By Evan Schuman Amazon has never shied away from an experiment and, indeed, many of Amazon’s nontraditional business processes are now SOP for everyone else. Therefore, its experiments are worth watching. A new one surfaced this week, an effort to offer 30-hour workweeks “for select employees.” As described by The Washington Post, “the program will…
Category: IDG Contributor Network
IDG Contributor Network
IDG Contributor Network: Home Depot’s magic value: Returns
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By Evan Schuman During an August investors call, Home Depot CEO Craig Menear let loose a stunning stat: 90% of all online returns are processed in-store. Allowing an online return to be boxed and handled by a local store has always been a popular feature, but this is the first a primarily physical chain has…
IDG Contributor Network: Third-party vendors — your weakest link?
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By Robert C. Covington Some of you may remember the TV game show The Weakest Link, during which a somewhat caustic Anne Robinson would declare one of the nine contestants the weakest link, and summarily kick them off the program. Now, imagine Anne taking a job as an information security consultant, reviewing security and risk…
IDG Contributor Network: Mall developer insisting on tech for merchant tenants
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By Evan Schuman Like newspapers, paper checks, drive-in movies and landlines, shopping malls are rapidly moving to the land of the quaint. It’s possible that some will survive and even flourish, but that will require rapid technological advancements, plus far more customer service than most mall stores can handle. But one brand-new mall in New…
IDG Contributor Network: The CVS go-it-alone app suffers from the pharma payment pain
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By Evan Schuman When CVS last week (Aug. 11) rolled out its in-store mobile payment app, it was the latest example of the front-loading approach to mobile payments. That’s where you let shoppers do as much as possible within the payment app long before they get to the top of the checkout line. That way,…
IDG Contributor Network: IT asset management: How to be efficient
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By Norm Brien Business leaders will tell you that overseeing a company is undoubtedly risky. But there are ways to mitigate risk. IT inventory administration is key to businesses managing their systems more effectively and, if performed routinely, can save time and money by avoiding unnecessary asset purchases. To be effective, there are two distinct…
IDG Contributor Network: Target CIO’s request to do far fewer things is heresy — but really good heresy
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By Evan Schuman One of the long-held truths about life as a C-level in a Fortune 500 company is that money — and the number of projects under your command — is power. And, the mantra continues, power is good. Power is respect. The goal, by the way, of having power is to achieve far…
IDG Contributor Network: Will 7-Eleven build on feat of completing first retail drone delivery?
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By Evan Schuman One small step for man, one giant leap for flying Slurpees. An unexpected winner has emerged in the retail contest for who will be the first to fly a delivery via drone into somebody’s backyard: 7-Eleven, of “They actually deliver?” fame. Yes, they deliver and they have beat Amazon and others to…
IDG Contributor Network: What’s holding back EMV?
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By Evan Schuman New stats from Visa paint a sobering picture of the acceptance of EMV, a.k.a. chip cards. June stats from what Visa says are the “top states for chip-ready merchants” show that 66% of merchants are not yet able to handle EMV. Nationally, that “do not accept” number jumps to 72%. This is…
IDG Contributor Network: Mastercard’s new logo spits on plastic
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By Evan Schuman Logo redesigns, while nicely profitable for designers and consultants, rarely do a heck of a lot for the company behind the logo. Consumers generally don’t care or even notice. But sometimes, subtle changes are meant to convey important changes, although it can take the skills of an old-school Kremlinologist to decipher them.…