In Depth

In Depth

IT for retail and logistics

• Swedish researchers are patiently developing a useful quantum computer

  By 2028, the Wallenberg Centre for Quantum Technology in Sweden expects to have a useful quantum computer  Continue Reading

• Arkwright’s till, Tesco GetGo and retail tech’s non-linear innovation journey

  The checkout-free Tesco GetGo store shows that retail technology has come a long way since the faulty till draws in Open All Hours, but some of today’s innovation goes back to the future  Continue Reading

• Digital surveillance of remote workers may increase enterprise risk

  From productivity tools to security threats, we explore how digital surveillance is forcing remote workers towards shadow IT  Continue Reading

• How to manage endpoint security in a hybrid work environment

  The future of the workplace is clearly hybrid, but this has untold implications around endpoint security. How can businesses overcome these?  Continue Reading

• How in-store technology is supporting retail’s sustainability agenda

  Boots, Costa Coffee and the major grocers’ in-store technology focus is switching towards systems supporting sustainability goals  Continue Reading

• Retail tech community reacts to BNPL regulatory proposals

  Regulation is coming to the buy now, pay later market, but what does it mean for a retail tech community increasingly embracing these solutions?  Continue Reading

• Boots leading drive for ‘professionalisation of IT’ in retail

  Boots becomes member of the BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, as CIO Rich Corbridge accelerates drive for the ‘professionalisation of IT’  Continue Reading

• New thinking and systems required to tackle online fraud in retail

  Online fraud is a growing problem for retail, but are merchants doing enough to update systems and how should they change their actions to address it?  Continue Reading

• Tech and new experiences tackling trouble at t’mall

  UK shopping centres are under pressure, but new concepts, tech-infused spaces, and fresh approaches to consumer engagement are revitalising the sector  Continue Reading

• Video commerce and livestreaming make waves in retail

  The growth in e-commerce during the pandemic is well documented, but the fragmented retail environment has also helped video commerce and livestreaming rise to prominence  Continue Reading

• India is becoming a hotspot for IoT

  India is set to be a cradle for internet of things deployments thanks to its vibrant economy and its potential to play a bigger role in global manufacturing  Continue Reading

• Amazon Go – is now the right time?

  In the beginning of 2021, Amazon launched a physical store in London, but is it the right time to be investing in offline?  Continue Reading

• Innovation at the shelf edge

  It’s been a challenging year for stores due to Covid-19, but some retailers have found time to innovate at the shelf edge with noteworthy technology deployments  Continue Reading

• A tech reboot of retail

  With 2020 having been the toughest year on record for bricks and mortar retailers, we look at some tech innovations that may be heading for the high street  Continue Reading

• ‘Salad as a service’: retailers’ interest in vertical farming grows

  Retailers are waking up to the potential of vertical farming, with technology-enabled agriculture a core part of supply chain bosses’ and food buyers’ plans  Continue Reading

• Digital donations: retailers using technology to offer something back

  Some charities require corporate support like never before, and retailers are finding new ways to use technology to facilitate donations  Continue Reading

• How retailers are using tech to cope with changing footfall

  Customer behaviour was shifting long before the coronavirus pandemic accelerated the online shopping boom, so what technology are retailers using to keep stores relevant?  Continue Reading

• This Christmas, Covid-19 heightens retail security risks for everyone

  Do you think it’s only retailers and consumers who need to consider cyber security when shopping online during the holidays? You’re dead wrong. This year, the Covid-19 pandemic and the shift to remote working has thrown a spanner in the works  Continue Reading

• How retailers are using digital to engage with Covid Christmas shoppers

  Christmas is likely to be different this year because of the pandemic, and there is likely to be an altered shopping experience. So how are retailers using digital to cope with this shift in festive shopping?  Continue Reading

• Lush’s 25-year journey to digital excellence

  Retailers are increasingly focused on using technology to better serve customers, but for high street cosmetic brand Lush, tech has always been part of the picture  Continue Reading

• Covid-19: How retailers are using technology to respond to changing shopping habits

  As the coronavirus outbreak accelerates the shift in consumer behaviour, how are retailers using technology to keep customers engaged?  Continue Reading

• Robots delivering the goods for retailers

  Amazon is investing in autonomous robot delivery in the UK, adding to pioneering work undertaken by Co-op and Starship Technologies  Continue Reading

• Morrisons and Pret join UK retail’s growing subscription economy

  Morrisons and Pret A Manger join growing UK retail movement towards subscription models – a space frequented by technology-led players such as Gousto  Continue Reading

• How the supply chain is handling Covid-19

  Cost-cutting habits have left supply chains chasing their tails in the wake of the pandemic. We take a look at how they’re coping  Continue Reading

• Auditing for algorithmic discrimination

  Despite the abundance of decision-making algorithms with social impacts, many companies are not conducting specific audits for bias and discrimination that can help mitigate their potentially negative consequences  Continue Reading

• Coronavirus: Retailers reach for tech to keep staff connected in the crisis

  From fast-tracking home-working strategy, to conducting training and board meetings virtually, read about how retailers are keeping staff connected during the Covid-19 coronavirus crisis  Continue Reading

• The People vs Amazon: ‘They will have to answer to all of us’, says fired employee Christian Smalls

  Former Amazon employee Christian Smalls speaks to Computer Weekly about his termination and how the company is trying to silence dissent as it reports massive sales  Continue Reading

• Coronavirus: Contactless limit rises as retailers make point-of-sale changes

  The spending limit for contactless card payments is increasing to £45 today (1 April), which is just one of several ways that retail point-of-sale is evolving in response to the coronavirus  Continue Reading

• Coronavirus: Grocers scrambling to update online and delivery propositions

  The supermarkets have effectively become the fourth emergency service as the Covid-19 coronavirus crisis takes hold, aided by significant online and delivery changes  Continue Reading

• Shirts and suits retailers using tech to stay smart

  Enhanced personalisation, increased visualisation and much more customisation with a digital twist comprise the to-do lists of several UK formalwear retailers  Continue Reading

• The big retail tech themes from Retail’s Big Show

  The National Retail Federation’s Big Show signals the kick-off of the retail events calendar. We look over the themes promised for retail tech over the next year  Continue Reading

• Alan Bates: The ‘details man’ the Post Office paid the price for ignoring

  In 2003, subpostmaster Alan Bates had his contract terminated when he refused to comply with Post Office policy. A decade and a half later, against the odds, he took the Post Office to the High Court and won a multimillion-pound legal case  Continue Reading

• How Halfords is using tech to rev up its customer service

  Live chat, virtual contact centres and a new unifying web platform are set to enhance Halfords’ customer service proposition in the year ahead  Continue Reading

• Top 10 storage deployment stories of 2019

  Here are ComputerWeekly’s top 10 storage deployment stories for 2019, which see quite a move away from traditional SAN and NAS to hyper-converged, software-defined storage and object storage  Continue Reading

• Future fashion: does that dress come in digital?

  A visit to a technology-fuelled fashion pop-up paints a picture of a world where retailers and brands sell virtual clothes for usage solely in consumers’ digital lives  Continue Reading

• What’s new in UK retail’s online-to-offline movement?

  US menswear retailer Untuckit used to be an online pureplay, but by the end of 2019 it will have 80-plus stores, including its two new UK shops, as the online-to-offline trend continues  Continue Reading

• How retailers are using social to reach Gen Z and beyond

  The younger generation of shoppers are all using social media, so how are retailers using influencers to reach these potential customers and their spending power?  Continue Reading

• Disabled consumers left logged out of retail’s digital revolution

  Retailers are being urged to make their digital assets more accessible to disabled consumers, not just for moral and social reasons, but because of the commercial opportunity  Continue Reading

• The emergence of the shopping centre-as-a-service model

  Shopping centres have been morphing into wider entertainment, leisure and hospitality venues for some time, but their role is set to evolve yet further  Continue Reading

• Samsung KX gives consumers and retailers a glimpse of the future

  Samsung puts its Galaxy range, the internet of things and community events at the heart of its new central London consumer space – but don’t call it a store...  Continue Reading

• How to mitigate IoT security risks to tap business benefits

  Security concerns are preventing many businesses from adopting IoT-based technologies, but with a bit of planning, the business benefits can be realised by mitigating the risk  Continue Reading

• Building a 5G city: Bristol’s valuable lessons for the UK’s digital future

  West of England Combined Authority is taking part in DCMS’s 5G Testbeds and Trials programme, exploring applications for tourism and entertainment. We find out how it is applying its learnings to life in Bristol and Bath  Continue Reading

• Private 5G networks: Are they the right choice for you?

  The concept of dedicated private mobile networks for large enterprises is not a new one, but with the advent of ultrafast 5G networks, they are starting to attract more interest  Continue Reading

• What 5G applications will transform your business?

  The UK’s mobile network operators have started work on their 5G roll-outs, but what applications are most likely to gain enterprise traction for the new standard?  Continue Reading

• Securing your mobile estate – best practice for CIOs

  The prevalence of mobile devices in every part of daily life is shaping how enterprises make choices about software and network infrastructure, but how do businesses go about securing these vast new endpoint estates?  Continue Reading

• Retailers engineer new ways to recruit and retain IT talent

  Senior leaders at Holland & Barrett, Feelunique and BrandAlley offer tips on finding and keeping sought-after engineering and developer talent  Continue Reading

• Data protection: How privacy can be a benefit, not a burden

  With the growing number of data breaches, consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about how their data is used. Organisations can take advantage of this trend by treating data protection and user privacy as product features  Continue Reading

• French baby store modernises backup as Veeam handles 150TB a night

  France-based maternity, baby and children’s store Orchestra needed to share IT resources between 700 points of sale across multiple time zones, and backup for 100 applications  Continue Reading

• How to get the basics of mobile device management right the first time

  When adopting mobile device management, there are often fears around implementation and whether or not the strategy is even required  Continue Reading

• Exploring UCaaS: The main benefits for enterprises

  Getting unified communications-as-a-service right can mean more agility, higher productivity, and cost control  Continue Reading

• How privacy could breathe new life into personalisation

  As much of the advertising technology used by marketers to deliver personalised content online is deemed unlawful, there are signs regulation could actually be a win-win for both consumers and business – as long as the industry embraces change  Continue Reading

• Disaster planning: How to expect the unexpected

  Focusing too much on specific disasters rather than considering an organisation’s data protection, network security and process requirements, can lead to unpredicted vulnerabilities  Continue Reading

• Convenience, digitisation and the impact on the physical store

  Digital technologies and the need for convenience have changed the way consumers shop, but what will this mean for the purpose and size of physical stores?  Continue Reading

• How retail store technology is filling the ‘imagination gap’

  Retailers are using in-store technology to reduce the time between shoppers’ consideration phase and purchase, but how is it engaging them and triggering conversions?  Continue Reading

• Cutting employees some Slack: The rise of messaging apps in retail

  Slack’s 2019 stock market debut raises the profile of enterprise collaboration software, but what options do retailers have in this space and how are they using the technology?  Continue Reading

• Mobile phones and health: is 5G being rolled out too fast?

  European countries are rolling out 5G mobile communications at breakneck speed as they seek to gain a competitive edge over the US and Asia. But some scientists have raised questions about the effects of 5G mobile phone radiation on public health ...  Continue Reading

• Retail technology, sports sponsorship and a global marketing opportunity

  Sports sponsorship remains a focus area for B2B software companies and retail technology businesses looking to impress the C-suite  Continue Reading

• Futuristic logistics: retailers focused on rapid delivery

  From Asos Instant to Ocado Zoom, and a host of new services in between, rapid delivery is gaining traction in UK retail in an attempt to meet customer demand  Continue Reading

• What are the CDN options for enterprises?

  We look at how content delivery networks can give your organisation’s web presence a literal edge  Continue Reading

• Interview: Andy Berks, digital product director, Asos

  Asos’s digital product director Andy Berks talks about how the online retailer has used AI and machine learning technologies – and why the needs of the customer have to come first  Continue Reading

• Ready, headset, go: Retailers racing ahead with VR for staff training

  Has virtual reality found its prime retail user case as a staff training tool? Recent moves from Costa Coffee and Walmart suggest it has  Continue Reading

• Fashion retail’s sustainability challenge and how technology can help

  UK fashion retailers were grilled in Parliament last month on sustainability, so how might technology like blockchain or online recommendation tools help as they look to improve their green credentials?  Continue Reading

• Nike and Zara drive fashion retail’s self-service future

  New store openings from Nike and Zara show it is not just in grocery stores where self-service technology is impacting retail.  Continue Reading

• Securing the SD-WAN: The next network challenge

  Every time an enterprise weighs up whether or not to try SD-WAN, security is an essential part of the picture  Continue Reading

• Manchester’s evolution from rag trade to e-commerce riches

  As Amazon and Moonpig plan to open Manchester hubs, the focus once again turns to the city’s in-demand digital and e-commerce scene  Continue Reading

• CIO interview: Tamara Lohan, founder and CTO of Mr & Mrs Smith

  Head of technology and co-founder of luxury travel firm Mr & Mrs Smith explains how the firm is revamping its technology to provide customers with a seamless experience  Continue Reading

• Why are so few electric vehicles used for online shopping deliveries?

  UK retailers appear to be in the electric vehicle slow lane when it comes to online shopping deliveries, but changes are imminent  Continue Reading

• Intelligent automation and the WAN: Is SD-WAN moving mainstream?

  Take-up of software-defined networking in corporates is slower than expected. Where have we reached on the journey to software-controlled networks – and SD-WAN in particular – becoming the norm?  Continue Reading

• Doorstep challenge: How retailers are innovating on delivery and fulfilment

  Every retailer selling online in 2018 needs great shipping options for customers who have got used to an expanding list of choices. How are some retailers developing the proposition, and where does technology fit into the equation?  Continue Reading

• How is Google taking on Microsoft Office in retail?

  Carrefour represents a big-name contract win for Google’s G Suite, but will Microsoft Office still be dominant across retail?  Continue Reading

• What are the current SD-WAN options for enterprises?

  Software-defined wide area networking is well on its way to being a multi-billion dollar market. We assess the current state of the market and look at some of the options for enterprise CIOs and network managers  Continue Reading

• Employers turn to wearable technology to help staff manage work-life balance

  Companies are realising that there are sound business reasons for ensuring their employees get enough sleep and exercise, so they are turning to wearable technology to help their staff stay healthy, despite the pressures of work  Continue Reading

• The use cases, challenges and benefits behind retail AI

  Retailers have been collecting customer data for years, and with AI technology now available to help them use it effectively, they’re jumping at the chance – but what challenges lie ahead?  Continue Reading

• Sustainability and the smartphone: How to give your old device a second life

  Find out what happens to your smartphone after you’re finished with it and why you should commit to the circular economy  Continue Reading

• Cyber crime: why business should report it as soon as possible

  Cyber crime is affecting a growing number of businesses, yet few are reporting it. Computer Weekly lifts the veil on cyber crime reporting, looking at the who, what, when, where, how and why  Continue Reading

• DevOps done right: Securing grassroots support for a top-down DevOps enterprise push

  As more and more enterprises rush to join the DevOps movement, practitioners share details of how they secured grassroots support for their senior leadership team's top-down agile adoption mandates  Continue Reading

• Need for speed: designing a modern campus LAN

  Just like datacentres before them, campus LANs are increasingly being defined by virtualisation and software-based controls. Next to this shift, the hardware also continues to improve as network owners look to keep pace with user demand  Continue Reading

• IPsoft’s digital worker is part of a shift in human productivity

  IPsoft used its annual user summit to allow customers to update themselves on the career of its cognitive digital agent Amelia  Continue Reading

• Amazon, Toys R Us and a tale of two technology approaches

  Many factors contributed to the collapse of Toys R Us, but did a partnership with Amazon at the turn of the millennium play a part in its eventual demise?  Continue Reading

• GDPR: An overview of the latest data protection legislation

  The forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will have wide-ranging implications for every organisation that processes personal data. This comprehensive overview tells you what you need to know  Continue Reading

• Software-defined networking: gathering momentum in the enterprise?

  Suppliers are pushing the benefits of software-defined networking harder than ever, and enterprises are starting to take the plunge rather than remaining on the sidelines  Continue Reading

• Data protection is critical for all businesses

  Companies that misuse data or fall victim to breaches not only risk financial loss, but also reputational damage. There are many reasons good data practice is essential  Continue Reading

• Should retail try to save the high street's declining footfall?

  Footfall in the high street is declining, but should retailers be trying to claw back visits to stores or is it time for a new digital focus?  Continue Reading

• Retail legacy systems: how can we overcome them?

  With technology adoption changing the retail landscape, many retailers are left with legacy systems. We look at how they are dealing with them in today’s digitally led environment  Continue Reading

• Network security in the digital transformation era

  Network security has always been a core focus for CISOs and IT security managers, but in an era of digital transformation, we examine if network security strategies are keeping up with new and emerging cyber threats  Continue Reading

• Businesses need to take cryptojacking seriously

  Organisations must pay attention to cyber criminals hijacking computing resources to mine cryptocurrencies, because nearly half are affected and the impact is greater than many realise  Continue Reading

• What are the retail jobs that don’t exist yet?

  As in many industries, technology and new consumer behaviour is changing the shape of retail. But what yet-to-be-created jobs are on the horizon for the sector?  Continue Reading

• GDPR: Not too late to ensure real risks will be addressed

  With just four months to go before the General Data Protection Regulation compliance deadline, there is a growing anxiety in many parts of the regulated community that their GDPR plans may not be fit for purpose  Continue Reading

• CIO interview: How River Island is using cloud to fend off its fast fashion competitors

  River Island's CIO, Doug Gardner, discusses how embracing cloud, online and mobile devices is driving sales in its high street stores  Continue Reading

• Hard work, big prize: Bristol is shaping what it means to be a smart city

  Two-and-a-half years after the ambitious Bristol is Open smart city project launched, we return to the West Country to explore how things are progressing, and find out what has been learned  Continue Reading

• Brexit uncertainty dominates UK’s digital conversation

  Uncertainty over the impact of Brexit dominated conversations at TechUK’s second annual Supercharging the Digital Economy event. Can technology really lessen the impact?  Continue Reading

• UK Data Protection Bill vs EU General Data Protection Regulation

  The UK Data Protection Bill is due to come into force this year, ahead of the EU General Data Protection Regulation in May 2018 - we look at the differences between the two  Continue Reading

• Gitex 2017: How can blockchain make you a happier person?

  An initiative underway at Avaya hopes to use blockchain networks to help make the citizens of Dubai happy  Continue Reading

• Where the device hits the network – a mobile device management update

  As business becomes increasingly mobile, we look at the latest trends in mobile device management to give businesses the edge  Continue Reading

• How retailers are using technology to remain relevant

  From the constant innovation at Asos, Amazon and Missguided to the new supply chain prowess flaunted by Diesel and Gap, fashion retailers are investing in tech to stay relevant to their customers  Continue Reading

• Can fixed wireless access fix business connectivity problems?

  Fixed wireless access is being touted as a panacea for poor network connectivity, but is it a viable solution, and what are the benefits for businesses?  Continue Reading

• Can retailers be too far ahead of the tech curve?

  Ocado is winning plaudits for its innovation but analysts criticise the online grocer for its financial performance  Continue Reading

• How to use threat intelligence in your business

  Threat intelligence can be very handy, but just how useful and appropriate it will be depends largely on the security maturity of an organisation  Continue Reading

• Nando's technology director explains using cloud to digitally disrupt its own business

  Nando’s technology director, Richard Atkinson, describes how the restaurant chain is using cloud to get closer to its customers and build stronger ties with its 14,000-strong workforce  Continue Reading

• Retailers urged to change approach to demand forecasting

  To achieve optimal fulfilment performance, retailers must now forecast how consumers will shop and understand the influences behind purchasing decisions  Continue Reading