Spring is here and with it comes a fresh crop of headlines! 🌸
From developments in artificial intelligence to changes in package delivery services, there’s a lot to stay on top of for any business owner looking to keep their finger on the pulse of these industries. Here are some highlights from this week that should be on your radar:
Walmart is preparing to invest an immense $1.5 billion in Mexico and Central America by the year 2023, a move that will revitalize economies across both regions.
Walmart's CFO has predicted that the company will benefit from services and ad sales over the coming five years, with an impressive increase in profits.
Instacart is joining the chatbot revolution, adding a ChatGPT to its grocery shopping application.
Amazon announces the closure of eight Go convenience stores in a move to reduce expenses.
Top Retail and E-commerce Stories
Buy Now or Wait Your Move: The Refreshing Change in E-Comm Scenery c/o Walmart
According to Walmex's filing following their investors and analyst gathering, nearly half of the investment will be used for renovating and sustaining existing stores, while roughly 30% is allocated towards newly built stores and clubs. The remaining 20% is allocated for digital projects and other developments such as warehouse expansion.
Walmart's main source of income in the foreseeable future is not likely to stem from its sales at 10,000 stores but rather through ads on Walmart.com and fees collected from merchants for using their online marketplace and delivery services, according to the company's Chief Financial Officer on Tuesday.
As Walmart's retail media business continues to expand, services such as fees collected from third-party sellers on Walmart.com and the cut it gets when fulfilling orders to shoppers are quickly gaining higher margins and faster growth rates.
John David Rainey, Walmart's CFO shares "The more eyeballs that are coming to your digital platforms, the more advertisers want to spend money." As more and more consumers lean into the convenience of e-commerce, powerhouses like Walmart are eager to set the tone for user experience in the future.
Instacart with ChatGPT: A Virtual Assistant for Your Grocery Needs
Photo Credit: INSTACART INC. | Wall Street Journal
Get your groceries with the extra help of AI. Instacart, the popular grocery delivery service, is now integrating a ChatGPT into its application. Instacart is unveiling its revolutionary chatbot-powered search engine, Ask Instacart. This powerful technology will allow users to ask food-related queries such as asking for recipe ideas and ingredients or healthy meal options; responses from ChatGPT's language software are in the form of a dialogue instead of typical search engine results.
You can now take the guesswork out of this week's dinner menus! By utilizing Instacart's AI software with ChatGPT, the innovative search tool will access data from over 1.5 million items stocked by approximately 75,000 grocery stores in Instacart’s partner network. This "experimentation" of what is achievable utilizing ChatGPT on Instacart's app highlights the possibilities of this compelling technology integration.
The Amazon Go experiment is officially over. Amazon declared that8 of its convenience stores in the U.S. will be shutting downto minimize costs, and moreover mentioned they are also diluting plans for growth in cities such as Chicago and San Francisco.
On Friday, Amazon announced it was shuttering eight of its Go stores in light of cost-cutting measures and a shift in their physical presence. These closures are part of an overall strategy to streamline operations and increase efficiency. On April 1st, Amazon will be shutting down two of its Go stores in New York City, two locations in Seattle, and four stores in San Francisco. However, the company has vowed to offer support for their workers by helping them secure other employment opportunities at the firm.
Amazon has been trying to crack the grocery segment for quite some time, dating all the way back to 2007. Their largest acquisition still remains Whole Foods Market which they acquired back in 2017.
With YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram taking over the social media community, influencers are becoming more and more influential for e-commerce brands. If you are one of these e-commerce companies, which type of influencers do you prefer to work with? We'll post the results next week!
QUICK TIP
Try this.To decrease cart abandonment rates, do not ask shoppers to create an account. Instead, provide a ‘Guest Checkout’ option for customers who do not wish to sign up.
FUN FACT
A shocking 69.99% of shopping cart transactions go unfulfilled, indicating a startlingly high rate of abandonment!
LISTEN UP
On this 75th episode of The E-Comm Show, our host, and BlueTuskr CEO Andrew Maff is with Kayleigh Christina of CLEARSTEM Skincare, a revolutionary brand that created an all-in-one category of non-toxic acne+aging skincare in 2017. In today’s episode with Kayleigh, you’ll not only learn a lot about skincare, but you’ll also pick up several tips on how to reach out to the right influencers, organically grow your following, and how be consistent in providing excellent customer service.
In our last week's poll results, we asked how much of a threat Temu is to retailers. And the results showed 50-50 split between retailers who are afraid of the technology and those that are embracing it.
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