One of the ways retailers have sought to comply with Payment Card Industry (PCI) requirements is to implement tokenization — a payment data encryption method in which ciphered cardholder data is stored in a central database, or vault. During payment transactions, that information is replaced by “tokens” that identify cardholders while preserving their data security.

But a number of these central database solutions have relied on expensive, complex replication schemes to create a new vault for every merchant requesting tokenization. This centralized process also increases risk of a token vault breach.

Best-in-class retailers are delivering a more seamless deal collection and redemption process with card-linked offers, which replace standard coupons and printed vouchers with automatic, digital savings linked to shoppers’ credit and debit cards. Until recently, these discount offers were broad-based, such as dollars-off a total purchase.

Linkable Networks’ new MyLinkables capability now allows retailers to target and link SKU-level offers to consumers’ credit/debit cards, and engage shoppers in a more direct and efficient manner. 

Among the benefits, consumers save on top brands and retailers throughout the country, from restaurants and specialty retail to convenience and grocery stores, and can view link-enabled ads across a variety of media properties while browsing online.

Price- and deal-savvy consumers are conducting more extensive research on potential purchases. Because of these thrifty browsing strategies, retailers are seeking ways to price inventory more efficiently and excel in a competitive marketplace. By meeting — and exceeding — customer expectations, retailers can ensure they’re not missing out on sales opportunities.

Progressive retailers are implementing technology to track competitors’ pricing and assortment in real time. Assortment Intelligence, a tool featured in the Upstream Commerce suite, is designed to enable retailers to monitor assortment changes at competitors' web sites. Merchants then can adjust their own product mixes accordingly.

The Upstream Commerce Retail Intelligence Suite is a cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that utilizes advanced artificial intelligence, semantic analysis, data mining, and image-recognition algorithms to offer retailers real-time competitive price monitoring and analysis, as well as product and assortment intelligence.