Artificial Intelligence

Shopping at the local mall may soon get a lot more interactive for consumers, if retail property owner Simon and eBay have their way.

The companies unveiled this week the “Connected Mall” experience in Palo Alto, Calif. The installation features a “smart” directory developed by eBay for the Simon Innovation Group that elevates the shopping experience by providing consumers with a suite of services, including point-to-point navigation and personalized offers and deals.

Seattle – The robots are coming to Amazon.com. According to the Associated Press, the online giant has deployed more than 15,000 wheeled robots in its distribution centers. The robots help bring items off shelves and out of bins to human employees for faster picking and packing.

BOSTON - Discount Tire has selected OneView Commerce to enhance the retailer’s “customer for life” brand experience in its more than 875 stores nationwide.  

Retail maintenance work isn’t what it used to be. For one thing, it started to turn eco-friendly several years ago. The trend remains strong, and the good news is that green is finally becoming affordable, thanks to growing demand.

When it comes to facility maintenance, going green starts with the purchase of environmentally sensitive cleaning supplies, agents and equipment. The materials must be disposed of or recycled, and the tools needed may be different from traditional ones.

Apple Pay’s got nothing on this new body part-based method of conducting commerce.

The world of payments has become very dynamic in recent years which explains why a trade show called Money 20/20 in only its third year of existence is able to attract more than 7,500 attendees. Everyone from scruffy start-up types touting the virtues of bitcoin, to government regulators, well known retailers and major credit card issuers were on hand at the recent show in Las Vegas to gain insight into the rapidly evolving space.

High expectations are the key to everything. Take mobile for example. Apps from Starbucks, Uber, Netflix, and Apple have all made outstanding digital experiences expected and commonplace. Finally, customers have a taste of products and services that work the way they should, effectively reprogramming consumer expectations for all digital experiences.  

Bloomingdale’s new store in Palo Alto, California, is the retailer’s most digitally sophisticated to date.

New York - Twitter keeps on coming up with new ways to let advertisers connect with consumers—and now it’s moving into the brick-and-mortar space. In its first  On Tuesday, the social media giant launched a pilot for a new feature called Twitter Offers, which enables brands and companies to create card-linked promotions and share them directly with Twitter users. The user can redeem the discount simply by paying with the synced card in the retailer’s physical store or online shop.