Today in the Connected Economy: Walmart Pairs with Hims & Hers

Today in the connected economy, Walmart forms a partnership with Hims & Hers, Amazon debuts a physical store with virtual fitting rooms, and Saks and Wishi help customers find a stylist. Meanwhile, we share an interview with i2c Inc. President Jim McCarthy on the regulatory shakeups facing the digital finance sector.

Hims & Hers, Walmart Bring Hair Care Products to 1,400+ Stores

The telehealth platform Hims & Hers is debuting its line of hair care solutions at more than 1,400 Walmart retail locations nationwide and on walmart.com starting this weekend.

“Since our founding, our goal has been to provide quality health and wellness, including hair care and hair loss products, in the most convenient way possible to consumers,” said Hims & Hers Chief Operating Officer Melissa Baird in the release. “We are thrilled to collaborate with such a well-known household name such as Walmart as a continuation of our strategy to bring access to our products to consumers wherever they are across the country.”

Female Sports Icons Team With Parity for First NFT Marketplace

A trio of female sports icons are working with the Parity NFT Marketplace to launch the first non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace dedicated to women athletes.

The Legends Collection NFT will debut with an offering created by renowned artist Borbay celebrating track and field legend Jackie Joyner-Kersee. The second will pay homage to Olympic medalist and Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, with the third focusing on Olympic and professional hockey great Jayna Hefford.

Amazon Opening Fashion Store with Digital Fitting Rooms

Amazon is rolling out a physical store for fashion that let people shop digitally, try on clothes on in real life, and get suggestions based on users’ algorithms, the company announced on its blog.

The first location will open at some point this year in the Glendale area of Los Angeles at The Americana at Brand, a shopping, dining and entertainment center.

Saks Launches Digital Shopping, Styling Service

Luxury brand Saks has debuted a service called Saks Stylist, a personal stylist and shopping tool found on its website and mobile app. The service is free for all Saks Fifth Avenue customers, created with Wishi, a software firm that combines proprietary technology and real-life styling skills.

“Personal styling and shopping are a vital part of the Saks Fifth Avenue experience, and now we’re excited to introduce Saks Stylist on our platform,” said Emily Essner, Saks’ chief marketing officer.

Veriff Collabs With Starship to Drive ID Verification for Autonomous Robot Delivery

The global identity verification provider Veriff is collaborating with autonomous delivery services provider Starship Technologies to offer identity verification services for robot delivery.

The partnership will provide Starship’s fleet of autonomous delivery robots in the U.K. with authentication and re-verification services. Veriff’s technology will bring added safety and security, making it the first company to create a totally autonomous end-to-end delivery service for age-restricted items such as alcohol and cigarettes.

Perfect Corp. Teams With MAC Cosmetics, SoPost on AI Shade Matching, Product Sampling

The beauty brand MAC Cosmetics and beauty tech platform Perfect Corp. are working with the online product sampling platform SoPost on a personalized product sampling experience for MAC Cosmetics’ Studio Fix Fluid Foundation.

This collaboration will fuse augmented reality (AR) virtual try-on and personalized artificial intelligence (AI) shade matching, as well as physical product sampling, joining the digital and physical worlds to let customers make better decisions, the companies said.