At auto dealerships around the country, electric cars have reportedly become a hard sell. Consumers are worried about the price, range and reliability of these vehicles, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday (Dec. 10), citing interviews with dealers. Among them is Paul LaRochelle, a vice president...
Even in the face of inflation, consumers are proving that they won’t “checkout” easily when it comes to tradition. Last week, PYMNTS delved into whether shoppers were ready to swap out real Christmas trees for alternatives, and the verdict was a resounding commitment to tradition. ...
Early-stage venture capital (VC) firm Harpoon Ventures has closed a $125 million fund to support enterprise startups serving the public and private sectors. “We’re thrilled to announce the close of our latest fund,” the firm said in a Friday (Dec. 8) post on LinkedIn. “This milestone marks the beginning...
European Union (EU) negotiators are reportedly engaged in discussions to establish the most comprehensive regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the western world. After a marathon session on the Artificial Intelligence Act that lasted nearly 24 hours, teams from the European Parliament and 27 member countries...
The news that Amazon will stop taking Venmo payments prompts much speculation as to the why behind it all, roughly 14 months since the 90 million active Venmo customers in the U.S. began to be able to use the option on Amazon (though they can...
Convenience retailers are seizing on the electric vehicle (EV) charging opportunity to drive sales, as consumers wait around with little to do but shop. Last month, for instance, Texas-based convenience store chain Buc-ee’s, which has nearly 50 locations, announced a strategic agreement with Mercedes-Benz for...
The luxury industry is reportedly facing a slowdown as shoppers sober up after their pandemic spending spree. This slowdown has left luxury brands with a growing pile of unsold stock, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Friday (Dec. 8). Sales across the sector rose by...
J.P. Morgan Payments processed a record number of card-not-present transactions in Europe on both Black Friday (Nov. 24) and Cyber Monday (Nov. 27). The firm processed 18.2 million transactions on Black Friday and 19.6 million on Cyber Monday, Ludovic Houri, co-head of EMEA Payments &...
The rise of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT has thrust generative artificial intelligence (AI) into the driver’s seat of retail technologies, prompting brands across industry subsegments to reassess their strategies. This development follows retailers’ years-long efforts to leverage AI’s earlier iterations to support novel...
