RETAIL AND TECHNOLOGY NEWS

A partnership between CSI Enterprises and M3 Accounting + Analytics is now offering an Accounts Payable solution that can provide significant operational savings for hotel properties nationwide.   
 
M3 is the nation’s leading provider of hotel-specific accounting solutions, while CSI has provided innovative payment solutions to some of the world’s most iconic brands. As a result of the partnership, CSI’s globalVCard paysystems, an electronic payment solution, was incorporated into M3’s hosted, back-office accounting platform. The integration is designed to help customers reduce both the hours and the materials required for typical accounts payable processes.
 
After strong reception from a limited initial offering, the two companies decided to offer this solution to M3’s entire 3,000-plus roster of hotels. In the podcast, leaders of each company talk about the product’s benefits to different sized organizations – with large hospitality operations benefiting more from streamlining, and smaller ones benefiting from having access to capabilities they wouldn’t otherwise have.
 
Allen Read, president and COO with M3, noted in the interview, "The industry is trending toward electronic payments and efficiencies,” adding that, “we’re always looking for best-in-class solutions, which we found with CSI." 
 
During the interview with PYMNTS.com, David Disque, SVP/Director Operations with CSI, emphasized the “seamless integration” that occurs “when two best-in-class partners work together.” He said clients “literally turn the switch” to start seeing the benefits.
 
Further detail and the full 20-minute podcast are both available at: http://bit.ly/15Dis5I or at PYMNTS.com.

We all know technology is "cool" and that the more you get your hands on, the more you want. This is especially true for retailers and consumers alike. For retailers, it's about connecting and gaining information to better serve consumers. For consumers, it's all about better service. Retailers must modernize and respond to industry and consumer trends by deploying new technologies.
 
Here are five videos on retail technology trends and tactics to reach shoppers that are worth watching. The videos selected here have been recently posted and most (not all) were uploaded within a few weeks. So, in no particular order here are my picks for the best five videos about retail tech trends and tactics currently on the Web.
 

1. The Container Store Mobile App Platform Customer Testimonial
   Store leadership dashboards are available for The Container Store via a mobile app platform called "The Score" to help the retailer execute its BI strategy.

2. Solving Big Retail Challenges with Big Data
   Sears Holdings' stakes a claim on the leading edge of big data by embedding Hadoop technology and skillsets throughout the enterprise to reduce inventory, lower costs and boost sales.

3. Key Big Data Trends in Retail
   How do retailers get their arms around the exponential growth of data today? The ability for a retailer to have instantaneous interaction across the enterprise and with the customer is a high priority.

4. Cartwheel by Target
   Target puts a new spin on savings by launching a mobile coupons and deals for customers. Through the app customers can share deals via social media, activate deals at checkout and more.

5. Retailers Using Technology to Reach Shoppers
   Bloomberg provides a report on how retailers are using technology in the push to communicate with customers as well as the transition from e-commerce to e-influence as shoppers turn to mobile.