Merchant Innovation

Boston’s Bridj Wants Self-Driving Robots To Deliver Goods
August 30, 2016

Bridj — a Boston-based transportation startup that acts like an Uber for bus rides and currently serves the Boston, Washington, D.C., and Kansas City areas, now wants to launch a package delivery service that would use self-driving droids to transport packages to a customer’s front door, according...

Merchant Innovation
Uber Partners With Visa To Drive Rewards For Local Riders, Retailers
August 30, 2016

While it’s not quite accurate to say that everyone loves Uber, for many consumers, to know Uber is love Uber. That’s because when it comes to payments, Uber manages to deliver the same semi-mystical experience to consumers every time they use it – a smooth, steady...

Paying By The Month For Airline Tickets With Affirm
August 30, 2016

Consumers can now pay for airline tickets in monthly installments, making that dream vacation to Bali more of a reality than a dream, according to a report from CNNMoney. CheapAir has entered into a partnership with Affirm, a financial services company, that allows would-be travelers the...

Vacation Rental Home Startup Vacasa Isn’t Just An Airbnb Knockoff
August 25, 2016

At first glance, the business model behind Vacasa, the vacation rental home startup, sounds very similar to the one behind Airbnb. But Cofounder and CEO Eric Breon says that the two online rental startups are actually vastly different from one another. First, according to Breon,...

Merchant Innovation
Looks Like Samsung Is Building An Echo Of Its Own
August 24, 2016

It seems Samsung is not content to let Amazon and the Echo (or Google’s forthcoming Home products) walk away with the simple smart home device market. According to reports emerging, Samsung is releasing a gadget all its own called the Scoop to compete in the...

Merchant Innovation
BitScan Partnering With Waves To Launch Crowdfunded Loyalty Program
August 23, 2016

BitScan, a merchant-backed loyalty program, has announced a partnership with Waves, a custom blockchain tokens platform, to implement a new type of rewards program, dubbed Incent. Incent will introduce the “first universal, merchant-backed loyalty program,” according to the two companies, allowing merchants on the platform to...

Merchant Innovation
YouTube To Open Physical Store In London
August 22, 2016

Google is slated to open a physical YouTube store, dubbed the Creator Store, attached to its 11-story King’s Cross headquarters in London later this year, according to TechCrunch. At the YouTube Space London (also at King’s Cross), popular YouTube celebs can already record and edit their...

Merchant Innovation
Safety, Security Features Powering Sales Of Smart Home Tech
August 22, 2016

The most popular reasons consumers are interested in or buying smart home technology? They apparently want to feel safer and more secure within their own homes and view interconnected home technology as the ideal way. Four out of every 10 consumers with interest in building...

Merchant Innovation
Meet Zmags, The Company Creating A Shoppable Content Revolution
August 17, 2016

When Godiva wanted to create a digital ad and shopping campaign around Valentine’s Day — probably the busiest shopping season for the chocolate maker — but didn’t have the time or resources to pull it off, it turned to a Boston-based company called Zmags and...