Artificial Intelligence

Who are the leading women working in retail technology? Chain Store Age is accepting nominations for its annual feature recognizing female executives who are helping to transform the retail industry through technology.   The “Top 10 Women in Tech” will celebrate the achievements of female executives from all areas of retail technology. The winners will be profiled in a special section of the January 2017 issue of Chain Store Age, as well as in an online report on chainstoreage.com.  

WalmartLabs’ newest project is giving comrades and competitors alike, a peek into its open-source software.   The retail behemoth has migrated its online platform to a React-based application platform over the last year, one that was built in-house by WalmartLabs. Now Walmart’s innovation division is open-sourcing this platform, reported TechCrunch.  

Ralph Lauren has added some high-tech flourishes to its redesigned flagship on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif.    The 22,000-sq.-ft. store has an interactive handbag salon that allows shoppers to customize handbags — with options on monogramming, color and hardware — before the bag is actually produced, the Los Angeles Times reported.  

Creating an innovative customer experience is top of mind for Target. Now it needs the right solutions.   As a result, Target launched a new website that invites start-up companies to pitch ideas for new technology platforms that will help the big-box retailer enhance the customer experience in its stores and through its digital channels, according to an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Never mind going for the gold, REI has visions of platinum — LEED platinum, that is.    Outdoor retailer REI has designed its distribution center to be ‘Net Zero Energy.’ By creating a facility that produces enough renewable energy to meet its own annual energy consumption requirements, REI hopes earns LEED Platinum status — the highest level in the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) rating system.   

A Chicago startup has landed partnerships with four major online retailers, including Target, to launch a product meant to rival Amazon’s Alexa, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Amazon is always exploring new and more efficient ways to get its goods to customers.   In what could be its latest move, the Internet giant might be working with a company developing technology that would allow delivery people temporary access when they’re making deliveries, according to a report by techcrunch.com.   For more, click here.   

Washington, D.C., is gaining a new grocery delivery service — one that is powered by rolling drones.   With municipal regulators approving the use of rolling delivery drones for urban deliveries, these bots will deliver groceries to mainly single- or double-occupant households, according to TechCrunch.com.