A common perception is that there is a difference between being secure and being compliant. A Verizon analysis on cybercrime reported that cyber-attacks on Retailers are increasing and becoming streamlined and automated.  According to the 2012 Verizon PCI compliance report, “97% of breaches were avoidable through simple or intermediate controls”. How does a Retailer protect itself? One method is through PCI Compliance. Does that sound contradictory to that common perception?

Join Cisco on April 16th, 2013 10:00am PT for a webcast on PCI compliance and security with guests from Ponemon Institute, Verizon Business and PCI Security Standards Council.

As part of the planning of the webcast, we sat down with Bart McGlothin and Christian Janoff from Cisco’s security team to discuss PCI compliance and security for retail and get some answers. Here’s what we learned:

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Tags: Cisco, payment card industry, PCI Compliance, Ponemon, Verizon Busines

Reports of the physical retail store’s death have been greatly exaggerated. As a recent survey from the Cisco^® Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) found, 93 percent of products sold in the United States are still bought in brick-and-mortar locations. And while technology has upended many product categories and more than a few individual retailers, it simultaneously creates opportunities for retailers to continue to make the store shopping experience both relevant and compelling. Big Data in the store is key to achieving this.

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Tags: Big Data, business intelligence, Cisco, data in motion, IBSG, Internet of Everything, IoE, machine learning, Machine to Machine, machine-to-human, mobility, online shopping, retail, social media, video

At NRF 2013, Rajesh Mani, Business Development Manager for Customer Business Transformation within Cisco’s Collaboration Technology Group, demonstrated how MicroStrategy Business Intelligence integrated with Cisco Jabber can transform the retail business process.

MicroStrategy enables retailers to have a 360-degree snapshot of their store operations, including store vitals, employee and customer information, inventory, and current promotions. The addition of Cisco Jabber into the application drives actionable business intelligence to facilitate tight-knit collaboration between the stores, district sales, and corporate business functions – which, in-turn, will result in faster and more insightful decision-making.

Watch the video below to see our demonstration of Cisco Jabber and MicroStrategy Business Intelligence at NRF 2013.

More videos of our NRF 2013 demonstrations, Big Ideas Sessions, and press event are available at www.cisco.com/go/nrf.

Retailers looking at the Big Data opportunity may well find themselves with an array of choices: the opportunities seem so vast, where does one begin?

Well, a pragmatic way forward is to focus on some pragmatic possibilities and then “follow the money”!

In examining the Big Data opportunity for retailers, Cisco IBSG has identified three key areas where we believe value can be generated through Big Data analytics – and we have put together a framework for assessing and comparing the financial impact of options within these areas.

As outlined in our previous report, “Surfing the Data Deluge: How Retailers Can Turn Big Data into Big Profits,” three areas – video, social and mobile data –promise unprecedented insights into what consumers want or need, at the earliest stages of interest, and will drive the Big Data thrust in retail over the next few years. These three essentials not only represent a major stream of incoming data, but also provide an outbound mechanism to communicate with customers on a more personalized basis. In other words, they are both a source of Big Data analytics and a way of implementing Big Data insights!
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Tags: analysis, analytics, Big Data, Cisco, high-definition cameras, IBSG, mobile data, retail, social media, video

In my previous blog, I walked you through the Cisco Remote Expert Smart Solution for Retail demo that I presented at NRF. This solution helps retailers catch, keep, and entice customers to buy and buy more.

This solution was explored in greater depth at NRF during our Big Ideas Session: Deliver Compelling Shopping and GREAT Customer Service with Interactive Technologies. This session focused on how delivering a compelling shopping experience and exceptional customer service with interactive technologies can help drive sales.  Attendees heard how interactive touch screens, digital signage, and video collaboration can help retailers delight and engage consumers, cost-effectively address shopper questions by using local and remote experts, and quickly convert in-store browsers into buyers.

Watch the video below to hear our session speakers provide a summary of this compelling Cisco Big Ideas Session:

For more information about Cisco Remote Expert Smart Solution for Retail please visit:   www.cisco.com/go/retail-remoteexpert

Read more about the solution in our Cisco Remote Expert Smart Solution for Retail Brochure.

Tags: Cisco, Cisco Remote Expert Smart Solution for Retail, NRF< NRF 2013, remote expert