Shopping – Page 5 – Impact Lab

AI, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News, Shopping

AI is growing, but the robots are not coming for customer service

March 14, 2020

Recent data out of the World Economic Forum in Davos has shed new light on the role that AI and customer service are playing in shaping the future of work. Jobs of Tomorrow: Mapping Opportunity in the New Economy provides much-needed insights into emerging global employment opportunities and the skill sets needed to maximize those opportunities. Interestingly, the report, supported by data from LinkedIn, found that demand for both “digital” and “human” factors is fueling growth in the jobs of tomorrow, raising important considerations for a breadth of industries worldwide.

The report predicts that in the next three years, 37% of job openings in emerging professions will be in the care economy; 17% in sales, marketing and content; 16% in data and AI; 12% in engineering and cloud computing; and 8% in people and culture. Among the roles with fastest projected growth include specialists in both AI and customer success, underscoring the need for technology, yes, but technology that incorporates the human touch.

Continue reading… “AI is growing, but the robots are not coming for customer service”

Amazon.com, Automation, Food, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Amazon is expanding its cashierless Go model into a full-blown grocery store

March 5, 2020

The first Amazon Go Grocery opens today in Seattle’s Capitol Hill district

Amazon is getting more serious about its brick-and-mortar retail ambitions with its first-ever Amazon-branded grocery store. The store opens today in Seattle’s Capitol Hill district, confirming reports from last year that Amazon was developing a more ambitious version of its cashier-less Go model. The new store, which The Verge toured late last week, is indeed modeled after a standard Amazon Go location, but it has been expanded to include a wide array of grocery items you’d find at, say, Amazon-owned Whole Foods.

In fact, the store does source a number of its items, including some produce and meat and other fresh food, from Whole Foods suppliers. It also carries Whole Foods’ 365 brand for certain items. But Amazon’s store offers other products, like Kellogg’s breakfast cereal and Coke products, that you won’t find at Amazon’s higher-end, organic-focused subsidiary.

Continue reading… “Amazon is expanding its cashierless Go model into a full-blown grocery store”

AI, Farms, Food, Science & Technology News, Shopping

In two decades, your future meals will be flavored with trendy contradictions

March 5, 2020

As Sunday morning, January 1, 2040, dawns, Coloradans will wake up to a breakfast of lab-cultured sausage, mung bean–based eggs, and tiger-nut-flour banana bread—all prepared by robots who talk like Alexa’s much smarter granddaughter. There is no kale in sight, and almond milk was banned long ago for being an environmental threat.

The first month of the year is still filled with new diets, new calendars, new dire warnings, and the traditional predictions from culinary prognosticators.

I’ve been the guy predicting the next big food thing in newspapers and magazines since the early 1980s. See how official I just sounded?

Admittedly, I’m a food data geek who soaks up stats from the market research firm NPD Group, Whole Foods, food industry insight source Technomic, Forbes, the National Restaurant Association, and similar sources. Tell me what you’ll eat, and I’ll tell you who you’ll be.

Looking forward 20 years in nutrition, there are dining, grocery shopping, and farming trends that I think will be going strong.

Continue reading… “In two decades, your future meals will be flavored with trendy contradictions”

3D Printer, Fashion, Science & Technology News, Shopping, Trending

3D-printed footwear makes growing popularity and emerging trends

March 2, 2020

Edison, NJ — (SBWire) — 02/19/2020 –The 3D-Printed Footwear Market has witnessed continuous growth in the last few years and is projected to grow even further during the forecast period of 2020-2026.

Continue reading… “3D-printed footwear makes growing popularity and emerging trends”

Automobiles, Business, Science & Technology News, Shopping, Transportation

Nissan launches a subscription service starting at $699 a month

February 27, 2020

The latest automaker to experiment with alternate ownership models

Car subscriptions: they’re totally a thing! The latest automaker to test the waters on subscriptions is Nissan, which just launched a new, two-tier service in Houston, Texas. It’s called “Nissan Switch,” and it will feature a variety of models, including the all-electric Nissan Leaf Plus, the Titan pickup, and the GT-R sports car.

Nissan Switch has two tiers: the $699-a-month “Select” plan, which includes the Altima, Rogue, Pathfinder, and Frontier; and the $899-a-month “Premium” plan, which includes the Leaf Plus, Maxima, Murano, Armada, Titan, and 370Z coupe. The GT-R sports car is available to either Select or Premium customers, but includes an additional $100-a-day fee and can only be taken out for a maximum of seven days.

Continue reading… “Nissan launches a subscription service starting at $699 a month”

Amazon.com, Business, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Jeff Bezos bullish on India, will invest $1 billion to digitize small businesses

January 17, 2020

Amazon hopes to export goods worth $10 billion from India by 2025

Jeff Bezos said Amazon will invest another $1 billion in India to help 10 million Indian small and medium businesses (SMBs) sell online amid nationwide protests by neighbourhood shopkeepers against his visit and the competition watchdog ordering a probe into ecommerce platforms.

Amazon, which has invested more than $5 billion in India since 2013, said its latest programme will help SMBs participate in India’s rapidly growing ecommerce and that it hopes to export locally made goods worth $10 billion from the country by 2025.

“Our goal is, don’t forget, to make sure that more people can participate in the prosperity of India,” Bezos told the audience at an Amazon event in New Delhi.

Continue reading… “Jeff Bezos bullish on India, will invest $1 billion to digitize small businesses”

Amazon.com, Report, Science & Technology News, security, Shopping

Vast majority of UK adults ‘uncomfortable’ with delivery drivers entering their empty homes

January 5, 2020

Waitrose’s While You’re Away service allows delivery drivers to enter customer’s homes to unpack their shopping

The vast majority of UK adults are uncomfortable with the idea of delivery drivers entering their homes to drop off shopping while they’re out, new research has revealed.

Waitrose first trialled its While You’re Away delivery service in October 2018, which saw its shopping delivery drivers enter customers’ houses and put away their shopping in fridges and cupboards, thanks to a temporary access code linked to a home’s Yale smart lock.

The supermarket has insisted there is something “very beautiful” about its customers forgetting they even made an order and then coming home to see their goods already in cupboards.

Continue reading… “Vast majority of UK adults ‘uncomfortable’ with delivery drivers entering their empty homes”

Credit, Report, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Debit Cards overtake cash as the most popular payment type, according to Fed diarists

December 11, 2019

The growing popularity of debit cards and the displacement of cash by card and electronic payment alternatives is nothing new, but a Federal Reserve banks’ report released Thursday shows debit cards for the first time have surpassed cash as the most-used payment type.

The findings come from the 2018 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice, the fifth in an annual survey overseen by the Federal Reserve banks of Atlanta, Boston, Richmond, Va., and San Francisco. The research draws on a nationally representative panel of consumers who record all their purchase and bill-pay transactions and amounts over several days. The year’s group included 2,873 participants who recorded transactions for at least four days in October.

Continue reading… “Debit Cards overtake cash as the most popular payment type, according to Fed diarists”

Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News, Shopping, Transportation, UPS

NYC turns to electric cargo bikes to solve delivery truck crisis

December 10, 2019

A new program in New York City will see electric cargo bikes promoted as a solution to the growing number of polluting and congesting delivery trucks throughout the city.

Now I love shopping on Amazon and other e-commerce sites as much as the next guy. But I also recognize that the huge shift towards online shopping has also prompted a drastic increase in the number of deliveries being made and thus delivery trucks clogging our streets and polluting our air.

And few know this problem as intimately as the residents of New York City. The already famously congested streets of the city can often be held hostage to delivery trucks unloading in bike lanes, sidewalks and anywhere else that will fit the massive trucks.

But a new program in the city will test out replacing those large delivery trucks with smaller, less intrusive electric cargo bikes. The electric cargo bikes, which will be operated by Amazon, UPS and DHL, can travel at city speeds yet take up much less room than conventional delivery trucks. And of course, they also result in zero emissions during use.

Continue reading… “NYC turns to electric cargo bikes to solve delivery truck crisis”

Crazy Stuff, Fashion, Science & Technology News, Shopping

The worst designed products of 2019

December 7, 2019

Don’t add any of these to your holiday wish list.

It’s never a good sign when the masses wonder whether your latest product is really an April Fool’s Joke. (Looking at you, Creme Egg Mayo.)

Heinz and Cadbury weren’t the only ones to launch a highly mockable product. For your reading pleasure, we’ve rounded up a shortlist of this year’s worst design fails. In no particular order, here are the products that most invite the question, why?

Continue reading… “The worst designed products of 2019”

Automation, Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News, Shopping

NYC threatens to seize any Fedex delivery bots on city streets

December 5, 2019

In February, FedEx debuted its SameDay Bots, which are parcel delivery robots that use a combination of artificial intelligence and motion sensors to navigate city streets and sidewalks.

Last week, social media users began reporting sightings of the bots in New York City. But based on a tweet from Mayor Bill de Blasio, FedEx never bothered to get permission to test the robots in the Big Apple — and it could be the bots’ undoing.

Continue reading… “NYC threatens to seize any Fedex delivery bots on city streets”

Automation, Robots, Science & Technology News, Shopping

The robots of Black Friday

November 30, 2019

Delivery robot from Dutch supermarket Albert Heijn. Photo: Niels Wenstedt/AFP via Getty Images

Look out for the first of the retail robots as you shop this year.

Why it matters: From machines that can restock shelves to robot deliverers, automation is creeping into the retail industry. The first-ever cargo-carrying robot for consumers comes from Italian company Piaggio. The robot is similar to the delivery bots that FedEx and Amazon have been testing, but it can be yours for a few thousand bucks, AP reports.

Between the lines: On top of the more than 15 million Americans who work in retail year-round, companies routinely hire hundreds of thousands of temporary workers to staff stores and warehouses during big shopping days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

The development of more — and smarter — retail robots puts those jobs at risk.

Continue reading… “The robots of Black Friday”