Artificial Intelligence

Lowe’s Companies is partnering with an unusual and very tech-savvy retailer to sell “smart” home devices.    The home improvement retailer has teamed up with San-Francisco-based b8ta to launch an in-store shop concept dedicated to demystifying and simplifying the purchase of smart home devices Called “SmartSpot powered by b8ta,” the new concept is currently in place in three Lowe’s stores in California (Livermore, Burbank and Aliso Viejo).  

While retailers are focused on unified commerce, most retailers’ planning tools are not capable of supporting this digital environment.   This message was revealed in Boston Retail Partners’ “2016 Merchandise Planning Survey,” a report based on responses from more than 500 North American retailers. The report delivers insight into retailers’ planning initiatives, priorities and future trends.   

Ikea is rolling out biogas-powered fuel cell technology to more stores.     The home furnishings retailer has installed the fuel cell systems at two Southern California stores, in Costa Mesa and Covina.   In addition, Ikea also is planning to deploy fuel cell systems at its store in East Palo Alto, Calif., as well as its store in San Diego and in New Haven, Conn. (Ikea first deployed the technology over a year ago, at its store in Emeryville, Calif.).  

In 2013, to much hype and social media fanfare, Apple introduced the iBeacon into their iOS with release 4.0. Then everything went quiet, mostly because very few applications for the technology exist, and not enough developers understood the unlimited potential of the technology.   

Order pick-up is getting easier at Target stores.   In a posting on its website, the retailer detailed several enhancements to make it quicker and faster for shoppers who order online and pick up in a store.         To make it easy to spot designated Target team members who can help with orders, Target associates in 325 stores nationwide have been outfitted with “Order Pickup” t-shirts, and offer order pickup reusable bags be used throughout the holiday season and beyond. 

Domino’s is replacing delivery men with drones in select locations as it kicks off the world’s first drone pizza delivery service.   Starting Wednesday, Nov. 16, Domino's Pizza Enterprises and Flirtey, a drone delivery service, are launching their first-ever drone-based “store-to-door” deliveries in a test among select customers in New Zealand. The two companies plan to scale up these pizza-by-drone deliveries in the near future, a company statement said.   

Absolunet has released its list of the top 10 e-commerce trends that will impact North American retailers in 2017. The e-commerce agency noted that the impact of the trends will be felt online and in stores, and by retailers and consumers alike.     Here is Absolunet’s top 10 list:    1. The end of Black Friday and Cyber Monday: Tech–savvy merchants are replacing Black Friday and Cyber Monday with Cyber November;

Lighting is fundamental to any retail store, whether that is for setting a scene and influencing how a brand is perceived, or even encouraging shoppers to make a particular purchase. However, if not managed correctly, it can be extremely expensive. In fact, lighting accounts for around 53% off all electricity consumption in a typical retail outlet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.