First it was China’s eCommerce megaretailer Alibaba coming to the U.S. to compete with Amazon and eBay. Now another Asian company looks poised to follow Alibaba’s lead, further helping an already strong U.S. online marketplace, where Internet sales exceeded $262 billion last year. Venturebeat.com reports that Japan’s largest online retailer, Rakuten, may soon enter the U.S. market. In June, the company launched a $100 million investment fund to focus on startups in the U.S., Israel and Asia Pacific region. The company recently acquired U.S.-based eCommerce app Slice, apparently in an attempt to expand its offerings domestically and compete against two of nation’s top eCommerce sites, Amazon …

Kontakt.io has brought something new to the arena of beacon devices that rely on Bluetooth Smart technology for connectivity. Kontakt.io has launched the Cloud Beacon, with built-in Wi-Fi capabilities, unlocking ways for beacons to be used more effectively. The cloud beacons incorporate Wi-Fi hardware besides that of Bluetooth low energy. Beacons have the potential to radically lead to innovation in the way shoppers interact with products in physical stores. Smartphone users can get catalogs of products right on their screens. Furthermore, features such as mobile payments can be enabled by retailers using beacons.

Clothing retailer Barneys is working hard to make sure the shopping experience on mobile devices is as personalized as possible by pushing product recommendations and other content based on browsing history, and connecting browsing to actual transactions. The 30-store chain has an m-dot Web site and launched an application specifically for the iPad in April, and is now working toward launching a responsively designed site in the coming months. It currently counts more than half of its site visits as arriving via smartphones and tablets.

One of the most recognizable brands in America, Domino’s Pizza is using technology to drive better experiences and reinvent its brand to interact with consumers in the digital age, a company executive explained at eTail East 2014. Between 2006 and 2008 Domino's was in crisis due to plummeting sales and a less than stellar image thanks in large part to a lackluster product. The company underwent a Renaissance, starting with a public admission that its pizza was not up to par, and revamped the entire menu and its ingredients. 

Consumers that increasingly do more flower shopping online and increased competition from grocers and others that now sell a wider array of bouquets and plants helped spur FTD Inc.’s planned $430 million acquisition of Provide Commerce, FTD CEO Robert Apatoff told Wall Street analysts yesterday on the company’s second quarter earnings call. FTD, No. 105 in the 2014 Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, announced July 30 plans to acquire the floral and gifting businesses, including the e-commerce sites, of Provide Commerce from Liberty Interactive Corp. (No. 6). 

There’s a mother lode of data in professional sports — individual and team stats, attendance figures, gate receipts, team standings, playbooks and tons of content. The question is what to do with it. The National Football League and three major Boston sports teams are revamping their data aggregation and analytics infrastructure and installing iBeacons in hopes of capturing more data from their ticket holders, tightening the feedback loop between fans and teams. But some IT pros with those teams acknowledge there’s a fine line between enhancing the game-going experience and distracting from it.

According to a report that was recently issued by BI Intelligence, when it comes to mobile shopping, it is male consumers who are considerably more likely to actually make a purchase than their female counterparts. The report showed that women and men shop online at a rate that is quite near to each other. However, when it comes to mobile shopping, specifically, it is men who will most likely hit the “buy” button. This insight could prove to be quite important to marketers, who tend to steer their ads toward female consumers in the United States. When it comes to overall …

The Spanish five star exclusive abbey hotel and winery in Spain’s Duero wine region, dating back to 1146, is providing guests who visit its 900 year old property with Google Glass, and is the first hotel in Europe to do so. The smart glasses are provided to guests so that they can obtain more from their experience at the hotel, which is well known for its architecture and art collection. During their stay, guests with the devices can watch videos about the hotel, take photos, videos, surf the web, make phone calls, and so on. When it is time for them …

Combatant Gentlemen is preparing to launch a shopping mobile application that will center on product merchandising using strong images and targeted promotions, the online men’s fashion label revealed during a discussion panel at eTail East 2014. The app, anticipated to go live for Black Friday this year, will contain features that originated from customer feedback as well as downsized content and large images to provide an ample amount of information for the shopper. A label that aims to please and relate to its customer, Combatant Gentlemen is able to give its brand an edge by leveraging mobile despite its online …

While the promise of m-commerce and mobile payments has been a large one, recent events in digital security have caused a considerable amount of harm to the confidence that consumers in the United Kingdom are feeling toward the safety of the technology. Recent research from a firm called Intercede has revealed that following the Heartbleed online and mobile security issue, only 18 percent of consumers in the United Kingdom feel confident that their use of m-commerce and smartphone based payments are actually secure.