Digital Transformation Glossary: S - T
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Scaled agile framework (SAFe)
Set of organization and workflow patterns intended to guide in scaling lean and agile practices and address problems encountered when scaling beyond a single team.
Scan and pay
A way of doing business between direct store delivery (DSD) manufacturers and retailers. It incorporates daily POS data to pay for product, electronic communication technologies to eliminate discrepancies and inefficiencies, and various store-level operating improvements such as open delivery windows and elimination of check-in, to speed the product flow.
SD-WAN (software-defined wide area network)
Network that expands into many geographical locations and is controlled by software.
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION GLOSSARY NAVIGATION
Search engine marketing (SEM)
Form of internet marketing that promotes websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) primarily through paid advertising. It may incorporate search engine optimization (SEO).
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine.
Self-checkout
Machines that provide a mechanism for customers to process their own purchases from a retailer.
Self-serve
Retail experience where customers select and pay for goods themselves, without requiring the assistance of a staff member.
Semantic interoperability
Ability of information systems to not only exchange unambiguous data that two or more systems understand, but to enable computerized systems to converse in ways that result in a shared sense of meaning and the creation of new knowledge.
Server message block (SMB)
Application-layer network protocol that facilitates network communication while providing shared access to client files, printers and serial ports.
Shelf-edge label
Label used to display product, pricing and promotional information in retail environments or to add stock information to shelving units and racking in storage warehouses. Traditionally paper, but increasingly digital.
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The digital transformation of retail is generating a wealth of new terminology as retailers take advantage of technology to pursue new business models, streamline operations, and create personalized e
Showrooming
Shopper behavior that involves visiting a store to check out a product but then purchasing the product online.
Smart cart
Shopping trolley that uses computer and RFID technology to assist the consumer in various ways, such as giving the exact locations of items on a pre-entered list, suggesting alternative products, or providing information about discounted items on nearby shelves and a running total of the price of its contents.
Smart packaging
Packaging systems that help extend shelf life, monitor freshness, display information on quality, improve safety and increase convenience.
Smart poster
Poster that can transmit messages through low-power reflector to reflect and encode data and audio in the signals without affecting the original transmission, so data can be transferred from the poster to a mobile device.
Smart price tag
Wi-Fi enabled digital price tag that can dynamically reflect price fluctuations during peak times and provide additional information to shoppers and retailers, acting as an IoT portal.
Smart retail
Usage of smart technologies to offer a seamless retail experience to customers.
Smart robot
AI and machine learning-based smart assistant that can read and respond to human emotions and assist customers in finding items.
Smart shelf
Electronically connected shelf that automatically keeps track of inventory in a retail store. The shelf s RFID sensors gather information from sensor-embedded tags or packaging attached to the merchandise, which generates shelf data.
Smart store
Store that uses smart technologies such as smart shelves, smart carts and/or smart cards to enhance the productivity of store space and inventory.
Social commerce (s-commerce)
Retail models or e-commerce practices that incorporate social media, user-generated content or social interaction.
Social media marketing
Use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service.
Social Wi-Fi
Store Wi-Fi network that consumers can access using their existing social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
Software distribution model in which a third-party provider hosts applications and makes them available to customers over the internet.
Streaming analytics
Module for processing events in real time that can be used for data analyses.
Subscription box
Recurring delivery program for niche products, used as a marketing strategy and a method of product distribution.
Supply chain management
Management of the flow of goods and services that involves movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory and finished goods from the point of origin to the point of consumption.
Syntactic interoperability
Ability of computer systems or software programs to communicate with one another, involving agreed-upon standards related to data formatting and communication protocols such as XML or SQL.
Technology architecture
Set of standards, protocol and processes designed to provide a blueprint of how various technology platforms can work together toward a common goal.
Tokenization
Process of replacing a sensitive data element with a non-sensitive equivalent, referred to as a token, which has no extrinsic or exploitable meaning or value, for data security purposes.
Traffic counter
Sensor-based device used to count the number of customers going inside a retail store and coming out of the store.
