Shopping – Page 10

Automation, Driverless vehicles, Food, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Kroger-owned grocery store begins fully driverless deliveries

December 27, 2018

Road-legal delivery vehicles don’t even have space for a human driver.

Nuro, a startup founded by two veterans of Google’s self-driving car project, has reached an important milestone: it has started making fully autonomous grocery deliveries on public streets.

Fry’s Food, a brand owned by grocery giant Kroger, launched a self-driving grocery delivery program back in August in partnership with Nuro. Fry’s has been using Nuro cars to deliver groceries to customers near one of its stores on East McDowell Road in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Continue reading… “Kroger-owned grocery store begins fully driverless deliveries”

AI, Artificial Intelligence, Shopping

Brain Corp to provide AI services to Walmart

December 18, 2018

The Auto-C, powered by BrainOS, joins Walmarts technology ecosystem.

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Brain Corp, a San Diego-based software technology company, announced today that it has entered into a relationship with Walmart to provide AI services to the world’s largest retailer.

Brain Corp’s BrainOS platform currently automates more than a hundred of Walmart’s fleet of commercial floor scrubbers across the United States. BrainOS provides the machines with autonomous navigation and data collection capabilities, all tied into a cloud-based reporting system. Walmart expects to have 360 BrainOS-powered machines in stores by the end of its fiscal year, January 31, 2019.

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Automation, China, drones, Shopping

Meet China’s growing fleet of automated delivery drones

December 7, 2018

Meals being air freighted, plus armies of delivery robots.

As part of its multi billion-dollar plan to build a nationwide network of automated logistics, China’s JD.com is testing its tri-copter drones in testing zone in Shaanxi.

Chinese companies are going all-out on unmanned systems for delivery logistics. A fleet of new autonomous cargo drones, robotic trucks, and fast quadcopters are private-sector developments that are making China a future world leader in robotics.

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Advertising, Amazon.com, Business, Shopping

Impulse-Buying: How technology is making it easier than ever to spend money

December 1, 2018

As household debt rises, so too are online innovations that aim to turn your wants and needs into stuff with minimal interruption. So how can we bring mindfulness back to buyer psychology?

This year, Slide 101 of Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends Report has a simple message: “Making Ends Meet = Difficult.” The bad news continues on the next slide, which states that household debt is at its highest level ever, and it’s rising. People are saving less (3 percent of personal income versus 12 percent 50 years ago) and the debt-to-income ratio is going up (to 22 percent from 15 percent over the same time frame). Many culprits are responsible for this shift, and we can thank technology for making it easier than ever to spend money. Innovations like one-click checkout, browser credit-card storage, and Amazon Dash buttons are swiftly eliminating the roadblocks that stand in the way of people purchasing things. And while these innovations are certainly creating a future when one’s wants and needs can turn into stuff without interruption, it’s also altering how people think about spending and saving (or rather, failing to save) money.

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Alternative Transportation, Automation, Automobiles, Food, Shopping

Ford teaming up with Walmart and Postmates on robot deliveries

November 20, 2018

Self-driving vehicles delivering groceries in Miami

Ford is joining forces with Walmart and Postmates to create a grocery delivery service using self-driving vehicles in Miami, the companies announced Wednesday.

Ford has been using Miami as a test bed for its self-driving vehicles since earlier this year. And more recently, the auto giant joined with Postmates to see how people ordering takeout food would interact with an autonomous delivery van.

Now Ford is moving to the next stage: grocery delivery. The company says it will experiment with different vehicle types, as well as modifications to those vehicles needed to keep perishable food items fresh. It will also experiment with a variety of scenarios, such as multiple deliveries on one trip and the user experience of retrieving delivery items from a fully driverless vehicle.

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China, Internet, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Alibaba just had the biggest online shopping day of all time, nearly tripling every company’s 2017 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined

November 19, 2018

Alibaba founder Jack Ma. Marcos Brindicci/Reuters

Alibaba made e-commerce history on Sunday, with $30.8 billion in sales over the last 24 hours as part of the company’s massive Singles Day celebration.
The $30.8 billion in generated sales is a significant increase from 2017, when customers spent $25.3 billion.
For comparison, total online sales on Black Friday reached $5 billion in 2017, according to Adobe Analytics data. Cyber Monday sales last year reached about $6.6 billion.

SHANGHAI, China — Alibaba just made e-commerce history.

With the company’s massive Singles Day celebration on 11/11 — November 11 — coming to a close, Alibaba reports that customers spent $30.8 billion online over the last 24 hours. That is a significant increase from the $25.3 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) Alibaba shoppers spent in 2017.

Continue reading… “Alibaba just had the biggest online shopping day of all time, nearly tripling every company’s 2017 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined”

Amazon.com, Clothing, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Shopping

A growing number of people are getting rich selling T-shirts online – with no overhead, no inventory, and no investment

November 12, 2018

Nearly every night after dinner for eight straight months, Glen Zubia brewed a cup of coffee, turned on heavy metal music, and made T-shirts.

On Mondays he did research, scouring the Internet for funny slogans, like the one where Santa Claus asks, “Where My Ho’s At?”

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays he designed in Adobe Illustrator. On Thursdays he saved his creations in the correct image format—a process that takes longer than you’d think—and on Fridays and Saturdays he uploaded them to Amazon.

Then, sending up a prayer that they’d sell, he started all over again.

Continue reading… “A growing number of people are getting rich selling T-shirts online – with no overhead, no inventory, and no investment”

Amazon.com, Latest Trend, mobile apps, Shopping

Snapchat lets you take a photo of an object to buy it on Amazon

October 13, 2018

See, snap, sale. In a rare partnership for Amazon, the commerce giant will help Snapchat challenge Instagram and Pinterest for social shopping supremacy. Today Snapchat announced it’s slowly rolling out a new visual product search feature, confirming TechCrunch’s July scoop about this project, codenamed “Eagle.”

Users can use Snapchat’s camera to scan a physical object or barcode, which brings up a card showing that item and similar ones along with their title, price, thumbnail image, average review score and Prime availability. When they tap on one, they’ll be sent to Amazon’s app or site to buy it. Snapchat determines if you’re scanning a song, QR Snapcode or object, and then Amazon’s machine vision tech recognizes logos, artwork, package covers or other unique identifying marks to find the product. It’s rolling out to a small percentage of U.S. users first before Snap considers other countries.

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Automation, Business, Driverless vehicles, Food, Shopping

Startup inks ‘world’s largest deal’ for driverless grocery deliveries

September 27, 2018

Whether or not your grocery delivery arrives in a van with a driver behind the wheel may not matter much to you, but an increasing number of companies are nevertheless investing heavily in autonomous delivery vehicles in the belief that they’ll improve efficiency and create significant cost benefits in the long term. Yes, you’ll have to wait and see if those savings will be passed on to you, the customer.

Udelv, a San Francisco-based startup that has already used its autonomous vans to make more than 700 driverless deliveries in the San Francisco Bay area, recently inked what it claims is the world’s largest deal for a grocery delivery service using self-driving vehicles.

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Fashion, Latest Trend, Shopping, women

The secret global network of private super jewelers

September 26, 2018

An elite group of artists are growing in influence and reach. Here’s the key to cracking their codes.

Pictured above: Hemmerle emerald, agate, and sapphire necklace; diamond and bronze bangle, and earrings, all with ancient Egyptian faiance amulets.

I call them the Super Jewelers. They create only a limited number of one-of-a-kind pieces. They sell only by appointment. They work with the rarest of stones and the most innovative of materials, and for only the most discerning of people. Their names are spoken frequently by those fluent in the secret language of jewelry snobs, but otherwise they are purposefully unknown.

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Automation, Driverless vehicles, Food, Shopping

Kroger rolls out driverless cars for grocery deliveries

August 20, 2018

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — At a time when big-box retailers are trying to offer the same conveniences as their online competitors, the biggest U.S. grocery chain is testing the use of driverless cars to deliver groceries in a Phoenix suburb.

Kroger’s pilot program launched Thursday morning with a robotic vehicle parked outside one of its own Fry’s supermarkets in Scottsdale. A store clerk loaded the back seat with full grocery bags. A man was in the driver’s seat and another was in the front passenger seat with a laptop. Both were there to monitor the car’s performance.

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Business, China, Economy, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (BAT) are now valued at a combined $1 trillion USD.

August 14, 2018

Alibaba and Tencent alone now account for almost one-third of the MSCI China Index, fueling its 47 percent gain in 2017.

As of this past March, China had skyrocketed to 164 unicorns, worth a combined $628.4 billion USD. Roughly 50 percent are controlled or backed by BAT.

But BAT isn’t keeping ambitions local. Worldwide, BAT invests in over 150 companies, spanning the gamut from AI to biotech.

And with access to more internet users than the U.S. and all of Europe combined, BAT is fueled by the greatest treasure trove of data on the planet.

Continue reading… “Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (BAT) are now valued at a combined $1 trillion USD.”