Target | April 11,2022 During Black History Month, Target highlighted their Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Design Challenge winners. Now, meet the winners of Target's HBCU Technology and Future Leaders in Retail Challenges. They’re up-and-coming creators, leaders and entrepreneurs with big passion. And Target is supporting them with opportunities to showcase their skills, earn prizes and build meaningful careers. To top it off, Target’s donating to the HB

Forbes | January 11, 2022 Being out-of-touch is totally in, QR codes are quickly finding a new home and robots are strolling the line between novelty and value. This is what retail innovation will look like in 2022. Funding for retail technology reached a record $29 billion in the first quarter of 2021, as retailers and tech companies sought to blend online and in-store experiences, personalize interactions at every point and elevate their fulfillment processes to make it all

Retail Dive | January 5, 2022 Best Buy's launch of an in-house media company sees the electronics retailer formalizing its ad offerings amid a surge in retail media advertising, which eMarketer forecasts will grow 31.4% to $41.37 billion in 2022. The company says it has 3 billion interactions with customers per year, giving it a wealth of data and insights that can be helpful in connecting brands to consumers at various times and places as they adapt to increasingly tech-driv

Retail Dive | November 16,2021 As consumers become more comfortable with social commerce, Meta announced the rollout of multiple features for shopping within its Facebook Groups aimed at helping users find recommended products and support the communities they're a part of. Facebook's Shops in Groups feature lets users buy products from within their Facebook groups. Facebook will also show product recommendations in its groups based on what other members have recommended when

Best Buy Corporate | September 8, 2021 Starting this month, Best Buy's outer box packaging of some TVs within its own Insignia brand is being made with sustainably sourced paper that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). This ensures that packaging comes from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits to help protect the planet — today and tomorrow. “Our sustainability journey has pushed us to continually find new ways

Forbes | August 1, 2021 Uncertainty prevails about what their children’s actual back-to-school experience will look like with rise of the more contagious Delta variant. These uncertainties may delay parents’ spending. While Deloitte found parents planned to make nearly 60% of their BTS purchases by the end of July, NRF found that fewer than 20% of parents had completed their BTS shopping in early July, when its survey was conducted. The longer parents wait, the more likely th

Walmart News | June 24, 2021 Amidst the pandemic, Americans’ shopping behavior shifted radically. Customers increasingly began shopping online for everyday needs, including food and groceries. The surge in demand presented a unique challenge to retailers as the combination of in-store shoppers and online volume meant some popular items  could quickly sell out. Walmart’s solution uses artificial intelligence to help both customers and Personal Shoppers choose the best substitu

Walmart News | June 17, 2021 Walmart knows what it takes to give customer's what they want. Some solutions are still emerging, but early results are encouraging. Walmart has partnered with DroneUp, a nationwide drone services provider, to launch trial deliveries of at-home COVID-19 self-collection kits. The trial demonstrated offering customers delivery in minutes versus hours. Now, after safely completing trials, Walmart is investing in DroneUp to continue developing a sca

Walmart News | June 3, 2021 A great customer experience starts with a great associate experience, and Walmart is rethinking how it can help associates succeed in their roles and for the future. Walmart announces Me@Walmart — a new app built in-house by Walmart Global Tech for U.S. store associates that provides features to simplify daily tasks, serve customers and plan for life outside of work. By the end of the year, Walmart plans to offer more than 740,000 associates a new

Retail Dive | May 20, 2021 Snap has partnered with Poshmark to create a new social shopping experience in the Snapchat app. With Poshmark Mini, users can browse curated products, attend Posh Parties and shop top-selling brands without leaving Snapchat. Given Snapchat's popularity among users aged 13 to 24, Poshmark is hoping the Poshmark Mini collaboration will introduce the resale platform to Gen Z consumers. Poshmark also noted that its users engaged in 30 billion social in

Walmart Newsroom | January 27, 2021 Using the competitive advantage of their stores, Walmart introduces their transformation for pickup and delivery efficiencies. Walmart is scaling the number of stores that will also serve as local fulfillment centers. A local fulfillment center (LFC) is a compact, modular warehouse built within, or added to, a store. To fulfill orders, automated bots retrieve the items from within the fulfillment center. The items are then brought to a pick

National Retail Federation | January 14, 2021 Digital shopping is a necessity more than ever. One that expands well into luxury — especially in China. It includes features like games, personalization and livestreaming. Moschino and Alibaba Group are global leaders and Tmall also recently launched Luxury Soho, an online outlet for Gen Z shoppers with interactive features including augmented reality and digital magazines. “Brands are really fantastic at creating content, creati

Bloomberg | January 5, 2021 Amazon announced buying 11 used Boeing 767-300 planes for its fast-growing air cargo operation. Aircraft is coming from Delta Air Lines Inc. and WestJet Airlines Ltd. The WestJet aircraft are currently being converted from passenger to cargo use and will join Amazon’s fleet this year. The Delta jets will start flying routes in 2022. By the end of next year, Amazon expects to have more than 85 planes in service, a spokesperson said. Seattle-based Am

National Retail Federation | December 21, 2020 Design Home and Glu Mobile are changing the game as they blur the line of reality and the screen. Design Home caters to the creative players who are able to decorate virtual rooms with products for purchase that could be delivered right to their doorstep. With upwards of 90 million downloads to date, according to Glu Mobile President and CEO Nick Earl, Design Home has a daily count of over 1 million users this year. Players rate

Walmart Corporate News | December 15, 2020 Walmart continues to take next steps with their autonomous vehicle pilot started last year. Since the pilot began, they have safely driven more than 70,000 operational miles in autonomous mode with a safety driver. With Gatik, Walmart's pilot moves customer orders on a two-mile route between a dark store (a store that stocks items for fulfillment but isn’t open to the public) and a Neighborhood Market in Bentonville, Arkansas. The ne

Retail Dive | December 7, 2020 After 70 years, Ikea will end the production of its catalog, both print and digital, the company announced Monday. The move is part of an ongoing effort from Ikea to become more digital and accessible, and the company said it can better serve its customers through different channels, according to a press release. Since Ikea founder, Ingvar Kamprad, produced it himself in 1951, the Swedish furniture retailer has grown its iconic catalog to serve

Walmart Corporate News | November 23, 2020 To help families end the year looking up, Walmart is gifting the “Walmart Holiday Drone Light Show,” an all-new magical experience that brings the joy and wonder of the holiday season. As a free and contactless experience, the drone lightshow will bring holiday songs to life like never before. Nearly 1,000 Intel drones will be launched into the night’s sky. The light show creates three-dimensional seasonal shapes and characters, like

A Bullseye View | November 9, 2020 You’ve heard it before, but it’s true: This holiday season will be totally different. And the way we use tech has changed, too. That’s why our list includes home office devices, gaming consoles and quality entertainment must-haves for everyone on your gift list, including you. It’s also why—based on guests’ popular request—we’re excited to introduce Easy Install in stores nationwide and online. The hottest electronics gifts are available fro

Retail Dive | October 20, 2020 Google unveiled several search-based features, including two aimed at helping people shop for everything from cars to clothing. As part of its virtual "Search On" event, Google touted its AR Autos feature and an upgraded visual search tool that matches items to products sold online, per a company blog post. Google's various shopping-oriented features are significant to mobile marketers in different ways, especially as many people seek to limit i

Retail Dive | October 19, 2020 Mattel's Fisher-Price toy brand is celebrating its 90th anniversary by opening a virtual toy museum on Instagram. The Fisher-Price Toy Museum features more than 100 exhibits. The museum is linked to a virtual gift shop that sells limited-edition apparel, accessories and housewares from Mattel's e-commerce site. Products include a Doctor Doodle oversized T-shirt, Space Blazer socks and a lunchbox with its vintage Little People characters. With re