Artificial Intelligence

As Amazon.com deals with the fallout from a New York Times article over working conditions, another media outlet reports the retailer is scaling back its consumer device division and laying off dozens of employees in its hardware development center.

The division, called Lab126, last year released a flurry of 10 devices, including a television set-top box, the Echo and a wand for scanning bar codes at home, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Retailers that stock the world’s top drugstore brands may be in for some competition from Pharmabox, which plans to install its first automated kiosk in a mall in the Miami area.

New York -- Technology-related spending by chief marketing officers (CMOs) is on the rise.

According to a study from Foundation Capital, technology spend by CMOs will increase 10 fold in 10 years, growing from $12 billion to $120 billion.
 

Los Altos, Calif. -- A start-up from the former head of Google Shopping, Nitin Mangtani, aims to make the “buy button” on social media a reality for consumers.

The company, PredictSpring, has created a technology platform designed to drive mobile commerce by improving and simplifying the way consumers shop on mobile phones and to easily enable “buy” experiences on brand and social media apps. Businesses using the platform include Cole Haan, Eddie Bauer, Bluefly and Woodcraft.

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Cleveland – Sherwin-Williams is launching a colorful omnichannel program designed to ease the process of selecting paint colors. Called ColorSnap, it integrates online and offline tools and includes a new in-store display.

What could a 169-year old federal institution responsible for millions of the country’s most important artifacts, history and information possibly teach the retail industry? Plenty it seems.

Bentonville, Ark. -- How important is Walmart to Tyco Retail Solutions Inc.? Important enough that Tyco has built a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to the giant retailer.

Located in Bentonville, Arkansas, the Walmart Retail Experience Center features a simulated retail environment and showroom where the retailer’s executives from around the globe will have access to resources and capabilities aligned to Walmart’s growing global footprint. It is Tyco’s first center built exclusively for one client.