Apparel/Department

DSW has partnered with ebay Enterprise for in-store pickup and ship to store capabilities across 467 of its retail locations.

The North Face is using the IBM Watson artificial intelligence platform to allow its online customers the ability to use natural conversation as they shop. In conjunction with Fluid EPX’s intuitive recommendation engine, shoppers will receive personalized product recommendations.

Drug Stores

CVS Health is implementing new digital tools to assist its customers. Notably, the company is using beacon technology to deliver in-store pharmacy messages.

Discount/GM

Sears Holdings Corp. is prioritizing its mobile shopping experience. Enhancements to the newly refreshed mobile app include order placement for out-of-stock items with free home shipping, contests and digital coupons, and new loyalty member perks available only via mobile.

Walmart is planning to develop its own version of mobile payment services with Walmart Pay. The retail giant is looking to go head to head with leaders Apple, Samsung and Google in the mobile payment space. Walmart Pay is currently being piloted at stores in Bentonville, with an anticipated chain-wide rollout in early 2016.

Grocery

Giant Eagle Inc. is using IBM Cloud’s SoftLayer Infrastructure as a Service to overhaul its internal IT infrastructure. The new hybrid cloud solution is designed to provide the company with sophisticated pricing options and faster procurement.

Reasor’s Inc. has enhanced its data analytics capabilities for use in its 19 supermarkets. The company implemented software from DMA’s Retail Enterprise Edition to better help analyze data on inventory, sales, pricing, costs, and labor.