IBM is buying analytics vendor DemandTec for US$440 million in a bid to build out its line of e-commerce software, the companies announced Thursday. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of next year.
Walmart has launched its Shopycat application, that uses information on the interests of friends on Facebook to make recommendations on gifts for them from Walmart stores and other sites.
Walmart could start letting shoppers buy products in the aisles and skip the checkout line, but the world's largest retailer needs to find out how that would improve the customer experience, the company's e-commerce chief said Thursday.
Retail giant Wal-Mart is reported to be planning on making all its payment terminals in the U.S. compliant with a smartcard-based credit card technology that is already widely used around the world, but not in the U.S.
WalMart has started letting other retailers sell their products on its Walmart.com online store.