metaverse VR dude feature

The Metaverse: Megatrend or Market Noise?

| Mike O'Brien

Reminiscent of “The Matrix,” the metaverse is a fully immersive virtual world where people can interact and engage in gaming, concerts or live sports. Facebook rebranded to Meta, and brands from Victoria’s Secret to Gucci, to Louis Vuitton are staking a claim. Are we there yet? We explore this topic with Nexla CEO Saket Saurabh.

e-grocery fruit order

Walmart, Amazon Most Popular for E-Grocery

| Mike O'Brien

Walmart is the most popular destination for e-grocery ordering, according to a new survey by Chicory, cited by 36% of respondents, followed by Amazon at 23%, and Instacart a distant third at 10%. Target was cited by just under 10% of respondents, followed by Kroger at 7%, Albertson’s/Safeway (3%), Stop & Shop (2%) and Shipt (1%).

Walmart InHome fridge feature

Walmart Quintuples In-Home Grocery Delivery

| Mike O'Brien

In another front of their ever-escalating war, Walmart is quadrupling its in-home grocery delivery service as Amazon continues to step it up as well, both doubling down despite concerns that linger among consumers related to COVID-19 and the omicron variant spike.

Walmart DroneUp Arkansas

Walmart Launches Multi-Site Drone Delivery in Arkansas

| Mike O'Brien

Just in time for the holidays, Walmart on Monday went live with drone delivery from one of three stores near its headquarters in Bentonville, AR, via partner and investment recipient DroneUp, with service running from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, and deliveries coming in 30 minutes or less.

walmart fulfillment center

Walmart Q3 Ecommerce Sales Up 8%, Says Holiday Prep in Good Place

| Mike O'Brien

Walmart reported its ecommerce sales in the U.S. increased 8% in the third quarter, and have gained a total of 87% since the same period in 2019, an incredible jump since pre-pandemic days as the retail giant continues to expand digitally, while declaring itself ready for the holidays.

autonomous truck Gatik-Walmart feature

Walmart First to Deliver Driverless Middle Mile

| Mike O'Brien

This week, Walmart claimed a first by announcing it had been doing driverless runs between a dark store and one of its retail outlets in its hometown of Bentonville, AR, since August, courtesy of technology partner Gatik. Walmart said the trucks are running multiple times per day, seven days per week on public roads.

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Walmart, Target Stepping Up Omnichannel Ahead of Holidays

| Mike O'Brien

In an effort to make ordering and receiving goods easier for the holidays, Walmart and Target have both announced upgrades to their omnichannel strategies as supply chain woes continue to impact inventory stock levels and consumers worry that products won’t be available.

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Home Depot First Customer for Walmart Delivery Service

| Mike O'Brien

Home Depot has signed on as the first retail customer of Walmart’s new service, GoLocal, with Walmart providing same-day and next-day delivery in select stores in Texas, New Mexico and Northwest Arkansas in the coming weeks, expanding thereafter.

walmart marketplace logo

Walmart Marketplace: How Your Brand Can Win

| Nathan Rigby

A new marketplace creates opportunity, and you should develop a specific strategy for the Walmart marketplace. You should also measure the success of each campaign to determine what elements need optimization and the most effective ways to reach customers. Here are 3 ways to strategize for sales on Walmart.com.

Four Tech Trends Accelerating a Retail Revival

| NedHayes

Consumers are bringing their spending back to offline retailers in 2021, and a now a retail revival, and a likely boost to in-person retail, has already begun. Here are four key technology trends that your brick-and-mortar store can use to accelerate customer engagement in the coming consumer wave.