Macy's has taken live a new program that employs radio frequency identification to allow omnichannel fulfillment of consumer purchases, right down to its last available unit of in-store merchandise. The program, which Macy's has named Pick to the Last Unit (P2LU), enables the retailer to list goods for sale online even when there is only one such item available at the store.

Circuit City was liquidated in 2008, but there are new owners and a new plan to bring the defunct electronics chain back.

More than half of U.S. shoppers - 54 percent - have admitted to spending $100 or more on an impulse buy, including 20 percent who have spent at least $1,000. In total, 84 percent of all shoppers have made impulse purchases, according to a report from CreditCards.com.

Macy's is turning to RFID to support omnichannel initiatives, specifically its "Pick to the Last Unit" (P2LU) program. The retailer will use Tyco Retail Solutions' inventory visibility platform to access its full inventory throughout its entire store base.

Digital disruption is affecting retailers of all stripes, but the grocery sector has been slow to adopt new technological tools. But that doesn't mean the nation's largest grocery chain isn't innovating around the digital path to purchase.

Denimwall Inc. has launched a radio frequency identification solution at the G-Star RAW clothing store that it owns and operates in New York City's Union Square, to do everything from tracking inventory, managing sales transactions and providing electronic article surveillance to letting shoppers view product information on a touchscreen.

Next time you're at the mall, take a closer look at the paper price tag dangling from the clothes you take into the dressing room. If you hold the tag up to a light, you might see a dark, salt-grain-sized speck in it. Or, if you run your thumb over the tag, you might feel an almost imperceptible bump.