The holiday shopping season may be over, but Wal-Mart is not done innovating. The superstore is headed into 2018 with big technology goals including personal shopping via text message and cashier-less stores. Ted Rubin gives his take on these big retail moves.
Rubin argues Wal-Mart's move to offer personalized shopping via text message is misguided. The store is looking to capture the top 1%'s shopping habits, and he does not think that is possible. Instead, Rubin argues that Walmart should be focusing on their existing footprint and leveraging that to scale up delivery and shopping options.
Rubin also believes that Wal-Mart's acquisition of Jet.com was a multi-million dollar mistake. He argues the superstore should have built out their delivery options.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
