Most retail employees receive no real training

Only a third of workers are provided formal training, and many of those don't find it improves their work or engagement very much, according to a recent study.

By Ben Unglesbee • Feb. 21, 2018

Wayfair among early adopters of Facebook 3-D image posting

The online furniture company is providing an early case for how retailers might use the new capability to reach customers.

By Dan O'Shea • Feb. 21, 2018

Explore the Trendline➔

What's shaping the e-commerce landscape?

From pivots in digital strategies to challenges retailers must overcome with reverse logistics, here are some of the forces shaping online retail.

By Retail Dive staff

Samsung to use Bixby for smart TV to integrate AI and IoT

The electronics maker is moving closer to consolidating its smart TV and Internet of Things experience.

By Dan Alaimo • Feb. 20, 2018

Nike’s Air Jordan pre-release on Snapchat sells out in 23 minutes

The athletic wear company is the first brand to sell products on the social media app, which could be a game changer for mobile commerce.

By Robert Williams • Feb. 20, 2018

Amazon makes exclusive smartphone deal

The e-commerce company started selling Essential's Halo Gray smartphone as its own mobile device strategy continues to take shape.

By Dan O'Shea • Feb. 20, 2018

Automat creates online hive for beauty sector chatbots

The new Beauty.bot site is an online resource for everything anyone wants to know about the beauty sector's ongoing embrace of messaging-based apps.

By Dan O'Shea • Feb. 16, 2018

Study: Mobile sales climbed 9% for Valentine’s Day

Even as consumers increasingly discover and browse products on mobile, they generally move to desktop to complete a purchase.

By Robert Williams • Feb. 16, 2018

H-E-B buys on-demand delivery company Favor

The deal intensifies the online grocery battle in Texas, and could signal H-E-B's interest in the broader on-demand delivery industry.

By Jeff Wells • Feb. 16, 2018

IoT to drive the connected retail market to $82.3B in 2025

The Internet of Things will eventually facilitate connectivity between retailers, suppliers and customers — and the value of its components is expected to soar. 

By Dan Alaimo • Feb. 16, 2018

Home Depot launches mobile job app for spring hiring

The home improvement retailer needs to fill more than 80,000 seasonal positions for spring.

By Daphne Howland • Feb. 15, 2018

Shipping by Amazon may cause over half of sellers to switch

The e-commerce company's new logistics service for Marketplace sellers will launch soon, and a majority report they plan to use it.

By Dan Alaimo • Feb. 15, 2018

Why generational marketing could send retailers back to the drawing board

While there's generally some truth in stereotypes, retailers that rely on generational marketing alone could be missing out on both the channels and customers they should be targeting.

By Cara Salpini • Feb. 14, 2018

EBay charts tech-heavy 2018 with new AI chief and upcoming AR tools

Advanced technologies are the next stage of eBay's "multi-year journey to replatform," which includes a focus on AI, machine learning, AR and VR.

By Alex Hickey • Feb. 14, 2018

25% of UK retailers find tech disrupts customer connection

Most retailers are turning to tech for better customer experiences, but a new survey found that some retailers have been disappointed with the payoff.  

By Dan O'Shea • Feb. 14, 2018

Walmart challenges Amazon, turns to proprietary cloud model

Not every organization is capable of building out a cloud network from scratch, but the retail giant is likely doing so in response to Amazon's successful AWS.

By Naomi Eide • Feb. 14, 2018

Amazon reportedly speeding up Alexa responses with AI chip

Near zero response time is key to closing deals as the smart speaker competition heats up between the e-commerce giant, Google and Apple.  

By Dan Alaimo • Feb. 14, 2018

Alibaba throws $1.3B into brick-and-mortar strategy

The Chinese retailer continues to balance its e-commerce dominance with growing, diversified investments in brick-and-mortar retail.

By Dan O'Shea • Feb. 13, 2018

7 retail execs envision the future of stores

Executives from Best Buy, The Home Depot and MM.LaFleur share their visions for the future of retail at Future Stores Miami. 

By Corinne Ruff • Feb. 13, 2018

Target and Honeyfund enhance registries with actual experiences

The retailer is bulking up baby and wedding registry options, and another partnership with Pinterest is adding visual search technology to the registry app. 

By Dan Alaimo • Feb. 12, 2018

Badgley Mischka debuts interactive runway app for NYFW

Audiences at the show can share feedback through "like" and "love" buttons, helping the brand decide which styles to bring to market.

By Robert Williams • Feb. 12, 2018

L.L. Bean to embed data-gathering sensors in coats, boots

The outdoors retailer wants to gain insight into what customers do with its apparel by using Internet of Things sensors to deliver data to a blockchain system.

By Dan O'Shea • Feb. 12, 2018

Alibaba pays $486M for 38% of Chinese big data firm

Competition is heating up in China's stalled retail market, so Alibaba bought into a retail data company hoping to jump start sales.

By Dan Alaimo • Feb. 9, 2018

Walmart’s Store Assistant brings in-store value to mobile app

The retailer's revamped app offers a barcode scanner, product search bar, customer reviews and Walmart Pay, among other useful in-store services.

By Dan O'Shea • Feb. 8, 2018

Walmart and Covergirl partner on AR-enabled mobile web sales

Shoppers can visit Covergirl's mobile website to try on five new looks using immersive technology.

By Robert Williams • Feb. 8, 2018

Birchbox leads the way in website performance

Many e-commerce retailers have improved site performance with a new focus on speed, but still need to be more diligent about monitoring other aspects of website health, according to a study by Shoppimon.

By Dan O'Shea • Feb. 8, 2018