Evan Schuman

In theory, a smart phone can bring into the store the depth of data possible on the Web, merged with enough site- and user-specific data to make even the stodgiest CRM system blush. But can it work in the real world? NeoMedia is arguing that it can. NeoMedia is pushing its offering dubbed iPOS (Interactive […]

A Los Altos, Calif., technology vendor called SmartTools thinks that customers should stop lollygagging around in the cashier checkout lanes. While waiting, they should be scanning their own items and saving the cashiers time. If you find this idea attractive, we need to chat. (Hint: This is not an especially good career-advancement purchase.) The tradition […]

Few companies have come to represent the RFID space—warts and all—so clearly as has Alien Technology. So when the company announced plans to seek an IPO, it was Wall Streets first big shot at evaluating the RFID market. Aliens S-1 SEC filing delivers few surprises beyond the required candid lawsuit-avoiding language so popular in SEC […]

For years, RFID proponents have pointed to item-level tagging as the Holy Grail, the ultimate payoff when all of the RFID pieces fell into place. Thats when full ROI would happen, out-of-stocks would become an age-old memory and smartcarts would become what the Jetsons had always intended. As the industry joke went, the timetable for […]

The IEEE has started work on a new protocol—a standard called IEEE 1902.1 also known as RuBee—that is expected to give retailers and manufacturers an attractive alternative to RFID for many applications, especially item-level efforts. Officials say they expect products based on the protocol to be available within 12 to 18 months. The initial backers […]

More than a quarter of a million Hotels.com customers are now at high risk for credit card theft after a password-protected laptop computer containing their credit card information was stolen from an Ernst & Young auditors locked car in what appears to be a “random petty theft,” a Hotels.com spokesperson was quoted as telling the […]

Theory: The Web is the great equalizer and, given the opportunity to access comprehensive, accurate and unbiased information about products they want to buy, consumers will choose to buy the products that are best for them, given price, features and various other details. But is that really the case? Its clear that the larger retailers […]

Applied Digital CEO Scott Silverman was a guest the week of May 15 on a Fox News show called Fox & Friends First, and he was there to give the immigration debate a shot in the arm. Or to implant his company in the middle of the controversy. No matter which wordplay is used, he […]

As retailers find dollars by having certain stores specialize in various ethnic or lifestyle segments, they are often neglecting to update their store data to match, so finds a new Forrester Research report. This is a matter of frustration among some consumer goods suppliers, who now need to know more about those customers. A product […]

The historic problem with network television advertising has been an inability to prove any return on investment and the problem with e-commerce has been … well … that you can. BET Networks, which claims to reach more than 81 million households in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, thinks it has found a way […]