Amazon recently announced that it would open a convenience store in Seattle called Amazon Go. This foray into the brick-and-mortar business by the American online retail giant is not the only remarkable thing about Amazon Go. What is more striking is that Amazon will be replacing cashiers with an artificial intelligence (AI) system that knows what items you have taken from the shelves and charges you accordingly. AI -- by definition -- refers to machines or computer systems that mimic human cognition and intelligence. Experts believe that AI will someday be capable of self-directed learning and automated decision-making.

Amazon Go stopped the world in its tracks. The Dec. 5 introduction of Amazon's revolutionary convenience store looms among the most surprising and compelling retail announcements in recent memory: The Seattle pilot location -- which Amazon describes as "roughly 1,800 square feet of retail space that is conveniently compact, so busy customers can get in and out fast" -- advances far beyond existing self-checkout systems by eliminating the checkout process entirely. Amazon Go offers c-store staples like milk and bread, along with meals and snacks made by on-site chefs and local suppliers, as well as Amazon Meal Kits. Shoppers (a segment currently comprised exclusively of Amazon employees) scan a QR-code based mobile application upon entering the store. The e-commerce giant's Just Walk Out technology then detects when items are removed from or returned to store shelves, tracking purchases in a virtual cart, and totals the final cost when customers exit the premises.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing everything from marketing to healthcare. And this holiday season is the beginning of the future for how marketers will leverage AI to better understand, connect with, and create superior experiences for consumers. To better appreciate the impact that AI is having on retailers, I connected with IBM's first CMO, Michelle Peluso. Peluso has a strong background in retail, having served at the CEO of Gilt as well as the Global Consumer Chief Marketing and Internet Officer at Citigroup. Peluso provides her thoughts below on how Watson's AI capability is changing the way retailers impact the consumer shopping experience.

During the dot-com boom, online clothing sales were predicted to grow to 40% -50% of total sales. Although online sales of some other kinds of merchandise, such as books, have reached 50% of the market in the past 15 years, the percentage of online clothing sales hovers around 20%. The difficulty in finding the correct size and fit is one of the primary reasons that consumers are reluctant to buy clothes online. And their concern is not groundless; sizing varies among clothing manufacturers, and it is difficult to ascertain fit from online images. Consequently, 30%-40% of online clothing purchases are returned.

Our original graphic t-shirt is sure to add fun style and techy flair to any fan of the science fiction genre. For more style and color options click the brand name "Kryptic Society" to browse our catalog. This is an original design created by the artists at Kryptic Society and does not infringe on any rights holders intellectual property. Any unauthorized copying of this unique work will be reported. Please Note: The environmentally friendly, water-based ink printing process may produce a vinegar smell.

Bots are a great way for holiday shoppers to check off items from their wish lists while avoiding crowded stores and endless hold times on the phone. Bots are also a fantastic tool for the organizations that use them. But they might not be ready to help you find that perfect gift (yet). Internet bots execute routine online tasks, usually those either so tedious that they would bore human workers half to death, or on such a massive scale that people couldn't finish the job within their lifetime. But like people, bots learn -- and some even have personalities.

More than one in three Americans (37%) are willing to make a purchase through a chatbot, spending an average of $55.80 per purchase, according to a new report from Publicis Groupe's DigitasLBi. A chatbot is defined as computer software that can interact conversationally via text messages to solve simple, quick response requests from consumers for product information and to make online purchases. While only one in five Americans (22%) have heard of chatbots, men are nearly twice as likely to have heard of them (29% vs. 16%). But many consumers seem willing to interact with chatbots if they benefit from the exchange. Nearly six in 10 (59%) have or would be willing to communicate with chatbots to either receive offers and coupons, receive recommendations or advice (37%), and/or conduct online banking (14%).

Technology is playing an ever-important role in the shopping side of the holiday season. Logistics aside, which is of course critical at this time of year, tech is also proving increasingly key from an experiential and a customer service perspective both online and offline. Leading that charge for 2016 are virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI). Google has employed the former this year, for instance, to allow consumers to'walk' along Fifth Avenue in New York to experience all the holiday window displays. Window Wonderland, as the initiative is called, is a VR experience that lets users view 18 different retailers including Bloomingdale's, Barneys New York, Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany & Co, Burberry and more.

Amazon announced their latest innovation, Go. Think of Go as a futuristic grocery store. Using sensors, artificial intelligence and computer vision, Amazon is reinventing the shopping experience that we've all grown accustomed to for the last seventy years. If you want to buy an item, just grab it from the shelf, and then Amazon will automatically add the item to your virtual shopping cart. When you walk out of the store, Amazon will magically charge you for that item.

As packages continue to arrive from this year's record-breaking Black Friday weekend, it's no doubt you're seeing Amazon packages complete with front-and-center ads for Amazon's Echo and Dot devices. You may even be one of the reported millions that ordered one that weekend. These are more than just devices -- they are Alexa-enabled and are helping Alexa further integrate into consumers' lives. And Alexa isn't alone: from Alexa to Google Now to Microsoft's Cortana to Apple's Siri, we have a budding class of intelligent agents (IAs) on the rise. In 2015, 45% of US online adults used at least one.