Powerful computing advances in recent years have enabled retailers to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help them realize their full potential. AI analytics uses machine learning to find differences and make assumptions automatically. A study by Business Insider suggests that as much as 85 percent of customer interactions will be controlled without a human by as soon as 2020. This is no more apparent than in the e-commerce and retail sectors. In fact, business intelligence is increasingly being replaced by AI analytics due to its exponentially enhanced capabilities at managing big data.

AWS Marketplace, a curated digital catalog with over 4,800 solutions, announced a feature that makes it easier for you to find relevant third-party solutions directly in the AWS console. Now, third-party solutions from AWS Marketplace are automatically filtered and listed in the left hand navigation panel based on the AWS service console you're in. This means that you see only Machine Learning models and algorithms in the Amazon SageMaker console. You can also use the new search bar or filtering options to look for specific solutions without leaving the console.

Technological advances such as cashless stores and apps that help fill more restaurant seats with hungry diners aren't the only latest trends. Some of the latest innovations we've seen at Foodable are introducing technological advances, like robots, to the grocery store space. Grocery chain Stop and Shop, is partnering with mobile market startup Robomart to bring a new method of grocery delivery to Boston this Spring. Instead of having customers order their groceries and deliver them to the door, customers will be able to order a remote-operated Robomart vehicle to their door via an app and pick out their own produce from a pre-stocked vehicle. Another way technology is becoming more prevalent in the grocery store space is shown by Giant Food Stores.

US Amazon Prime members can now benefit from free grocery deliveries within 1–2 hours as the online retail firm makes Amazon Fresh a standard benefit of the subscription. The Amazon Fresh service, that previously cost an extra 14.99 a month, allows users to order from thousands of products including meats, produce and snacks. Delivery times vary based on the customer's location, with one and two-hour deliveries available in more than 2,000 cities and towns across the US. Food orders will have to be at least $35, or $50 in New York, before they qualify for free delivery. Amazon Fresh is available outside of the US -- in parts of the UK, Germany and India, for example -- but Amazon has not yet said if the benefit will be launched globally.

"Learn to crawl and walk before you try to run" is something we frequently advise our retail clients. That advice is particularly helpful when we are working with them on roadmaps for harnessing the RFID data produced in their stores and supply chains. This report will outline some smart tactics at each stage of the progression from decision making processes that rely heavily on human input to those that capitalize on advances in automation and artificial intelligence. It has long been established that RFID provides retailers with significant operational benefits. Our retail clients are moving beyond the core foundational capabilities and are eager to fully capitalize on the new forms of data their RFID systems are generating.

Now, the glass is more than half full for the retail industry, and the accelerating expectations of the consumers present opportunities for savvy retailers and brands who are willing to face the winds head on. Global retail sales closed at $25 Trillion in 2018 and are expected to reach $28 Trillion by 2020. While consumers are super busy in their instant gratification world and may not care about the future of retail, they're still creating that future. They want a personalized value. They want a social connection.

Retail Intelligence is all set to drive the next wave of disruption in the retail industry by enabling retailers with capabilities to deeply analyze their data, create predictive models and extract incisive insights. The biggest disruptor in retail is the availability of data. As retail went digital courtesy ecommerce, m-commerce, social commerce, and now connected retail, each customer touchpoint is producing huge amounts of data. The data, if harnessed well, can deliver deep insights into your customer's mind, his motivations, influencers in his purchasing decision, his path to purchase and more. It can also help retailers in building products, processes and providing experiences that delight customers.

With conversational commerce mushrooming throughout the retail world, it surely must have the feel of déjà vu for the iconic 1-800-Flowers.com Founded in 1976 and branded with its workhorse 1-800-Flowers phone number in 1986, the company can point to its penchant for speaking directly to its customers as a reason for its longevity -- first through the phone and then across the internet. The process of conversational commerce uses remarkably intuitive technology tools such as voice messaging and chatbot applications to facilitate seamless interactions between brands and shoppers to drive transactions or trigger service. Voice protocols are emerging as the dominant technique fueling conversational commerce, notably voice assistants such as Apple Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. In addition, text-enabled chatbots are proliferating to help consumers through human-like conversations.

Gartner, Inc. today revealed its top strategic predictions for 2020 and beyond. Gartner's top predictions examine how the human condition is being challenged as technology creates varied and ever-changing expectations of humans. "Technology is changing the notion of what it means to be human," said Daryl Plummer, distinguished vice president and Gartner Fellow. "As workers and citizens see technology as an enhancement of their abilities, the human condition changes as well. CIOs in end-user organizations must understand the effects of the change and reset expectations for what technology means."

Grocery giant Sobeys has unveiled what it calls Canada's first smart shopping cart at a store in Ontario. It's a great idea for people looking for assistance in shopping and to be on their way as soon as possible. The project is a partnership with New York-based retail technology company Capers. Essentially, the cart you grab as you enter the store has high-tech devices that allow customers to shop, get recipe ideas, obtain information on where to get ingredients, weigh and pay for their food. The cart also has GPS so you can find whatever you need in the store. The Smart Cart has been developed to allow shoppers to bypass traditional checkout lanes, one of the most unpleasant parts of grocery shopping.