Retail IT News for VARs — July 23, 2013

By Bernadette Wilson

Business Solutions searched recent headlines for news of interest to VARs serving clients in the retail market.

Autos Top Retail Sales

The U.S. Department of Commerce released the Advanced Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Service report for June 2013. Auto and other motor vehicle sales showed the biggest gain, increasing 12.9 percent from last year. Overall estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for June show an increase of 0.4 percent from May and 5.7 percent from June 2012.

Retailers Consider Effects of ACA Employer Mandate Delay

An article on blog.nrf.com looks at what the Affordable Care Act employer mandate delay means for retailers. Businesses with 50 or more full-time workers now have until January 1, 2015 to provide their employees with health insurance. The original date to provide insurance was set for the beginning of 2014.

Canada Cuts 2 Tariffs, Creates eCommerce Opportunity

Integrated Solutions for Retailers reports the Canadian government will no longer impose tariffs on imported baby clothes and selected sports equipment. This levels the playing field for these products, giving U.S. businesses a chance to take advantage of Canada’s growing e-commerce market.

Help Your Customers With Vendor Compliance Programs

Integrated Solutions for Retailers is also featuring a series on vendor compliance programs by Gregory  Holder of Compliance Networks. In the series, your customers can explore better methods for tracking vendor compliance, including automating the process This is th third “class” in the series, with opportunities to catch up with the first two sessions that defined vendor compliance and focused on how to start a program. 

New POS Print Ad Analytics Service Offered

EFI is introducing SmartSign Analytics (SSA), which shows how successfully point of sale print ads reach target demographics in specific locations. The company, whose products include production workflow, web to print, and business automation software, moves into the sign and display analysis sector with SSA.

Retail Professionals Comment on IT

A Dark Reading article explains that the temptation for SMBs to use unlicensed software to save money can result in negative — and costly — consequences.

A Hughes case study details a solution that includes a high-speed network and managed services. It is helping a Yum! Brands franchisee communicate with all of its locations, operate efficiently, and keep data safe.

For small businesses, an article on nojitter.com talks about the logic of hosted Wi-Fi for SMBs. Also, on smbnation.com, Ari Rabban, CEO and co-founder of Phone.com, tells SMBs five ways cloud makes small businesses look big.

An Information Week article takes a look at the challenge MSPs, especially those serving the SMB market, face trying to balance clients’ BYOD policies and Big Data.