In the battle against e-commerce—and especially against e-commerce behemoth Amazon—long-standing brick-and-mortar retailers are often urged to differentiate themselves by offering exclusive product and quality experiences. But what will actually drive shoppers to physical stores this coming holiday season?… Continue Reading
This week, Apple launched not one long-anticipated new iPhone—but two—whose specifications fell generally in line with rumors and industry watchers’ expectations. There is such a large number of partners and suppliers involved in the creation of any new generation of… Continue Reading
Facial recognition has long been the stuff of science fiction, with books and movies including scenes of facial or retinal scans being used to identify entrants to sensitive military complexes. The technology has also been used for certain niche purposes… Continue Reading
We recently attended the Rise 2017 Conference in Hong Kong, which is one of the largest technology conferences in Asia. The event featured a talk by Stephen Wang from Tencent, which owns the WeChat mobile app. Wang gave an overview… Continue Reading
Retail loyalty programs have a long history in the US. According to rewards program solutions company Smile.io, these programs started in the 18th century, when retailers would give customers copper tokens that could be redeemed for future purchases. Starting in… Continue Reading
Voice technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and delivery drones have been at the forefront of our conversations with retailers in the past week. Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com this week announced that it is planning to build China’s largest drone logistics network.… Continue Reading