The future of commerce will be “customer-centric, interconnected, frictionless and consistently exceeds expectations.”So said Walmart in a Tuesday (Jan. 9) press release describing some of its latest retail technologies that were unveiled at the CES trade show.“The way people buy and discover goods has evolved into a seamless integration of online and offline experiences,” the retailer said in the release. “Customers expect retailers to provide a convenient and enjoyable shopping experience.”With technologi ...

Visa and CIBC have formed a new collaboration to help the bank’s clients send remittances across borders more conveniently. With Visa Direct’s money movement capabilities, the clients of CIBC and its digital banking division Simplii will be able to send money to more digital wallets in the Philippines, China, Bangladesh, Kenya and other key remittance destinations in which digital wallets are commonly used, the companies said in a Tuesday (Jan. 9) press release. The new capability will be available in the c ...

Amazon wants you to feel confident while shopping at home. They want you to make more confident purchasing decisions, and they want to lower the likelihood of you returning a product, which has become a $1 trillion problem. In fact, according to Karen Webster, returns pose significant logistical and financial challenges for retailers and have become an inconvenience for consumers. In response, retailers have implemented return fees and collaborated with innovators to offer alternatives such as immediate sto ...

Barclays reportedly laid off about 5,000 workers in 2023 as part of a cost-cutting campaign.A spokesperson for the British bank told Reuters Monday (Jan. 8) that most of those cuts happened in Barclays Execution Services, the company’s support unit.“Barclays removed approximately 5,000 headcount globally through 2023 as part of its ongoing efficiency programme designed to simplify and reshape the business, improve service, and deliver higher returns,” the spokesperson said.The bank also laid off about 3% of ...

BigCommerce and Marketplacer have partnered to enable BigCommerce customers to transform their online stores into multi-vendor marketplaces. With the BigCommerce Marketplace Connector enabled by this partnership, BigCommerce customers can allow third-party sellers to list and sell products from their stores, the companies said in a Monday (Jan. 8) press release. “The BigCommerce Marketplacer connected model allows customers to expand without boundaries — turning suppliers into sellers and adding hundreds or ...

In anticipation of incorporating advertisements on Prime Video, Amazon is also delving into the development of movies and TV series inspired by the Warhammer 40,000 games. On the flip side, Walmart, not aiming to take over the movie world, recently shared news about teaming up with Unity, a platform for 3D experiences. This partnership allows game and app creators to directly link Walmart’s shopping features into their creations, making it possible to sell real items in 3D experiences on over 20 platforms.  ...

CVS Pharmacy, the retail division of CVS Health, simplified its loyalty program by consolidating it into one membership with two tiers.With both tiers of the ExtraCare program, CVS Pharmacy will offer in-store savings, online sales and personalized deals that will be emailed or texted to members, the company said in a Thursday (Jan. 4) press release.“ExtraCare is a long-standing leader in the loyalty program industry, and this evolution will allow us to provide even greater simplicity to our members while p ...

Amazon reportedly saw its investment in faster delivery bear fruit just before Christmas.In the two weeks leading up to the holiday, the tech giant garnered 29% of global volume of online orders, Bloomberg News reported Thursday (Jan. 4), citing data on 55 million orders from package-tracking app Route. That 29% was up from 21% during Thanksgiving week.“It’s a pretty sharp shift in how consumers shop,” Michael Yamartino, Route’s chief executive officer, told Bloomberg. “The top priority in the days leading ...

Online sales reached a new record in 2023, thanks in part to buy now, pay later options.New data from Adobe, released Thursday (Jan. 4) showed that American consumers spent $222.1 billion between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 last year, a 4.9% increase over 2022.More than half of that spending happened in November, thanks in part to a strong “Cyber Week,” in which shoppers spent $38 billion.While consumers were eager to spend online, they were also hesitant to break their budget, with buy now, pay later (BNPL) usage r ...

Walmart launched an “immersive commerce” partnership with 3D technology firm Unity.The collaboration lets Unity developers integrate Walmart’s commerce application programming interfaces (APIs) directly into their games and apps, which in turn lets creators sell physical items in real-time 3D (RT3D) across more than 20 platforms, according to a Thursday (Jan. 4) press release.The partnership unlocks new ways for developers and creators “to connect customers’ virtual and physical lifestyles and [establish] n ...