Technology

Wal-Mart Partners With Google for Voice Shopping
August 23, 2017 at 9:54 am

Wal-Mart and Google are partnering to enable voice shopping through Google Assistant, Google’s virtual assistant that lives on devices like its smart speaker, Google Home. Wal-Mart’s “Easy Reorder” feature will be available through an integration with Google’s shopping service, Google Express. Consumers will be able to shop thousands of Wal-Mart products just by speaking into…

Dear Retailers: Adapt, Adopt or Die
August 22, 2017 at 8:25 am

A few months ago, Amazon.com surprised the tech and retail worlds by announcing plans to acquire Whole Foods. For those of us who have been watching Amazon’s increasing dominance, this development is nothing new. In fact, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. Traditional brick-and-mortar retail outlets have long been struggling to figure out how to…

Wal-Mart Files Patent for a Floating Warehouse
August 21, 2017 at 1:11 pm

Wal-Mart has opened a new front in its battle with Amazon.com. The world’s largest retailer has applied for a U.S. patent for a floating warehouse that could make deliveries via drones, which would bring products from the aircraft down to customers’ homes. The blimp-style machine would fly at heights between 500 feet and 1,000 feet (as much…

Undeliverable Parcels And The High Cost Of Merchandise Returns
August 21, 2017 at 11:43 am

Wal-Mart has opened a new front in its battle with Amazon.com. The world’s largest retailer has applied for a U.S. patent for a floating warehouse that could make deliveries via drones, which would bring products from the aircraft down to customers’ homes. The blimp-style machine would fly at heights between 500 feet and 1,000 feet (as much […]

Brand Voice Will Take on an Entirely New Meaning Very Soon
August 21, 2017 at 11:30 am

When I see people hunched over their phones, eyes fixed on screens, I think of the evolutionary chart that hung in biology class. The chart depicted a chronology of human ancestors, each one slightly more upright than their predecessor, until finally, we arrived at modern human, standing tall, except for when he or she is…

Smartphone Cameras: Let Your ‘Digital Eyes’ Capture Real-Time Data
August 18, 2017 at 8:40 am

We’re at the point where the majority of consumers have a smartphone with them at all times, meaning they also carry a camera wherever they go. Whenever something noteworthy happens in the world, there's almost always a picture or video available immediately. And with each year that passes, camera technology continues to improve while the…

Music to the Ears of Retailers
August 11, 2017 at 2:58 pm

Imagine you’re watching a music video and the artist is wearing a top or pair of shoes that you really like. You could get inspired and search for “black-and-white striped blazer” or “leather jacket with cloth hood.” However, those searches can yield thousands of results without giving you the exact item you saw in the…

How Voice Assistants Will Transform Grocery Shopping
August 11, 2017 at 9:11 am

Three years ago, the next disruptive medium of the future was mobile. Today, that future is voice. Voice technology already has tremendous traction: Apple’s Siri handles over 2 billion commands a week, Alexa is in over 4 percent of U.S. households, and 20 percent of Google searches on Android handsets are done by voice, according…

How Augmented Commerce Will Save the Brick-and-Mortar Store
August 10, 2017 at 9:30 am

So far, 2017 is setting records for retail bankruptcies. J.C. Penney, Kmart, Sears and Macy's all announced that they're closing stores this year. Based on these dire trends, it might seem like the brick-and-mortar store is an endangered species. However, that’s not actually the case. Brick-and-mortar retail still accounts for more than 90 percent of…

The Definitive Guide to Conversational Commerce
August 9, 2017 at 6:29 pm

So far, 2017 is setting records for retail bankruptcies. J.C. Penney, Kmart, Sears and Macy’s all announced that they’re closing stores this year. Based on these dire trends, it might seem like the brick-and-mortar store is an endangered species. However, that’s not actually the case. Brick-and-mortar retail still accounts for more than 90 percent of […]