The e-commerce innovation arm of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has acquired a firm that specializes in analyzing "big data" to help retailers improve their online merchandising, marketing and fraud prevention applications. @WalmartLabs, the technology research and development unit of Walmart Global eCommerce said today it will buy Inkiru Inc. Its "predictive analytics" technology is designed to pull data from multiple sources and help retailers build merchandising and marketing campaigns targeting shoppers when they are most likely to buy. Wal-Mart did not say what it is paying for Inkiru. "Inkiru...