Olay's success with Skin Advisor highlights the value that consumers place on personalized experiences and the ways in which technology solutions like AI are helping brands better craft those types of experiences. The tool takes some of the guesswork out of shopping for skincare products -- which can be overwhelming -- by providing a rough facsimile of one-on-one beauty consultation that requires only a few steps from the user, such as taking a selfie. This level of personalization can help brands build customer loyalty and increase sales, as Olay has demonstrated. Marketers are beginning to embrace AI and related technologies to improve customer service, offer tailored recommendations and analyze large troves of data. Olay's use of AI is in line with the broader trend of retailers leading the way in spending on AI and cognitive systems.

Walmart and Microsoft have extended an existing partnership with a five-year agreement that will enable the two companies to collaborate on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data platform solutions for a range of customer-facing services and internal business applications. This could mean teaming up on everything from Bing search ads to no-scan checkouts and predictive ordering to blockchain ledgers with help from Microsoft's partnership with EY. "Walmart's commitment to technology is centered [on] creating incredibly convenient ways for customers to shop and empowering associates to do their best work," said Doug McMillon, Walmart CEO, in a prepared statement. "Walmart is a people-led, tech-empowered company, and we're excited about what this technology partnership will bring for our customers and associates." Microsoft will help Walmart learn more about its customers, although the retailer is pretty savvy when it comes to technology. The extended partnership will also allow Walmart to outsource some of the technology development.

Next time you fire up the Apple Store app to look up the MacBooks, iPhones and compatible accessories you can buy, just say the keyword out loud. Cupertino has rolled out voice search for its Store application on iOS -- you only need to tap the mic icon in the search bar to get the app to recognize your words. If you've ever used the application in the past instead of exclusively visiting the website on a browser, you'll also notice that Apple has refreshed its interface. It now shows trending searchers, perhaps in an effort to entice you to look at products and features you might not check out or know otherwise. Plus, search results now come in card-like boxes so they're easier to digest.

Bit by bit, companies outside the automotive and digital-tech spheres are helping advance the promise of autonomous driving in ways that ultimately may make the difference whether public acceptance makes the driverless-car era a fait accompli, or rank-and-file indifference or resistance delays a transformation of the transportation economy. The latest case in point is a new test by Walmart of the biggest thing in locomotion to hit its aisles since the debut of those little electric carts that physically infirm customers are allowed to drive around its stores. The world's largest bricks-and-mortar retailer is piloting a service with Waymo in Chandler, Ariz., that will allow an exclusive group of customers who place orders through Walmart.com to catch a ride from their home to the store in one of Waymo's self-driving Pacifica vans; known as "early riders," the targeted group is Waymo's 400 daily users. Walmart employees will bring the groceries to the van. "Our personal shoppers get to work meticulously picking customers' orders based on their pickup times," Tom Ward, vice president of e-commerce operations for Walmart, said in a blog post.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos loves Alexa. Imagine what's possible when you put Alexa next to Amazon's real cash cow. Amazon reported a sharp jump in Q2 earnings Thursday, thanks partly again to its AWS cloud computing services. But the spotlight, not surprisingly, instead was shined on Amazon's Alexa voice assistant-- In fact, Alexa came up some 31 times in the release. "We want customers to be able to use Alexa wherever they are," CEO Jeff Bezos said.

Walmart and Microsoft are teaming up in a five-year partnership to drive digital transformation across Walmart, boost shopping speed and empower Walmart retail associates. Technologies in play include AI, IoT and cloud efforts, according to a press release. "Walmart's commitment to technology is centered around creating incredibly convenient ways for customers to shop and empowering associates to do their best work," said CEO Doug McMillon in the release. Microsoft has already been providing Walmart services for applications and workloads. The new cloud innovation projects will involve machine learning and data platform solutions.

Voice-enabled smart devices is set to be the new game changer in consumers' lives.Andria Cheng Amazon has made Alexa practically a household name as the voice-assistant-enabled Fire TV stick and Echo devices rank among its best sellers and gives the online giant a dominant lead in the growing smart speaker market. But you'd be wrong to think that lead came just from those big discounts Amazon gave on the likes of Prime Day. On the campus of New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark on Tuesday, 2,500 developers, marketers, executives and other attendees from Panasonic and Lego to Capital One and Johnson & Johnson gathered for the three-day inaugural Voice Summit. While Amazon rivals like Microsoft and Google were also among attendees, the Seattle giant's presence was not to be missed: it's the event's largest sponsor among dozens. At the conference, which ends Thursday, attendees could hang out with Amazon Alexa staff and learn to code and ask questions, besides listening to various Amazon executives talking about the direction of voice and learning about Alexa initiatives across industries from retail and education to finance and healthcare.

Waymo self-driving cars will be used to chauffeur "early riders" to and from their Walmart online grocery pickup location. Waymo self-driving cars will be used to chauffeur "early riders" to and from their Walmart online grocery pickup location. The future is here and soon it will be toting grocery shoppers around Phoenix. Walmart and Waymo -- formerly Google's self-driving car project -- announced on Wednesday the launch of a pilot program that will allow consumers to make their grocery pickups with the help of an autonomous vehicle. Participants in Waymo's "early riders" program will be able to take a driverless shuttle service to and from Walmart whenever they purchase groceries from Walmart.com using the retailer's online grocery pickup service.

Google parent Alphabet's Waymo is starting trials to ferry shoppers to Walmart stores in Phoenix, Arizona. Walmart shoppers in Phoenix metropolitan area can order groceries on Walmart.com and as their order is being prepared at the store, self-driving cars will transport them to the store and bring them back, Waymo said. 'Riders spend a significant portion of time each week running errands and shopping,' the firm said. Later this week, Walmart and Waymo will launch a test pilot that gives early riders savings on groceries each week when they are ordered on Walmart.com. While orders are being prepared at the store, Waymo vehicles will transport the rider to and from Walmart to collect their groceries.

Alphabet's Waymo announced Wednesday that it will begin a pilot program with Walmart to shuttle customers to and from stores to pick up their groceries. The new initiative is part of a series of partnerships with companies to offer customers self-driving cars to run errands and shop. Customers in Phoenix who order groceries on Walmart.com, will receive savings on their goods, and as their orders are put together at the store, autonomous Waymo vehicles will take customers to and from Walmart. Waymo will also partner with AutoNation, Avis, DDR Corp. and Element Hotel, offering their self-driving cars to customers who do business with those companies. "We've tailored our partnerships to meet the top rider needs," Waymo said in a blog post.