Google, Inc.

Amazon is expanding into one of the go-to destinations for product discovery.   This was according to “Amazon: The Big E-Commerce Marketing Opportunity for Brands,” a report from Kenshoo. The study is based on 3,100 consumers in the United States, Germany, United Kingdom and France.  

The nation's largest home improvement retailer is getting in on the voice shopping game.   Home Depot is joining Google Express this fall, a move that will give its customers the ability to shop just by speaking their orders. Google Assistant, the search giant's online shopping platform, resides on Google’s smart speaker Google Home and other smart devices.   

As the online delivery wars heat up, Walmart is expanding its grocery pickup service to the hometown of one of its biggest rivals.  

Whether we’re receiving coupons based on our spending, or product suggestions based on other people’s spending, artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how consumers shop and experience brands. For retailers, meanwhile, AI could increase profits by almost 60%¹. It could be a game-changer in this labor-intensive sector, augmenting the workforce and enabling employees to become more productive.  

Amazon’s newest move could take voice-assisted ordering to new levels.   The online giant is joining forces with Microsoft to integrate the companies' two digital assistants. This will allow Amazon’s Alexa to activate and talk to Microsoft’s Cortana device, and vice-versa.   

Target is using an unconventional way to send a message to Amazon.   In a move to take greater control of its infrastructure — and stop financing its rival — the discounter is scaling back its use of Amazon Web Services, reported CNBC.    Target plans to “aggressively” move e-commerce activities, mobile development and operations away from AWS through the end of the year and into 2018 — a plan it alluded to back in October, according to the report. 

Walmart is determined not to cede any ground to Amazon.   In a partnership that takes direct aim at the online giant and its Alexa voice-controlled device, Walmart is teaming up with Google to offer hundreds of thousands of items available for voice shopping via Google Assistant, the search giant's online shopping platform that lives on its smart speaker Google Home and other smart devices. It will be the largest number of items currently offered by a retailer through the platform, according to Walmart.   

Tavisock Development is partnering with a Google company on technology it says will “reimagine” the retail and entertainment experience at its Lake Nona Town Center in Orlando.