More retailers are getting into the business of seamless shopping by implementing cameras that track items and tabulate the cost, making the customer experience swift, efficient, and headache-free by removing waiting lines.
Circle K convenience stores are in for a makeover, through a partnership with autonomous checkout company Standard Cognition.
"We're trying to constantly look for things to make our customers' lives a bit easier every day," Magnus Tägtström, head of global innovation at Circle K, told Cheddar.
While similar technology has been used at stores like Amazon Go, Standard Cognition's priority, according to CEO Jordan Fisher, is making the customer experience as simple as possible while protecting their identities.
"We have a no facial recognition policy. It's a bright red line for us," Fisher told Cheddar. "As a computer vision company, as a company that leverages cameras, it's incredibly important for us that we're doing this in a principled way."
When it comes to accuracy, Tägtström said each location in a Circle K store is visible by at least three cameras, making it easier to account for items removed or set back in place.
The approach taken by Circle K and Standard Cognition to offer an easier shopping experience by solely using cameras, according to Fisher, is more cost effective and less time consuming than other brands that typically need to remodel their stores to accommodate the new technology.
"It's the same stores that their shoppers know and love; it's the same products — really the same experience, just without the lines," he said.
Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million euros or $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals. The consumer rights ministry announced the fine on Monday. The ministry stated that many listings lacked proper license numbers or included incorrect information. The move is part of Spain's ongoing efforts to regulate short-term rental companies amid a housing affordability crisis especially in popular urban areas. The ministry ordered Airbnb in May to remove around 65,000 listings for similar violations. The government's consumer rights minister emphasized the impact on families struggling with housing. Airbnb said it plans to challenge the fine in court.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
Wealthfront’s CFO Alan Iberman talks the $2.05B IPO and the major moment for robo banking as the company bets on AI, automation, and “self-driving money."
