Artificial Intelligence

San Bruno, Calif. – WalmartLabs, the division of Wal-Mart’s e-commerce operation dedicated to developing new technology, has purchased Luvocracy, an online community that helps consumers find products recommended by family members, friends and online influencers. Founded three years ago, Luvocracy was one of the first companies to enable the entire social shopping experience, from discovery to commerce, to occur within its app.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has made a follow-on order for GenKey fuel cell units from Plug Power Inc. Wal-Mart will add an additional, seventh, GenKey site to the original six-site contract it announced in February 2014.

Seattle – Amazon.com has opened a 3D printed products store, an online marketplace that gives customers access to more than 200 unique print on-demand products, many that can be customized by material, size, styles and color variations, and personalized with text and image imprints. The new store features search tools, interactive 3D preview functionality and a product personalization widget.

Yonkers, N.Y. - Westchester’s Ridge Hill shopping center will host a special “pop-up” event with MakerBot showcasing its 3-D printing technology on July 24, from 6-9 p.m.  There will be live demonstrations, jewelry design classes and equipment available for sale at the event.

Walmart’s sustainability efforts are benefitting fuel cell provider Plug Power Inc., which said a contract it secured with the retailer earlier this year has already been expanded.

Plug Power said it received an order from Walmart for a seventh on site hydrogen fuel cell power solution branded as GenKey.

Plug Power entered into a contract with Walmart back in February for six of its GenKey solutions consisting of GenDrive fuel cells, GenFuel infrastructure construction and hydrogen fuel supply and GenCare on-site maintenance.

The @WalmartLabs unit of the retailer’s Global eCommerce division has done another deal in Silicon Valley, acquiring the social shopping site Luvocracy.

By Charles Tendell, Azorian Cyber Security

Beijing -- Secoo.com, a Chinese luxury and high-end fashion e-commerce company, recently completed a new round of financing that has raised around $100 million. The event represents the largest amount of financing raised in one round across the Chinese luxury and high-end fashion e-commerce sector to date.

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Fujitsu is partnering with OnCue Technologies, a developer of in-aisle point-of-information solutions, to resell OnCue Technologies' InfoCue and Expert OnCue mini-kiosk solutions to big-box, grocery, beverage and hardware retailers in the U.S. OnCue Technologies' cloud-based, customizable mini kiosks enable retailers to deliver expert advice and product information to customers in the aisle without requiring employee training.