Singapore’s train stations are being taken over by robots. Robot baristas, specifically. Transit retail and advertising solutions company Stellar Lifestyle and food and beverage-focused Internet of Things (IoT) startup Crown Digital announced this week that they are partnering to bring ELLA, a robot that can...
Self-service is evolving beyond the kiosk. Israeli computer vision checkout startup Trigo, which creates cashier-free purchasing solutions for grocery stores, announced a new investment on Wednesday (June 16) that brings the company’s total funding to over $100 million. The investment, which comes from German retail...
Got social anxiety after more than a year of quarantining at home? Well, those who live in Seattle will soon be able to pick up all their groceries without interacting with anyone. Amazon announced on Tuesday (June 15) its first full-size Amazon Fresh grocery store...
Vending machines that dispense masks may soon be coming to a shopping mall near you. Gaming company Razer said it will roll out the machines in Singapore in time for the nation’s planned lifting of lockdown measures next month. In March, Razer committed itself to...
The pandemic is reshaping all facets of physical life. As we space six feet apart in pretty much every physical setting – walking in the park, waiting for groceries, nimbly avoiding one another in big-box retail aisles – it’s safe to say that we’ll get...
As recently as a few years ago, it was often difficult to get retailers to think seriously about unattended retail as an expansion or extension of their business. They were still too tied to the original concept of one-off, standalone vending machines for food and beverage...
While there are some segments of the retail economy that are enjoying what can only be described as boom times, for most retail — particularly physical retail — times are slow. Consumers advised to stay in and prevent the spread of contagion are doing just that...
Cashierless technology is finally hinting at a mainstream rollout, with 7-Eleven’s announcement that it is piloting a cashierless store, taking a cue from Amazon and Walmart. The move caps a flurry of tech activity from the 70,000-store chain, which has recently included a digital loyalty...
Mind the gap, as the saying goes. In this case, it’s the gap between interest and intent, the chasm that lies between consumer awareness of unattended retail and actually taking the plunge in buying at the kiosk and vending machine. In an interview with Karen Webster, Maeve...
