TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Walmart said on Tuesday it has acquired Aspectiva, an Israeli start-up whose technology analyses consumers' product reviews to help shoppers make decisions. Financial details were not disclosed. Aspectiva will join Walmart's Store No 8, the incubation arm launched by the U.S. retailer in 2017 to find new commerce-related technologies. Aspectiva has developed machine-learning techniques and natural language processing capabilities, "areas we believe will have profound impact on how customers will shop in the future," Store No 8 principal Lori Flees said. Walmart also has a strategic investment in Team8, an Israeli cybersecurity start-up incubator, and launched a joint venture with Eko, an interactive media and technology company with offices in Tel Aviv and New York.

Retailers are increasingly using artificial intelligence to manage their stores and monitor shopping behavior and offer better experiences, as we discover in the second installment of Mergers & Acquistions' 7-part series, Retail Tech M&A. There are 7 technologies retailers are investing in through M&A: The Internet of Things enables enhanced personalization, such as custom drive-thru menus. Artificial intelligence applications predict customers' needs. Modern data centers and warehouses fill orders quickly. Robots assist with sorting and packing consumer goods.

Amazon is every online retailer's forbidding nightmare. Last year, it dominated 44 percent of the US eCommerce market and about 4 percent of all domestic retail sales. One Click Retail, an eCommerce analysis provider, explains its dominance with the fact that millennials, Amazon's core demographic, are getting older and starting to spend more. Moreover, advanced marketing capabilities for sellers, developments in Alexa, and pioneering in applications of the hottest technologies make it impossibly hard for smaller competitors to actually… well, compete. Amazon is not only a simple and familiar platform selling everything you can think of – it's also one of the most innovative players on the market.

Already, as of 2010, a quarter of Americans (24 percent) had posted product reviews or comments online, and 78 percent of internet users had gone online for product research. But those are ancient stats. More recently, BrightLocal found in 2016 that 91 percent of consumers regularly or occasionally read online reviews, with 47 percent taking sentiment of local-business reviews -- the tonality of a review's text -- into account in purchasing decisions. Breaking out the figures, 74 percent of consumers say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more, and 60 percent say that negative reviews make them not want to use a business, according to BrightLocal. So reviews are important, and the feelings expressed are key.

Already, as of 2010, a quarter of Americans (24 percent) had posted product reviews or comments online, and 78 percent of internet users had gone online for product research. But those are ancient stats. More recently, BrightLocal found in 2016 that 91 percent of consumers regularly or occasionally read online reviews, with 47 percent taking sentiment of local-business reviews -- the tonality of a review's text -- into account in purchasing decisions. Breaking out the figures, 74 percent of consumers say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more, and 60 percent say that negative reviews make them not want to use a business, according to BrightLocal. So reviews are important, and the feelings expressed are key.

Cutting edge Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing has been used to analyze over 75,000 opinions from across the web to determine a comprehensive list of the most popular online retailers in the US. Collecting text opinions from across the web – including from reviews, forums, social media, YouTube etc. – the new report found that Barnes & Noble was ranked the best eCommerce site in the US. In the first study of its kind, AI company Aspectiva, which analyzes UGC from across the web to generate insights for retailers & shoppers, applied its technology to determine exactly what shoppers liked and disliked about key US retailers. The online bookstore came top in a list of over 40 retailers. Aspectiva's analysis found that Barnes & Noble shoppers rated highly their "fast service", "prices" and "easiness" when using their website.