Artificial Intelligence

Walmart is setting some lofty goals for itself on such critical issues as sustainability and job creation.    In remarks Friday at the Net Impact Conference, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon outlined a "new roadmap" that will guide the company’s role in society on critical issues during the next several years, and pointed to a “new era of trust and transparency.”  

Staples’ business division is using a mobile app to help customers visualize site assessments.  

Most retailers today understand that the customer experience they offer is just as important to their success as the tried-and-true fundamentals of product selection and price competition. In order to enhance those customer experiences, keep shoppers coming in the door, and bring new efficiencies to their business practices, retailers have adopted a growing army of in-store technologies that rely on online connectivity to function.   

Knot Standard is trying on brick-and-mortar.    The online seller of custom menswear will open its first store-in-store concept on Nov. 3, at Bloomingdale's Manhattan flagship on 59th Street.    Knot Standard, which promises customers 100% creative control, uses 3D technology to allow customers to digitally design and visualize hundreds of fabric options to create their own unique custom garments on a large in-store touch-screen or on any iPad, prior to purchase.    

With Halloween now behind us, the unofficial start of the 2016 retail holiday season is upon us. Amid intensifying competition, where are retailers placing their bets?     Here are observations and expectations from Profitero for the critical fourth quarter seasonal period:   

For every shopper that asks “Alexa, what are your holiday deals?,” Amazon now has answers.    The Internet giant has officially kicked off the holiday countdown with the launch of its Black Friday Deals Store and curated holiday gift guides, along with an array of other digital services geared to attract shoppers this shopping season.   

Five grocery tech experts chimed in on the recent report that Amazon is planning a major move into the brick-and-mortar grocery store space, and see the potential for up to 2,000 branded grocery stores over the next 10 years.