Increasingly savvy online customers utilize a variety of Internet-based tools and technologies to seek out peer endorsements, research and the right product at the right price.

eTailers can optimize brand influence throughout the customer research journey with search management tools. Launched in December 2011, the Hydra OneSearch platform is focused on driving revenue and ROI through integrated management and implementation of phrase marketing campaigns across natural and paid search, as well as social media.

Hydra OneSearch, the next generation launch of the Hydra One platform, is designed to enable retailers to identify emerging trends, product interest and inform strategies through intelligent recommendations of high visibility keywords across different search channels.

Monetate, a provider of marketing optimization technology, recently launched its Agility Suite, a product suite designed to provide online marketers access to web site agility to keep pace with evolving consumer behavior in omni-channel retail. Installed on an e-Commerce site with a line of code, Monetate’s Agility Suite is delivered to businesses through a cloud-based platform that runs in the browser, and allows marketers to make data-driven changes outside of the IT queue. The Agility Suite offers marketers a digital toolkit focused on harvesting deeper customer engagement, actionable data and more relevant and targeted message delivery.

Launched in January 2012, the Monetate Agility Suite is comprised of five product layers designed to enable marketers to:

Given the continued rapid growth of mobile device adoption, shoppers expect a stellar, mobile-optimized experience from the e-Commerce web sites they visit. Industry insiders note that whether or not a retailer intends to “go mobile,” it’s a natural progression for consumers to expect e-Commerce sites to be optimized for mobile devices. In fact, a recent Tealeaf survey found that 85% of mobile users expect sites to load at least as fast, if not faster, on their mobile devices. Frustrated by the lack of ease-of-use, shoppers often abandon non-mobile optimized web sites.

For retailers, there are significant obstacles to delivering this content and user experience, including huge pages, low bandwidth, poorly powered devices and network limitations.  The Strangeloop Mobile Site Optimizer is a front-end solution, available as either a service via the cloud or an appliance in the datacenter, designed to work around these obstacles to deliver pages up to 3.5 times faster, automatically.

Editors' note: We have simplified the Retail TouchPoints Solution Spotlight. The new form is available here.

The proliferation of mobile devices and channels has changed the way consumers interact with technologies. Retail time clocks, however, have remained unchanged and cannot assimilate employees’ new technology habits. To address this challenge, Kronos Incorporated created the InTouch time clock, aimed at helping retailers streamline and mobilize workforce management.

The InTouch solution is an electronic time clock that allows retailers to automate time capture and provide full employee self-service capabilities. Launched in November 2011, the cloud-based InTouch time clock integrates with many other workforce management technologies: Employees can use the solution to check accrual balances, request time off and view schedules, all in real time.