
Drones

Amazon.com said Monday it will begin delivering parcels using Prime Air drones in a small town in California later this year. More specifically, the online behemoth said it plans to deliver parcels weighing less than five pounds via drone into the backyards of residents in Lockeford, California — which is 40 miles south of Sacramento. The…
Walmart is expanding drone delivery across six states this year, making it possible for many more customers to get a box of diapers or dinner ingredients delivered in 30 minutes or less. Through an expansion with operator DroneUp, the big-box retailer said it will be able to reach 4 million households in parts of Arizona,…
Walgreens and Wing Aviation LLC, a member of the Alphabet family of companies, announced last week that it's offering what it calls "store to door" delivery of "health and wellness, food and beverage and convenience items — via state-of-the-art drone technology — in minutes," according to a press release. Wing, the first drone operator certified…
Eager to know what 2019 holds for the world of e-commerce? Here are five key e-commerce trends that promise to fuel retailers worldwide in the coming year, including the continuous rise of machine learning to a more sophisticated focus on the omnichannel customer experience, selling on social media and more. 1. Machine Learning Changes Everything…
Technology is top of mind for most retailers today, no matter their size, product category or any other variables. As such, Total Retail surveyed its audience with the goal of finding out what types of retail technology retailers are interested in (as well as investing in), what retail trends and digital trends they’re tracking, and their…
In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail reviews the week's top retail news stories, including Wal-Mart's patent for a floating warehouse, Wal-Mart's partnership with Google to enable voice shopping from the discount retail chain, and Macy's job cuts and poaching of eBay exec Hal Lawton.
Wal-Mart has opened a new front in its battle with Amazon.com. The world’s largest retailer has applied for a U.S. patent for a floating warehouse that could make deliveries via drones, which would bring products from the aircraft down to customers’ homes. The blimp-style machine would fly at heights between 500 feet and 1,000 feet (as much…
In this episode of Retail Right Now, Caitlin Sullivan recaps the week's biggest retail news, including Amazon.com's parachute shipping label patent, Staples naming a new chief marketing officer, and Wayfair's successful 2016 fiscal year.
It's a bird, it's a plane … never mind, it's just my Amazon Fashion order. It was announced this week that Amazon.com received a patent for a shipping label with a built-in parachute to help drone and air craft deliveries make a soft landing. GeekWire reports the newly issued patent would have the shipping label look…
Wal-Mart was granted a patent this week for a system in which drones would shuttle products between different departments inside its stores. This scenario would free customers from having to walk across its stores to find what they want and from having to wait while employees return from far-away storerooms. Ultimately, Wal-Mart believes that drones “can…