#technology

Oct 13
2 min

Snapchat Introduces AR Try-on Lenses for Halloween Costumes

Retail Dive | October 12, 2022 Snapchat has been touting the popularity of augmented reality, particularly among younger consumers. In April, the company found in its survey of 16,000 people that 92% of Gen Z respondents said they want to use AR tools for online shopping. The survey also found that Gen Z shoppers are more likely to buy something after testing it using AR first than millennial and Gen X shoppers. In June, the platform released another survey indicating that 80

Sep 15
2 min

Walmart Levels Up Virtual Try-On for Apparel With Be Your Own Model Experience

Walmart | September 15, 2022 Walmart is continuing to make bold moves to establish themselves as a destination for fashion. It started with work over the last few years to expand their assortment of quality, on-trend and accessible apparel and accessories. More recently, it includes prioritizing the creation and introduction of innovative shopping experiences that help customers discover the assortment and enable new and existing customers to shop with confidence. The acquisi

Aug 25
1 min

Apple Expected to Unveil New iPhones at 'Far Out' Event on September 7

CNN Business | August 24, 2022 Apple customers could soon get a look at the next generation of iPhones. Apple sent out press invites on Wednesday for an event on September 7, where the company is widely expected to unveil the new iPhone 14 lineup. The company's invite, which is always closely scrutinized for hidden meanings, features the night sky in the shape of the Apple logo and the tag line: "Far out." The event is set to be broadcast on Apple's website from Apple Park, t

Aug 11
2 min

Smart Cart Tech Firm Shopic Bags $35M in Funding

Retail Dive | August 10, 2022 Shopic's company business model is centered around self-contained devices that use computer vision to scan products, feature a built-in screen to communicate with shoppers and handle payments. Shoppers attach Shopic’s equipment to their cart when entering a store and remove it before leaving with their purchases. By contrast, other companies in the smart cart space, including Amazon, Instacart-owned Caper AI, Cust2Mate and Veeve, have developed f

Jul 14
1 min

GameStop launches NFT Marketplace

Retail Dive | July 13, 2022 GameStop is taking another step into blockchain technology with its new NFT marketplace. The retailer has launched the beta version of its non-fungible token marketplace, according to a press release Monday. It had announced plans for the marketplace in February, tapping Immutable X to develop the platform. The release comes alongside a marketwide dip in NFT sales. Trading on OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace, decreased by over 70% in Ju

Jul 14
2 min

Amazon Bringing New And Improved Dash Carts to Whole Foods

Retail Dive | July 13, 2022 Dilip Kumar, Amazon’s vice president of physical retail and technology, said the company will add its revamped Dash Cart to a Whole Foods in Westford, Massachusetts, sometime in the next few months before rolling it out to “a few” additional Whole Foods stores and “many” Amazon Fresh stores. The smart carts, which debuted in 2020 at the first Amazon Fresh store in Woodland Hills, California, automatically recognize products as shoppers place them i

Apr 14
2 min

Meet the Winners of Target's 2022 HBCU Technology & Future Leaders in Retail Challenges

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

Jan 11
2 min

7 Retail Technologies Worth Watching In 2022

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

Jan 5
2 min

Best Buy Launches In-House Media Company

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

Nov 16, 2021
2 min

Facebook Encourages Shopping Through its Groups with New Features

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

Sep 7, 2021
1 min

Best Buy Launches Forest Stewardship Council Certified Packaging

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

Jul 31, 2021
1 min

Back-To-School Shopping Gets A Technology Lift This Year In What, Where And How People Buy

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

Jun 23, 2021
1 min

How Walmart is Using A.I. To Make Smarter Substitutions in Online Grocery Orders

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

Jun 16, 2021
1 min

Walmart Invests in DroneUp, the Nationwide On-Demand Drone Delivery Provider

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

Jun 2, 2021
1 min

Walmart Unveils All-in-One Associate App, Me@Walmart, and Gives 740,000 Associates Phones

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

May 19, 2021
1 min

Poshmark and Snapchat Team Up on Social Shopping Experience

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

Jan 27, 2021
1 min

From Ground-Breaking to Breaking Ground: Walmart Begins to Scale Local Fulfillment Centers

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

Jan 14, 2021
1 min

How Luxury Brands are Embracing Digital Experiences in China

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

Jan 5, 2021
1 min

Amazon Makes First Aircraft Purchase to Expand Cargo Network

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

Dec 21, 2020
1 min

Video Game Becomes the Next Interior Decorating Service

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