Robots
As e-commerce evolves, customer expectations to get what they want โ when, where, and how they want it โ will only continue to intensify and further challenge brands in 2020 and beyond. The times when search and price were the only criteria for purchasing decisions are gone, and retailers today need airtight e-commerce strategies thatโฆ
In todayโs digital world, data is worth its proverbial weight in gold. However, itโs not enough for retailers to just collect data to win the retail wars; they need to have a strategy to distill and apply insights from the data. For example, inventory data is particularly ripe for strategic use. By synthesizing information aboutโฆ
Walmart has hired Scott Eckert to run its investment arm and startup incubator, Store No. 8, according to an internal memo from Marc Lore, the retailer's head of e-commerce on Monday, and obtained by Reuters. Eckert is a former executive of Bain Capital Ventures, where he evaluated potential new investments and advised CEOs about existingโฆ
The retail industry is at a critical inflection point. The biggest brick-and-mortar stores are facing significant external pressures, and todayโs customers have come to expect a seamless omnichannel shopping experience, every time. To better understand how retailers are faring in this uncharted retail era, Bossa Nova partnered with Wakefield Research to survey corporate retail professionalsโฆ
In episode 184 of Total Retail Talks, Executive Editor Joe Keenan interviews Dave Steck, vice president of IT โ infrastructure and application development at Schnucks Markets, a Missouri-based supermarket chain. Listen in as Steck discusses the grocer's partnership with Simbe Robotics and its use of autonomous shelf-scanning robot, Tally, to improve in-store operations and inventory management.
Walmart is testing the use of storage and retrieval robotics, called Alphabot, to increase the speed of online grocery order pickup, according to a company blog post. The technology, which was developed in collaboration with retail automation company Alert Innovation, is being installed in a section of a Salem, N.H. supercenter, which will also be a dedicatedโฆ
Kroger announced a deal this week with British online grocer Ocado to help improve its grocery delivery services through the construction of robotically operated warehouses. A report by Reuters states the deal is Ocado's first in the United States and companyโs fourth major agreement with retailers in six months. Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen called theโฆ
Technologyโs presence in popular culture is inescapable โ so much so that the debate over whether โretail is dyingโ and โtechnology is taking overโ has caused fluctuating business models in real estate, automotive and large corporations. SET Creative, an award-winning experience agency, suggests a different perspective in that weโve underestimated the need for brick-and-mortar, human experiences for retailโs future growth. In its new whitepaper, Human After All, technology is painted as a powerful resource for commerce, but one that doesnโt entertain the essential quality that humans bring to the retail table: an understanding of consumer behavior through quality customer interaction. A marriage of physical and digital is what will save classic retail from extinction.
Since they first started showing up on annual trends lists in 2015, industry watchers have predicted that robots would be all the rage in retail. Fast-forward a few years and itโs clear the pace is picking up, but thereโs still no consensus about the ultimate role of robots in stores. Are they best suited forโฆ
Amazon.com is reportedly working on an an ambitious, top-secret plan to build domestic robots. According to a report in Bloomberg, the project is code named โVesta,โ after the Roman goddess of the hearth, home and family, and is being overseen by Gregg Zehr, who runs Amazonโs Lab126 hardware research and development division. Lab126 is responsible forโฆ