Artificial Intelligence

The mobile payments landscape just lost one competitor — for now.   Google announced that it was ending its “Hands Free” payments pilot as of Wednesday, Feb. 8. The program, which launched in the San Francisco Bay Area in March 2016, enabled users to pay for goods and services without having to take out their phone, VentureBeat said.   

Cosabella has found a way to future-proof its business, and simultaneously drive sales.   The luxury lingerie brand had no trouble attracting shoppers. But to ensure longevity, brands must convert contacts into loyal customers if they want to grow their market share. Cosabella took a proactive step in this process by adopting an artificial intelligence (AI) platform from Emarsys, to revolutionize the role of its marketers.  

Buying merchandise on Pinterest just got even easier.   On Wednesday, Feb. 8, the social media site rolled out a new service called “Shop the Look.” An extension of the company’s Buyable Pins program which enables “pinners” to buy a specific item directly on Pinterest, Shop the Look users can “click on and even buy products they find inside fashion and home decor Pins,” Tim Kendall, Pinterest’s president, explained in the company’s business blog.  

When Samsung Electronics America opened the doors to Samsung 837 in the heart of New York City, it unveiled a digital playground that personifies the evolution — and future — of retail. The store will be the focus of a session at Chain Store Age’s upcoming SPECS conference (March 12-14, at the Gaylord Palms, Kissimmee, Florida).      

Within the next decade, online food shopping will reach maturation in the U.S., far faster than other industries that have come online before.   At least that’s according to the “Digitally Engaged Food Shopper,” a report from the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and Nielsen that takes a comprehensive look into the behaviors, motivations and expectations of the digitally-engaged food shopper.   

A report has Amazon considering its next foray into the grocery segment, but in a manner that would require very little human intervention.      Amazon is reportedly contemplating a two-story, automated supermarket that would feature a staff of robots on the second floor that fulfill orders for shoppers waiting on the main level, according to The New York Post.  

While it missed some analysts’ aggressive $44.7 billion quarterly revenue estimate, Amazon continues to record solid growth. Fourth-quarter sales were up 22% year over year to $43.7 billion. The retailer also maintained profitability throughout 2016, indicating that the flywheel continues to accelerate, especially in North America.   

H&M is saying yes to what is being described as a “data dress.”   The fast-fashion retailer is teaming up with Google to create and sell frocks based on customer-specific data tracked by an Android app, reported The Verge.