By Maria Halkias 10:14 AM on Sep 19, 2019

It's been less than two years since Amazon introduced its checkout-free store in Seattle.

Americans are getting used to walking in the stores and walking out with something ready to eat. The receipt appears on their phones a few minutes later.

Now there are 16 stores open in Seattle, San Francisco, New York and Chicago.

Two more have been announced in Chicago. Since then, it's been radio silence from Amazon, but it does have 155 Amazon Go corporate job openings. It's looking for scientists, engineers and software developers who specialize in machine learning and walkout technology. That last one is what the hubbub is about, the cashierless store experience.

A report that Amazon is slowing down its Go store expansion appeared in The Information earlier this month based on documents it obtained from early 2018 that said Amazon planned to open 56 Go stores by the end of this year and 156 by the end of 2020. (READ MORE)

Natalie Berg Contributor Retail (I write about retail strategy and trends shaping the future of retail).

I can count on one hand the number of U.K. retailers that can still get away with aggressive physical store expansion while broadly shunning e-commerce - Primark, Aldi and… yep, that’s it.

At a time when most retailers are re-evaluating portfolios and shuttering stores, Aldi has announced plans to open hundreds of new stores, including doubling its presence in London. By 2025, Aldi is expected to trade from 1,200 U.K. shops, up from just 840 today. The space race isn’t over just yet.

So what does this tell us about the current state of retail?

Disruptors come in all shapes and sizes

We’ve become so obsessed with digital disruption that we tend to forget there are some very nimble bricks & mortar retailers out there that are challenging the status quo and displacing legacy retailers. Now Aldi is no new kid on the block - they’ve been trading in the U.K. for nearly 30 years - but for most of that time they were perceived as the low-quality, budget alternative to the supermarkets. In 2008, they pounced on a once in a lifetime opportunity to cater to recession-hit shoppers, aided by the advent of mobile technology and a newfound notion of ‘smart shopping’. Frugality went from shamed to celebrated and Aldi was right there to welcome shoppers in droves. (READ MORE)

Manju V | TNN | Updated: Sep 8, 2019, 20:14 IST

MUMBAI: At the cappacino outlets near the aipport boarding gates, every morning about 200 sandwhiches, 100 rolls, 50 soft drinks and more are stacked in glass chillers awaiting passangers who will hve their breakfast on the go. (READ MORE)

 

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/71040610.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

By Bryan Horwath (contact) Monday, September 16, 2019 - 2 a.m.

If retail is indeed dying, nobody told the folks at Marshall Retail Group.

An independent specialty retailer with more than 600 employees based in Las Vegas and more than 1,300 in the U.S. and Canada, the company is on a growth trajectory that isn’t likely to slow anytime soon, according to its president and chief operating officer, David Charles.

“We’re growing at quite a clip,” said Charles, who has been with the company for more than three years.

While many who pass by its stores may not know the Marshall Retail Group name, they’ve likely been in or at least near one. The company leases space at touristy places such as airports and casinos and creates specialty shops for brands, including Lego, Harley-Davidson and Misura. (READ MORE)

 By Frank Pallotta, CNN Business

 Updated 3:59 PM ET, Mon September 16, 2019

New York (CNN Business)Netflix may be losing Michael Scott and Chandler Bing, but it's gaining Jerry Seinfeld and Cosmo Kramer.

"Seinfeld," one of the most popular sitcoms in TV history, is heading to Netflix (NFLX) starting in 2021, the streaming company announced on Monday. Netflix will be the exclusive global streaming home to the sitcom. The financial terms of the deal, which Netflix struck with distributor Sony Pictures Television, were not disclosed. The deal lasts five years. Licensed content like "Seinfeld" has become a major weapon in the streaming wars. Legacy media companies like Disney (DIS) and WarnerMedia, CNN's parent company, are pulling some of their most beloved shows from Netflix in an effort to draw subscribers to their own streaming services. (READ MORE)

Pamela N. Danziger Contributor Retail

Much is written and discussed about the need for a new way to measure retail success. Most everyone agrees with Matthew Shay, president of the National Retail Federation, that traditional retail metrics are ineffective in counting and quantifying success in our omnichannel world.

“While retail continues to evolve and adapt to changing consumer preferences and new technologies, it is increasingly critical to develop newer, more relevant metrics to accurately value and measure retailers. The current suite of metrics were built for a time that no longer exists,” Shay affirms.

Deloitte has done more than just talk about it. The firm has proposed a new retail metrics model in a report entitled “The Future of Retail Metrics: Measuring Success in a Shifting Marketplace.” (READ MORE)

By

JEFFRYBARTASH

REPORTER

Published: Sept 13, 2019 10:25 a.m. ET

The numbers: U.S. retail sales got a big boost in August from purchases of new autos and building supplies, but most other stores reported weak or declining receipts in a sign that consumers trimmed spending toward the end of summer.

Retail sales rose 0.4% last month, the government said Friday, but sales were flat excluding new cars and trucks.

Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a small 0.1% increase in sales after a big 0.8% increase in July spurred in part by Amazon AMZN, -0.08%  Prime Day.

Read: For the first time in 11 years, 80% of Americans in their prime are working

What happened: Sales jumped 1.8% at auto dealers to mark the biggest gain in five months. (READ MORE)

Iliyas Ong Aug 9, 2019 7:55 am BST

She's only the third female solo act with multiple No. 1s

Billie Eilish is now in rarefied company, joining Alanis Morissette and Sinead O’Connor as the only female soloists to notch multiple No. 1 singles on Billboard‘s Alternative Songs list since its inception 31 years ago.

Eilish’s track ‘bad guy’ climbed to the top of the alternative charts, Billboard announced yesterday (August 8), after ‘bury a friend’ reigned at the peak for two weeks in May. This also makes the 17-year-old the youngest female solo artist to bag the honour. Listen to ‘bad guy’ below. (READ MORE)

Mary Ann Azevedo, bayareawriter September 11, 2019

In an era where so many people are going online to buy everything from razor blades to environmentally-friendly shoes, Neighborhood Goods is taking an unorthodox approach to retail by bringing D2C brands to the physical world.

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Today, the Dallas-based startup announced it has closed on an $11 million Series A from a bevy of big-name investors. Germany-based Global Founders Capital led the round, which also included participation from existing investors such as Forerunner Ventures, Serena Ventures (professional tennis player Serena Williams’ venture vehicle), NextGen Venture Partners, Allen Exploration, Austin-based accelerator Capital Factory, and others.

Neighborhood Goods raised a seed round of $5.8 million in May of 2018 that was led by Forerunner Ventures and also included participation from Revolution and Serena Ventures. The startup did an expanded seed round in February 2019, that was also led by Global Founders Capital.

With its new financing, Neighborhood Goods has raised a total of $25.6 million since it was incorporated in August of 2017. (READ MORE)

Lucas Matney @lucasmtny / 10:00 am EDT • September 10, 2019 Caper wants to deliver a major update to the self-checkout aisle without keeping its dreaded catchphrases, i.e. “Unknown item in the bagging area,” “Please place the item in the bag.”

The New York startup is tapping some of Silicon Valley’s more recognizable VC firms to fund their dreams for a shopping cart of the future that uses computer vision and other sensors to let shoppers quickly scan items as they drop them into their carts.

The company is announcing that they’ve closed a $10 million Series A led by Lux Capital . The round also saw participation from First Round Capital, Y Combinator, Hardware Club, FundersClub, Sidekick Fund and Red Apple Group.

Caper  closed its $2.15 million seed round led by First Round earlier this year. The startup has now raised $13 million to date. The startup’s leadership plans to use the capital to bring their smart grocery carts to more locations. (READ MORE)