New Echo Owners Push Alexa To The App Store Top Spot, Plus Amazon And Home Depot Both Eye XPO And Toys R Us Fights For Survival.
 
 
 
 
 
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December 27, 2017
 
 
 
 
  ShopTalk®
 
 
 
Mastercard’s SpendingPulse: Retail’s Holly Jolly Christmas
 
While the Christmas season is always merry for consumers, it was a particularly festive year for retailers nearly across the board. Consumers responded strongly to positive economic trends and spent — and spent a lot. Some of that was expected and in line with the year's trends, and some of the spend was last-minute — but Mastercard’s Sarah Quinlan reported the news was mostly good, with just a few segments continuing to struggle. And, notably, she says the trends look like they will stay strong for physical and online retailers into 2018.
 
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  Disbursements
 
 
 
How Digital Vouchers Give Budget Airlines A First Class Upgrade
 

Is the physical travel voucher going the same way as the paper check? Low-fair airline company Ryanair recently launched a new digital business voucher for European companies to offer as an employee perk. Matthias Wenk, Ryanair’s marketing operations director, speaks with PYMNTS about how a digital-first voucher solution is improving convenience for the budget airline company as well as travelers — and how the company seeks to “cut out the middleman” from the offering.  Read More...

 
  Voice-Activated AI
 
 
 
The Year In Voice-Activated AI
 

Voice-activated assistants have been hot for the last three years, but 2017 was the year that things got so hot that voice-activated assistants went mainstream and became hyper-competitive. We have all the highlights — the winners, the contenders and a few thoughts on how 2017 will set the stage for 2018 — right here.  Read More...

 
  Connected Commerce
 
 
 
How Will We Pay In 2018?
 

Connectivity reigns. Connected devices do, too — as does using them to pay for things. The June 2017 How We Will Pay study sheds new light on how consumers use — and will want to use — connected devices to pay for things, especially while doing other things. For a peek at how connected device payments will evolve in 2018, one might want to get reacquainted with data we collected six months ago when a couple thousand consumers told us exactly what they expect from those connected commerce experiences.  Read More...

 
  What's Hot Today in Retail
 
 
- Alexa Tops Apple's App Store
 
- Home Depot, Amazon May Be Competing For Acquisition Of XPO
 
- Toys R Us Ready For Next Evolution, CEO Says
 
- 2017 Holiday Gift Returns Estimated At $90B
 
- Amazon Boosts Prime Membership During Holiday Runup
 
- Apple, Asian Suppliers Stock Drops On Weak iPhone X Demand
 
- Amazon’s Digital Ad Network Expansion Threatens Google, Facebook
 
- Retail Plus Residential Equals New Mall Strategy
 
 
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