The automated retail market opened 2020 on pace to easily continue its double-digit growth. The continued adoption of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) is making it easier for merchants to satisfy consumers’ need for speed and convenience in their self-serve shopping...
Kiosks with rentable chargers are everywhere in China: more than half of the country’s restaurants, train stations, airports, and malls had power bank rental, according to one report in August. In the United States, however, consumers can lock their phones up in charging lockers, or they...
Standard Cognition, which is an autonomous self-pay startup valued at $535 million, has set its sights on competing with rival Amazon Go, a cashierless enterprise from the online marketplace giant. As reported, some grocery chains are worried about going head-to-head with Amazon’s technology, or partnering...
No one likes looking for parking. It’s tedious, stressful and, while one is doing it, has the unfortunate quality of always taking forever. For suburban and even exurban drivers, the hunt for a decent parking space is an occasional, if deeply irritating, part of life....
Retailers seeking to provide rapid deliveries face an ever-moving target as consumers’ definition of speed evolves. Customers who were once content to wait three to five business days for packages have become accustomed to Amazon Prime’s free two-day delivery and expect to find such conveniences...
Gone are the days of kiosks as simply new ways to distribute products. Today, they help retailers enable virtual “try-ons,” and promotions that drive more in-store sales. But kiosks become wasted investments if operators cannot keep their functions relevant to customers’ needs, which change even...
Supermarkets are turning to automated solutions to help them meet customers’ demands for rapid in-store shopping and delivery. Grocery chain Giant Eagle, for one, recently announced plans to deploy a computer visioning and machine learning system that would enable checkout-free shopping. Other grocery companies, meanwhile,...
Brick-and-mortar retailers have one key advantage in the competition against eCommerce: Only they can immediately provide physical products. That advantage evaporates if consumers arrive at stores only to find the items they want are out of stock, however. Getting inventory levels right is challenging, particularly...
It’s pretty much "game over" for those old-school, fixed-price arcade video games. Updating self-service brick-and-mortar gaming means offering consoles featuring multiple games each, with prices and selections tailored to the venue and night, says Jake Galler, chief operating officer and co-founder of arcade cabinet startup...
