Carl Clump, the boss of Retail Decisions, a fraud-detection firm based near London with clients including Wal-Mart, Sears and Bloomingdale's, offers an example.

ECONOMIST: Computing

This year women like 34-year-old Nidhi Tandon of East Brunswick, New Jersey will help RC2 make as many as 250 decisions about toys and retail programs.

FORBES: Have It Your Way

What if there were a mobile app that used a combination of these data, your own usage patterns, and financial incentives for purchasing energy-efficient appliances to help you make informed decisions as you walked around a retail store looking at new appliances?

WHITEHOUSE: Brainstorming With Energy Data

The Apple attitude allowed Ron Johnson and the Apple team to throw out the conventional retail playbook that dictated store design, location, and staffing decisions.

FORBES: How the Apple Attitude Will Transform JC Penney

He told the Retail NI conference in Belfast on Thursday that if business people kept going to the courts over planning decisions it would stifle opportunities for young people and put off international investors.

BBC: Poots voices anger over planning delays

The decisions over the Asda stores in Inverness and Tain mark the latest developments in the Highlands and Islands retail market.

BBC: Shopping baskets at dawn in the Highlands