Staples appoints e-commerce veteran Masud to new CTO role

Since joining the office supplies retailer in mid-2013, Masud has led the expansion of its omnichannel capabilities and spearheaded the rollout of the Staples Exchange vendor platform.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 21, 2016

Akamai acquires bot security upstart Cyberfend

Cyberfend's bot-related security and detection solutions will help Akamai grow its bot management and mitigation services for several industries, including retail.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 19, 2016

Explore the Trendline➔

Digital innovation and technology trends in retail

Generative AI and TikTok Shop have replaced the metaverse and NFTs as the hot topics of the day — here’s a look at how brands are using them.

By Retail Dive staff

Pinterest hired more female tech workers in 2016, but fell short of goal

The social media site grew the percentage of women it employs in technology jobs from 21% to 26% in 2016, and increased the ratio of engineers to 22%, but missed its self-imposed goal to boost the latter figure to 30%.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 19, 2016

Starbucks, Walgreens use Promoted Places on Google Maps for holiday marketing

As location data becomes more essential during key moments, brands are staking out their territory. 

By David Kirkpatrick • Dec. 19, 2016

12 news stories that shaped retail in 2016

From American Apparel's second bankruptcy to Amazon's blockbuster self-made holiday, here's a look back at the biggest events from the last 12 months.

By Corinne Ruff, Jason Ankeny • Dec. 19, 2016

Wal-Mart looks to blockchain for produce, pork tracking

Blockchain has become key to tracking highly complex transactions in the financial services industry, and its security capabilities have been honed by that sector's sensitivities.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 18, 2016

American Eagle, Aerie debut bots for bra browsing, holiday shopping

Customers may browse bra styles using filters like fit, style or occasion. The bot also promotes company culture through photos, videos and social media.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 18, 2016

MasterCard, Visa team up on tokenization

Digitizing or tokenizing card credentials is an important step to enabling payments on a massive scale through connected devices, wearables and the billions of machines that will make up the Internet of Things.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 15, 2016

PayPal aligns with Citigroup, FIS in bid to grow in-store mobile payment opportunities

While PayPal has been a major online player and has expanded into mobile in general, it historically lacked the relationships to make it a payment force in stores.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 15, 2016

5 tech trends that transformed retail in 2016

Artificial intelligence and related breakthroughs steered retailers toward more effective customer engagement, while virtual reality and augmented reality redefined how shoppers experience the world.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 15, 2016

Under Armour expands connected footwear lineup

Automatic run tracking technology from the athletic apparel retailer's MapMyRun mobile app and global digital running community provides runners with workout and fatigue data.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 14, 2016

Amazon's Prime Air takes flight with first commercial drone delivery

The test flight involved an Amazon Fire TV device and a box of popcorn, and reportedly took about 13 minutes from the time of order placement to delivery.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 14, 2016

10 innovations that could disrupt grocery in 2017

The Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, droid delivery systems, mobile wallets and in-store gardens should be on every grocer’s radar in the year ahead.

By Sandy Skrovan • Dec. 14, 2016

Nordstrom rolls out CashStar eGifting service

The service, a more personal alternative to traditional gift cards, could help retailers increase sales conversion rates and reduce unwanted gift returns.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 13, 2016

Adidas makes 3D-printed running shoe available for sale via Confirmed app

The 3D Runner, priced at $333 per pair, includes "an engineered 3D web structure with dense zones in high force areas and less dense zones in the low force areas, allowing for the optimum level of performance."

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 13, 2016

How Amazon Go will revolutionize retail convenience

Eight retail experts share their perspectives on Amazon’s checkout-free grocery store and what it means for the future of brick and mortar.

By Jason Ankeny • Dec. 13, 2016

Panasonic unveils automated store checkout machine

The smart shopping basket detects merchandise placed in it, calculates the bill with each item added and empties the contents into a plastic bag.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 12, 2016

Mall of America, Fashion Island get AI boost from IBM, Satisfi

Mall of America is debuting Experiential List Formulator (ELF) just in time to help visitors manage their holiday shopping and other activities, while Fashion Island is rolling out a mobile concierge called At Your Service.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 12, 2016

QVC puts Sprinkle on top of IT organization

Todd Sprinkle led the earlier development of the shopping network's iPad app, and will now focus on further developing the company's multi platform strategy, which last year grew to encompass online flash sale site Zulily.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 11, 2016

Nordstrom launches its first chatbot for holiday push

Chatbot users will be prompted with questions about gift criteria and the chatbot will reply with multiple shopping ideas.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 11, 2016

Neiman Marcus enhances beauty counter services with Memory Mirrors

Memory Mirror video capture technology offers a 360-degree video of shoppers modeling a particular outfit or cosmetics, allowing them to see themselves from all angles, as well as save and share the video.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 8, 2016

Hudson's Bay set to extend robotic fulfillment system to US

The move is aimed at accelerating and improving fulfillment processes for HBC's Lord & Taylor and Saks Off 5th retail units.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 8, 2016

Sears, Uber expand Shop Your Way rewards partnership to 23 more markets

Since the program rolled out in New York City and Chicago in late September, more than 10,000 Shop Your Way members have linked their accounts to the Uber app, collectively earning more than $250,000 in points.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 8, 2016

Starbucks embraces conversational commerce, boosts personalization

The forthcoming My Starbucks Barista conversational ordering feature allows customers to place orders via voice command or messaging to improve efficiency and encourage stronger customer loyalty and engagement.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 7, 2016

MasterCard, Wells Fargo team on service for merchants to send money to customers

Merchants can leverage the global personal payments platform to send customer rebates, e-marketplace payouts, shared economy payouts to sellers and more.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 6, 2016