It was in the third week of July when a startup in the online retail technology space, SmarterHQ, blipped briefly across the industry’s radar. Simon Venture Group, the venture capital arm of the shopping center owner Simon Property Group, had led a financing round for the company, helping it secure $8 million. There was a
Anticipatory shipping may be closest that retail can come to a crystal ball. Amazon, which now has a patent for the algorithm-based system, could conceivably use the system to ship products before you even place an order....