MOBILITY

Estée Lauder is making it even easier for online customers to choose — and purchase — their next tube of lipstick.   Through its partnership with ModiFace, the beauty retailer launched a chatbot that helps customers find their ideal lipstick color. The conversational lipstick "advisor," which is accessible on Facebook Messenger, enables online and mobile users to interact with two of Estée Lauder’s lipstick lines.  

Retailers can gain huge competitive advantages in an increasingly digital marketplace by leveraging consumer insights.   That's according to “The JDA Voice of the Category Manager.” The report, from JDA Software Group, tapped nearly 100 professionals responsible for category management and merchandising activity in North America.  

Walmart is asking its technology suppliers to pick sides in its retailing war with Amazon.   The retailing giant reportedly warned some tech companies that if they want its business, they can't run applications on Amazon’s cloud platform, Amazon Web Services. Walmart currently partners with tech suppliers that already leverage cloud apps running on AWS, although the retailer didn’t reveal which applications or how many they use, sources told the Wall Street Journal.  

Consumer reliance on mobility throughout their shopping journey presents a huge opportunity for retailers to engage shoppers.    This is according to “Mobile Shopping: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2017,” a report from mobile app marketing provider Liftoff. The study analyzed 26.9 billion ad impressions across 4.8 million app installs between April 2016 and April 2017.  

Merchants may be losing out on potential e-commerce sales due to shoppers’ concerns over the security of their information in the digital world.  

The chain, which is known for its signature soups, sandwiches and salads, is slated to report digital sales well above $1 billion on an annualized basis. The chain is on track to be twice as high in two years, according to CNBC.  

More U.S. online shoppers are buying items from international retailers. To compete against these lower prices, U.S brands to step up personalization efforts.  

A home improvement chain is helping shoppers better envision how to design and build their homes.   Though a partnership with Google, Lowe’s launched the Lowe's Vision app. Powered by Tango, a 3D technology developed by Google, the app leverages augmented and virtual reality to enable shoppers to begin planning their renovation needs before they even set foot inside a store.