It's crunch time for retailers and their suppliers. Now is when we find out if their technology systems are yielding returns. For many companies it can be the difference in whether they are seeing black or red ink this year. The holiday shopping season can make or break a retailer’s year, putting them in the black or leaving them red-faced. In the malls, retailers must share data with suppliers to stock shelves with the right mix and amount of inventory. Online, e-commerce sites must optimize their pitches for impulse buyers they can’t influence in the flesh. Behind the scenes, business analysts must find insight (and profits) in mounds of customer data. In this high-stakes season, so much can—and has—gone wrong for retailers, airlines and others. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe Read more in CIO.com’s special holiday shopping season coverage: Online Shopping: How to Get the Impulse Purchase The High-Stakes Search for Supply Chain Excellence During the Holiday Rush How IT Failures Wreck Holidays for Many Companies Business Intelligence: A Must for Winning the Holiday Shopping Wars Related content feature Mastercard preps for the post-quantum cybersecurity threat A cryptographically relevant quantum computer will put everyday online transactions at risk. Mastercard is preparing for such an eventuality — today. By Poornima Apte Sep 22, 2023 6 mins CIO 100 CIO 100 CIO 100 feature 9 famous analytics and AI disasters Insights from data and machine learning algorithms can be invaluable, but mistakes can cost you reputation, revenue, or even lives. These high-profile analytics and AI blunders illustrate what can go wrong. By Thor Olavsrud Sep 22, 2023 13 mins Technology Industry Generative AI Machine Learning feature Top 15 data management platforms available today Data management platforms (DMPs) help organizations collect and manage data from a wide array of sources — and are becoming increasingly important for customer-centric sales and marketing campaigns. By Peter Wayner Sep 22, 2023 10 mins Marketing Software Data Management opinion Four questions for a casino InfoSec director By Beth Kormanik Sep 21, 2023 3 mins Media and Entertainment Industry Events Security Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe