The 20 sponsors of the 2019 Retail Innovation Conference offer services and solutions designed to address retailers’ biggest current challenges, including: enhancing loyalty via customer engagement; leveraging bots and social messaging to improve CX; migrating technology smoothly and cost-effectively to the cloud; and creating more compelling, immersive store environments.
Following is a roundup of the sponsors’ offerings, organized into four categories:
- Analytics/Data Management;
- Marketing And Loyalty;
- Retail Operations; and
- Store Operations.
Analytics/Data Management
Cloud4Wi
Cloud4Wi is an AI-driven location analytics and marketing platform provider, enabling retailers to collect anonymized customer insights through their in-store WiFi services. For customers who opt in, retailers can create unique customer profiles that include offline behavioral characteristics and do so in compliance with GDPR. To date, Cloud4Wi’s suite connects more than 130 million mobile users across 45,000 locations in more than 120 countries, while collecting more than 10 billion units of location data per month.
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Custora
Custora is a cloud-based customer analytics platform designed to unify data from disparate sources, make AI-powered predictions and share analytics across internal retail teams and customer touch points. Retailers also can build a comprehensive predictive customer profile using predictive models, event modeling and testing. The company works with retailers of all sizes including Tiffany & Co., J.Crew and Lucky Brand. In September 2018, Custora raised $13.75 million in a Series B funding round.
Evergage
Evergage is a 1-to-1 personalization and customer data platform (CDP) that enables retailers to collect, analyze and respond to shopper behavior in real time. The company recently introduced Evergage Decisions, a module designed to enable retailers to apply AI for automatically determining and delivering the optimal promotion or offer to each web site visitor, app user and email recipient. Additionally, Evergage recently released a study noting that 77% of marketers using machine learning personalization campaigns see a lift greater than 10%.
ORS Group
ORS Group is a software company that delivers AI, machine learning and big data analytics to optimize complex business processes for the whole value chain, from production to sales. At #RIC19, Brooks Brothers CIO Todd Treonze revealed that the 200-year-old retail icon has leveraged the ORS RETa.i.L Platform, enabling the company to reduce inventory 6%, improve sales analysis by geographic region, optimize price elasticity and implement the Buy Anywhere, Get it Anywhere (BAGA) feature. BAGA has helped Brooks Brothers improve stock positioning at individual stores and in turn improve product selection and boost sales.
Reltio
Reltio delivers enterprise data-driven applications powered by a master data management (MDM) Platform as a Service that is designed to organize data across all sources and formats, use machine learning to recommend actions and help make better decisions, and measure and improve operations. With the data blended into one place, marketing, e-Commerce and support teams can get visibility into customer preferences, behaviors, product interests and channel choice.
Marketing And Loyalty
Attentive
Attentive provides a mobile messaging platform designed to help brands and retailers connect with consumers in a more intimate and personalized way. Once people subscribe using a seamless “two-tap” registration process, brands can send personalized messages that include text, images and GIFs, helping improve key performance metrics such as click-throughs, open rates and overall ROI. Companies using the platform include CB2, Nine West and Tarte.
Clarus Commerce
Clarus Commerce powers more than 50 loyalty programs for brands across categories. The goal: to help these companies rethink traditional offer-based loyalty programs and instead offer “premium loyalty,” where customers pay a fee in exchange for 24/7 benefits. Through a flexible benefits infrastructure, Clarus Commerce allows brands to tailor rewards based on customer preferences and behaviors, providing discounts, rebates, exclusive content, experiences and more. Brands can then adjust rewards and perks based on their performance, so the program is designed with the customer in mind.
Optimove
Optimove’s mission is to help marketers drive measurable growth with their tactics and campaigns. Using its Customer Data Platform (CDP), retailers can transform customer data into actionable insights, which then inform thoughtful and relevant customer communications at scale. Marketers can implement campaigns based on individuals’ activities, behaviors and preferences, which ultimately allows retailers to strengthen customer relationships.
RevTrax
With its Offer Management Platform (OMP), RevTrax helps retailers run smarter offers and drive more value from their digital marketing efforts. The platform integrates across email, web site, search, social, display and other channels, so retailers can deliver offers to consumers and devices based on specific online behaviors. Advanced reporting capabilities also allow marketers to better understand the digital customer journey, with the ability to track conversations online, in-store or even via phone.
SocialCode
SocialCode offers global brands institutional media buying expertise, proprietary technology and creative services, helping them optimize the reach and impact of their marketing campaigns. Its Audience Intelligence Platform (AIP) enables marketers to integrate their data with trusted third-party data in order to offer deeper insights into advertising strategy and planning. The SocialCode INSIGHT custom dashboard provides real-time access to performance metrics across all major platforms to ensure smarter decision-making and better campaign results.
Retail Operations
4R Systems
The wide range of solutions from 4R Systems are designed to help retailers maximize profits from their omnichannel inventory investments. For example, the assortment localization solution lets retailers optimize inventory levels to meet the demands of each store in their chain. Additionally, as more retailers offer BOPIS services, 4R can take into account both online and in-store demand to ensure stores maintain the stock levels that are needed to fulfill orders, without overcompensating in ways that erode profitability.
Alibaba Cloud
Alibaba Cloud provides a comprehensive suite of global cloud computing services that power international customers’ online businesses, along with parent company Alibaba Group’s e-Commerce ecosystem. Alibaba Cloud offers big data products and solutions that retailers can use to streamline their businesses and enhance the shopper journey through data-driven real-time decisions. Additionally, Customer AI Solutions help retailers improve the shopping experience of online and in-store shoppers while helping retailers achieve cost advantages with automation.
Conversocial
Conversocial offers retailers a range of customer care options via social and messaging platforms such as WhatsApp. The solution provider’s acquisition of a bot platform allows Conversocial to combine bot and agent-assisted services, letting retailers address routine queries and issues while focusing human agents on the cases where they are needed most. Use of social profiles provide identity that can link an inquiry to a customer record, while messaging threads help provide agents with context and intent.
iAdvize
The iAdvize suite of online conversational solutions includes tools that put shoppers in direct contact with experts who use products the consumer has expressed interest in. For example, shoppers looking for running shoes can talk to tri-athletes, who can provide the shoppers with real-world advice. The experts have apps on their phone that allow them to be reached on a 24/7 basis. By building more personal relationships between consumers and product experts, retailers can improve online conversion rates by 6X and achieve an average 12% lift in web sales.
SoftServe
SoftServe offers consulting and custom software development, with a concentration on cloud migrations. The 25-year-old company maintains a strong focus on retail, particularly Tier 1 companies including Macy’s and Canadian Tire. SoftServe’s experts help empower retailers to identify and meet demands for next-level personalization, leveraging cutting-edge technologies for scalable, memorable and engaging customer experiences.
Store Operations
AmbianceIQ
AmbianceIQ, formerly Ambiance Radio, offers a range of services that help manage what shoppers hear and see to create an optimal retail environment. The solution provider’s music programming, which is based on 40 years of scientific research, lets retailers choose music designed to help them create preferred moods in-store. The selections can be customized by day, day part and by each individual store.
ComQi
Digital signage solution provider ComQi harnesses the power of smart signs to help retailers improve conversions. ComQi offers solutions ranging from small shelf displays to large customized screens, and has experience installing signage in both small stores and retail flagships. ComQi’s service covers installation, content consultations and field service, and retailers can customize their digital signage to design the exact installation that they need.
CS Hudson
Project and program management services provider CS Hudson harnesses a deep understanding of retail trends to help clients design stores that stand out from the competition. The company’s services range from installing new fixtures that let established retailers harness the latest in-store technology to advising e-Commerce pure plays looking to open their first brick-and-mortar location. CS Hudson combines lessons from its field work with internal research to help retailers stay on the cutting edge.
Opterus
Opterus helps retailers handle communication challenges with improved task management, companywide outreach and social collaboration through two platforms. OpsCenter is a multi-modular cloud solution that doesn’t require a software installation and gives enterprises the ability to stay in touch through a single tool. Holler is a social service built specifically for retailers, which encourages collaboration by offering an open forum to host chats, share pictures and offer feedback on company news.
PayPal
PayPal offers a solution that benefits both retail clients and their customers: retailers get the brand’s payment processing services, while shoppers can access an open line of credit. The solution provider’s reputation, built on 15 years of developing its customer base, helps build trust with customers, and the credit service lets merchants reach an audience of potential customers who lack traditional credit cards.