Sephora again makes over Virtual Artist augmented reality app

New features include eyeshadow virtual try-on, an Expert Looks preview and virtual tutorials for brows, contouring and highlighting.

By Dan O'Shea • March 13, 2017

Target ups data analytics game through series of 'acqui-hire' deals

"Acqui-hires allow us to accelerate both onboarding the right kind of talent, onboarding the right kind of technologies and getting to market much faster," said Target Senior Vice President Paritosh Desai.

By Dan O'Shea • March 12, 2017

Explore the Trendline➔

What's shaping the e-commerce landscape?

From pivots in digital strategies to challenges retailers must overcome with reverse logistics, here are some of the forces shaping online retail.

By Retail Dive staff

Adidas aims to open fitness app efforts to third-party partnerships

The sportswear brand is consolidating its digital efforts under the Runtastic platform banner and shutting down its miCoach platform of health and fitness products.

By Dan O'Shea • March 12, 2017

Study: 70% of retailers planning IoT investments

By 2021, nearly 80% of retailers will be able to customize in-store experiences by leveraging location technology that tells them when specific customers are in their brick-and-mortar sites.

By Dan O'Shea • March 9, 2017

eBay, Google demo ShopBot appraisal feature for Google Home users

The digital concierge service is capable of telling users how much various items in their possession may be worth.

By Dan O'Shea • March 9, 2017

Wal-Mart testing in-store touchscreens in challenge to Amazon

The interactive kiosks on trial at some Texas stores help toy shoppers identify what they might want, or order a specific item they can’t locate on shelves.

By Daphne Howland • March 9, 2017

Instacart adds $400M in Series D, plans expansion to 25 new markets

The funding vaults the estimated total value of the grocery shopping and delivery startup to $3.4 billion, up from $2 billion in its previous round.

By Dan O'Shea • March 8, 2017

4 reasons why Amazon Dash still doesn't deliver the goods

The e-commerce giant's automated commerce program seems promising in principle, but there’s a long way to go before it pushes consumers’ buttons.

By Phillip Adcock • March 8, 2017

Pinterest unveils browser button to power web-wide image search

Users can enable image searches via the browser button by hovering over any image on a given site, then selecting the magnifying tool to instantly discover visually-similar ideas on the Pinterest platform.

By Dan O'Shea • March 7, 2017

10 Items or Less: Why retailers need to rethink what they think about mobile

Each week, Retail Dive editor Jason Ankeny weighs in on the industry headlines and trends capturing his attention. This time around: Smartphones, shoes and solar power.

By Jason Ankeny • March 7, 2017

IBM Watson, Salesforce Einstein form AI dream team to aid retail, other industries

The tech giants will integrate and leverage one another’s artificial intelligence solutions to deliver new applications for customers in a variety of sectors.

By Dan O'Shea • March 6, 2017

Amazon reportedly launching Alexa devices supporting voice calling

It is unclear how voice calling would work, including whether a device would require its own phone number, or if the capability would rely on synchronization with another device.

By Dan O'Shea • March 5, 2017

HowGood rakes in $4.2M to cultivate socially-conscious product rating platform

The company's platform analyzes and rates products based on environmental sustainability and other social values embraced by some consumers.

By Dan O'Shea • March 2, 2017

Everlane scales back on Facebook Messenger

The e-commerce retailer is sticking with email for most of its communications with customers, the company said (in an email).

By Daphne Howland • March 2, 2017

Amazon cloud disruption slowed many top retail websites

The AWS outage slowed e-commerce site performance for more than 50 of the top 100 Internet retailers. Lululemon and Express were knocked offline completely. 

By Dan O'Shea • March 1, 2017

Techstars' AddStructure adds $1.4M in seed funding

The startup has garnered investments from Best Buy, Techstars Ventures and other parties for its white-label conversational commerce solution.

By Dan O'Shea • March 1, 2017

Report: Amazon improving Alexa's voice recognition abilities

The new capabilities may allow Alexa-enabled devices like the Echo to create voice prints that could help verify the identities of specific users.

By Dan O'Shea • Feb. 28, 2017

Starbucks' successful mobile ordering is causing in-store traffic jams

CEO Howard Schultz admitted the company's stores are getting congested with customers who have ordered and paid ahead of time via mobile.

By Dan O'Shea • Feb. 28, 2017

10 Items or Less: What retailers can learn from the Grateful Dead

Each week, Retail Dive editor Jason Ankeny weighs in on the industry headlines and trends capturing his attention. This time around: Deadheads, designers and drones.

By Jason Ankeny • Feb. 28, 2017

Mastercard, Oracle team up on digital payments for stores, e-commerce

The partnership aims to provide retailers with a unified approach to in-store and online payments, starting with a Qkr! and Masterpass mobile app.

By Dan O'Shea • Feb. 27, 2017

Alibaba rails against lax counterfeit laws, enforcement

The Chinese e-commerce giant is calling for harsher penalties against convicted counterfeiters, stating “Criminals can escape any legal consequence, leaving law enforcement agents and consumers feeling helpless, and society bearing the damage."

By Daphne Howland • Feb. 27, 2017

Motorola brings Amazon's Alexa to accessories, smartphones

Google made a similar announcement, making its Google Assistant available across smartphones running Android 7.0 Nougat and Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

By Dan O'Shea • Feb. 26, 2017

Viber bolsters chat app with buying button for Macy's, other sellers

The new capability will be available as a beta offering in the U.S. early next month, and will be expanded on a worldwide basis as the year plays out.

By Dan O'Shea • Feb. 23, 2017

Survey: Digital transformation 2017's top priority for many retailers

Just over 50% of respondents have either not defined or not started implementing a digital transformation strategy, though progress varies by region.

By Dan O'Shea • Feb. 23, 2017

Jet boosts assortment with Wal-Mart brands

The e-commerce site is leveraging house brands including “Great Value,” “Equate” and “Sam’s Choice” to bolster its relatively thin product assortment.

By Daphne Howland • Feb. 23, 2017