Amazon, Google, Facebook form alliance to forge AI best practices

The Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society, created to advance public understanding of the technology, also includes Microsoft and IBM.

By Daphne Howland • Sept. 29, 2016

Salesforce unveils Commerce Cloud omnichannel services

The new service fulfills expectations from the company’s $2.8 billion purchase of Demandware earlier this year.

By Daphne Howland • Sept. 29, 2016

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

Target taps AddStructure to pilot Amazon Alexa voice search rival

Natural language processing startup AddStructure was one of 10 startups chosen in June to participate in the retailer's Target + TechStars accelerator program.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 28, 2016

Sears offers Shop Your Way points to Uber riders, drivers

Sears Auto Centers also will serve as one of Uber's Preferred Maintenance Providers for its fleet of drivers, offering exclusive discounts and points. 

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 28, 2016

Lowe's, Microsoft expand HoloLens AR pilot to more stores

The technology also offers new capabilities, including use of Microsoft's Cortana Intelligence Suite to analyze a customer's specific taste in decor and provide recommendations from a Pinterest board of relevant ideas.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 27, 2016

Survey: 55% of shoppers turn to Amazon to begin product search

Major internet search engines and rival retailers experience sharp declines as starting points for consumer product searches, according to new research.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 27, 2016

Maximizing holiday sales with endless aisle

As the busy holiday season gets closer, many big box retailers and major e-tailers are looking at drop ship as an alternative to offering faster, cheaper delivery options.

Sept. 27, 2016

Why September is prime time to acquire mobile shoppers for the holidays

Back-to-school shopping season just ended, and the holidays are on the horizon. This quiet period is the perfect time for retailers to make noise on mobile.

By Jason Ankeny • Sept. 27, 2016

Forecast: Card payments to surpass cash payments for first time ever this year

Euromonitor International anticipates that total worldwide card payments by consumers will amount to $23.1 trillion in 2016, although cash is still used for about 85% of all transactions worldwide.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 26, 2016

Best Buy's Ignite initiative spotlights startups in stores, online

A store in Silicon Valley already features a dedicated Ignite space with products from the program, including a selection of crowdfunded gadgets.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 26, 2016

Macy's makeover continues with beGlammed beauty services deal

The partnership enables customers to book at-home grooming and makeup services through the retailer’s website.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 25, 2016

UPS, CyPhy launch drone delivery test program

The companies completed their first test flight late last week, staging a mock delivery of medicine to a remote island about three miles off the Atlantic coast. 

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 25, 2016

Experian: E-commerce fraud attack rate up 15% over 2015

Data suggests that stolen credit and debit cards, card numbers and identities are fueling incidents of "card not present" fraud.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 22, 2016

Handmade at Amazon expands into five European countries

The Etsy rival offers shoppers in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the U.K. access to more than 30,000 items from European artisans.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 22, 2016

Nike's self-lacing shoe coming Cyber Monday, exclusive to loyalty members

HyperAdapt 1.0 owners press a button near the tongue of the shoe to tighten the laces and another button to loosen them.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 21, 2016

FedEx foresees record holiday shipments driven by e-commerce growth

The shipper plans to hire about 50,000 seasonal employees for the holidays, roughly the same as last year.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 21, 2016

Etsy snares AI startup Blackbird Technologies

Blackbird's machine learning solutions analyze user behavior, unstructured data and other variables to suggest relevant and personalized product search recommendations.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 20, 2016

Amazon adds chatbot expertise by hiring Angel.ai co-founder

Angel.ai, an artificial intelligence startup that develops chatbots and natural language processing technology, last year raised about $8 million in Series A funding.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 20, 2016

Costco, Sam's Club target businesses via new express delivery offerings

Costco Business Center in San Diego will start offering two-hour grocery delivery, while Sam's Club is offering next-day delivery in the Dallas, Tulsa and Miami markets. 

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 19, 2016

BigCommerce unveils Facebook advertising, shopping tools

The new additions allow BigCommerce merchant partners to more easily launch and measure cross-device advertising campaigns through Facebook dynamic ads.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 19, 2016

PayPal allows merchants to accept China's UnionPay

The partnership promises to boost cross-border e-commerce purchases by enabling more merchants to accept payments from Chinese consumers.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 18, 2016

MasterCard joins push into biometric security for online purchases

The credit card giant is planning to roll out solutions like fingerprint scanning and facial recognition as part of an increasing effort to bolster e-commerce security.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 15, 2016

USDA recruiting retailers to test online food stamps transactions

Officials plan to select up to five retailers in three states to participate in the program, which is likely to begin next summer.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 15, 2016

Forrester: Robots will eliminate 6% of all US jobs by 2021

The ongoing evolution of artificial intelligence, machine learning and related technologies is expected to directly impact retail employment trends as well as segments like banking and healthcare.  

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 14, 2016

UPS hiring 95,000 for holidays for third consecutive year

In recent years, more than 37% of staffers hired for UPS seasonal package handler jobs were hired into permanent positions following the holidays.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 14, 2016