Known for rugged drinkware and portable coolers, YETI’s first freestanding store brings the brand to life. The Austin, Texas-based company worked with Mood Media to make the connection through weathered wooden fixtures, digital technology and a performance space and bar.

Serving restaurants, schools, health care facilities and jails throughout the southeastern United States, family-run Wood Fruitticher needed efficient, flexible software to allow its widespread sales force to access inventory information from mobile devices. FileMaker’s SalesPal app made it happen.

Personalization is a company mantra for Frank + Oak — in-store stylists assist shoppers and online orders include handwritten thank-you notes. The retailer is working with Propulse Analytics to mimic a stylist’s instincts and provide “more textured” product recommendations to online shoppers.

Having beaten humans at “Jeopardy!” and assisted in cancer diagnoses, IBM’s Watson is now the backbone of a new payment system from IBM and Visa, used to introduce secure payment options from a number of devices.

Change-of-address fraud is a fast-growing scam, one of many such incidents that illustrate the need for retailers to stay informed through communities and events that bring together industry leaders to discuss crime trends and using technology to stay ahead of cybercrime and fraud.

The digital edition of STORES includes must-read pieces, including the articles featured here. Read the current issue and browse the archives for issues you may have missed.

Shop.org has been reimagined in 2017, featuring stories of reinvention, innovation and creativity that will inspire and instruct retailers on their way to e-commerce success. Celebrity guests Kobe Bryant and Tyra Banks will share their own transformation insights, along with leaders from The Walt Disney Company, DSW, TechStyle Fashion Group, Beautycounter, Minted, theSkimm and more, at the event to be held September 25-27 in Los Angeles.

Most of Gen Z — the generation born after 1995 —  have yet to reach financial autonomy, but they’re already flexing their consumer muscles and retailers are starting to pay attention. A recent InfoScout poll conducted for NRF found that two-thirds of parents with Gen Z children get their child’s input before making a purchase.

Retail companies still have a need for traditional retail operations roles like cashiers, sales associates and warehouse technicians, but as NRF’s Ellen Davis says, “these roles have fundamentally changed.” This week on Retail Gets Real, Davis joins former Macy’s Chief Marketing Officer Martine Reardon to discuss the rapid changes taking place in retail and how this evolution is changing the way retailers approach talent recruitment and development.

Parallels, Fortress of Inca and Nanoceutical Solutions have adopted LiveWorld’s next-generation social conversation management software to more efficiently engage customers through more responsive marketing and customer service programs.

RELEX Solutions, provider of integrated retail and supply chain planning solutions, has invested in Zenopt, provider of advanced workforce optimization systems, to help retailers better plan staffing needs and reduce costs while improving customer service.

The Cincinnati Reds have partnered with Cincinnati-based LOC Enterprises LLC to bring fans a new way to save on Reds tickets and at other local businesses. LOC Enterprises’ LOC Card is a universal loyalty card that allows consumers to manage all their loyalty and rewards programs from a single user dashboard or mobile app.

Sungard Availability Services and SUPERVALU will work together to replace SUPERVALU’s legacy mainframe IT environment under a transformation program aimed at reducing costs, improving flexibility and expanding the range of solutions and services offered to improve the flow of operations across their network of 2,000+ independent retailers.

Australian footwear and accessory retailer Tony Bianco is working with Pitney Bowes Inc. to provide a globally optimized e-commerce site, bringing its coveted shoes, handbags and accessories to shoppers around the world.