 percent less satisfied—and were 13 percent less likely to make a purchase—than those who sought content. Read more...

The top entries from those countries that made the list were China's Bailian Group (7.5 billion Euros), which entered the list at number 101, and Russia's X5 Retail Group NV ($3.6 billion) at number 191. The complete list itself also shows other changes in the world, with Tesco PLC ($80 billion) assuming its place as the world's fourth-largest retailer, pushing Germany's Metro AG ($75 billion) down to fifth. Read more...

Breach letters are being sent out so frequently that I wonder if it's going to pique the business interests of Hallmark. A card for every occasion, when you care enough to breach the very best. Perhaps a merger with their Get Well cards? "Sorry to hear that you're not getting around these days.... [open card] .... but your CVV sure as heck is. Call 1-800-DATA-OOPS for your free year of credit monitoring, courtesy of your neighborhood retail chain." Read more...

But, for better or for worse, that's not a long-term situation. Like the presidential candidates who had to fly South for the winter (or fly the coop entirely), these compliance salesfolk have a limited lifespan. Within the next year or so, retailers are going to shift from trying to become PCI compliant to having to maintain PCI compliance. Read more...

The point that these vendors make is that if you don't have the data, then you've outsourced your risk. But Taylor writes that he's always lived by the principle that "you don't outsource risk" because when it comes time to file lawsuits, the merchant will still get named. Read more...

In a move that researchers said might set up low-cost, high-volume RFID tags that could replace barcodes, the European Holst Center said Wednesday that their 64-bit, inductively-coupled, passive RFID tag achieved a record 780-bit/second data readout.

This development “represents a five-fold increase in bit rate performance compared to state-of-the-art plastic RFIDs,” reported Electronic Engineering Times. The story reported that the 64-bit RFID consists of a low-cost inductive antenna, capacitor, plastic rectifier and plastic circuit, all on foil.…

Drummond referred to the move as a "hostile bid," which is a premature characterization. Yahoo's board hasn't yet rejected the bid, meaning this move could easily become friendly. But there's little question that a merger of Yahoo and Microsoft would shake up the world of Google, which has enjoyed Microsoft's inability to move MSN beyond a weak third-place position. Read more...

The traffic watchers at Keynote Systems this weekend saw the problems throughout the region, a key area for supply chain partners of global retailers. Read more...

Wal-Mart is pursuing a “globally scaleable” system that would essentially act as a kit of online parts–with elements such as data mining and customer analysis–that could be readily deployed in different markets, according to this report in the Financial Times.

The globalization effort is hardly new for Wal-Mart. In the UK, Wal-Mart’s Asda unit delivers groceries, general goods and financial services. In Mexico, the re-tailer’s 63 upmarket Superama neighbourhood stores also offer an online delivery service that includes groceries. But the retailer is now recruiting software architects and engineers at its San Francisco web headquarters to make a concerted effort, the FT reported.…

Yes, it's never a good idea to ignore E-mails from FTC attorneys. But these folk had some excellent points, most of which amounted to an agreement that the enforcement was lethargic but that Congress is to blame. Read more...

The law said such low balances are "redeemable in cash for its cash value." But Starbucks has been turning away California caffine-addicted consumers seeking such as cash paybacks because they have yet to update their POS software to make such efforts possible. Read more...

There are quite a few merchants who feel that the drive to PCI compliance has caused them to make some security technology choices that are contrary to their system architectures and prior planning. Others have expressed concerns that they are simply not able to process all the data they are collecting from their various auditing and logging tools, which means they are getting little value from the many thousands of dollars they have spent, other than the "PCI Compliant" seal of approval. Read more...

One day he's in a parking lot and discovers that someone placed a huge scratch along the right side of the car. His insurance company inspects and awards him a large check to have the car completely repainted. Instead, the man uses the check to buy a new state-of-the-art audio system. The way that Chicagoan views his insurance check is how many IT leaders see PCI requirements. Read more...

But there is a huge IT frustration with those mobile devices when it comes to retail employees. It's not the fact that most new retail tech capabilities are mobile and experimental, which just begs the data breach Gods to punish managers. That's less frustrating than infuriating. Read more...

The panel included Google's head of retail, John McAteer, Borders' E-Commerce chief, Kevin Ertell, the corporate development VP at Bill Me Later, Mark Lavelle, Ursula Milan, an E-Commerce manager at the Museum of Modern Art, and the dean of the E-Commerce analytics corp, Jupiter Research's Patti Freeman Evans. Read more...

The disk, which was apparently discovered missing in October, was placed in Iron Mountain's custody by GE Money, which handles credit card data for J.C. Penney and as many as 100 other retailers. Read more...

The biggest current concern—which is also likely to be the most short-lived—is that the service is available on a relatively few number of phones in the U.S.. That concern—a shortage of supported phones—was mentioned by a Sears manager involved in the trial. Read more...

The carts, jointly crafted by Microsoft and MediaCart Holdings, use consumers' loyalty cards to grab the historic shopping data and the uploaded shopping lists and deliver data back to consumer goods manufacturers about ad performance, by comparing ads displayed with the ultimate customer purchases. That last part is easy to track because the carts assist directly with checkout. Read more...

When Oracle got BEA this week to agree to an $8.5 billion buyout–significantly lower than what BEA had been insisting on–is it further evidence of rough economic waters ahead?

Oracle’s ability to negotiate a $19.38 share price (BEA had been insisting on $21/share) is the work of both investor Carl Icahn and “increasing fears that a slowing U.S. economy could damp global spending by businesses on technology, adding to the financial pressures on small vendors trying to remain independent,” according to this thought-and-fear-provoking Wall Street Journal story.…

Office Depot CIO Tim Toews isn't sure exactly where that line must be drawn, but he's confident it's moving more toward the data-sharing side, provided the consumer sees immediate, real and actionable incentives. Read more...

Although the initial retailer for this trial wasn't identified, the company has been talking with Best Buy, the Gap, Nordstrom and Target. And for a fee ranging from $250K to 450K, they can leverage the trial to compete against online alternatives. Read more...

No, that won't work. As much I try, it's hard to pretty up a retail technology/E-Commerce panel as an exciting outing. But for a tech-biz discussion, we've got two decent offerings. On Wednesday morning (9:45-10:45 AM, at the Javits, Concurrent Hall A 1A21/22), StorefrontBacktalk will be moderating a look at The Road To Merged Channel. Read more...

This wasn't simply that larger companies have larger IT departments and, therefore, managers make more money. IHL President Greg Buzek noticed salary spikes the year before major IT investments were due to hit, as though retailers were frightened of losing key IT people right before a major project so they boosted salaries to keep people from leaving. Read more...

The report identified these as out-of-stocks but it used a rather expansive definition of out-of-stocks, including in-stock products that had an incorrect price as well as in-stock but misplaced product that neither the customer nor the associate could easily locate. Read more...