JDA partners with
Google on retail
planning tool
JDA said it has partnered with Google Inc.
to create a cloud-based assortment planning tool called Retail.me, aimed at retailers
who are adapting their brick-and-mortar
stores from static shelves to an omnichannel, mobile-driven shopping model.
Customers in the information age have
come to expect interactive, visual, and
responsive shopping experiences, adding
new challenges for retailers who are already
struggling to adapt to omnichannel operations, JDA said. To meet that challenge,
JDA teamed up with the Internet search
giant to build an application on its Google
Cloud Platform (GCP), Bruce Bordelon,
technical solutions director at Google, told
attendees at last month’s JDA Focus user
group meeting in Nashville, Tenn.
The result is a software-as-a-service
(SaaS) offering that runs on the GCP, allowing JDA to supply the code with Google
providing the core infrastructure, data analytics, and machine learning that powers it,
Bordelon said.
Retail.me is designed to make the user
experience of in-store shopping more similar to online shopping, by enabling retail
planners to align their product selection
with customer preferences based on expected local demand. JDA’s platform predicts
that demand by using data science to segment consumer groups based on their
actual buying behavior, instead of generic
demographics, JDA CEO Baljit Dail said.
May was a busy month for JDA. Besides
the Google announcement, it released an
upgrade of its transportation management software (TMS) that allows users to
manage drivers’ shifts and assignments,
giving companies an extra tool for controlling costs. JDA also announced partnerships with the logistics technology
providers FourKites Inc., Inttra Inc., and
TransVoyant LLC that JDA says will add
real-time visibility and predictive analytics
to its TMS platform.
—Ben Ames
For the second year in a row, Sam’s Club has named third-party
logistics service provider Kane Is Able Inc. its 3PL Partner of the Year
for its operational excellence in logistics and overall dedication to
customer service. … Toyota Material
Handling, U.S.A., Inc. has announced
the 2015 winners of its prestigious
President’s Award, given to its forklift
dealers who excel in parts, service, and
equipment sales; customer satisfaction;
and overall dealership operations. … For
a seventh consecutive year, Unishippers Global Logistics has earned
a spot among the Top 25 Freight Brokerage Firms in North America,
according to Transport Topics’ annual Top 50 ranking. … ModusLink
Corp. has won a Gold Stevie Award in the Innovation of the Year -
Business Service Industries category for its “4-minute Click-to-Ship”
technology. … NASSTRAC has named Old Dominion Freight Line
Inc. its Carrier of the Year in the multi-regional LTL category for the
fourth consecutive year. … Third-party logistics service provider NFI
has received the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo Fleet
Award for shippers and carriers, which recognizes a forward-think-ing, clean transportation collaboration between two organizations.
accolades
TOYOTA
