shopping

Today, Google Shopping is getting an overhaul while Google Lens is receiving some new functionality. This redesign of Google Shopping is a pretty big one, as it aims to put information and product listings from "thousands of stores" in one place. The idea is to allow consumers to quickly compare item prices across stores - both online and brick and mortar retail locations - so they can find what they want without overpaying.

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In mid-2015, Amazon widely launched a product called the Dash Button, a small plastic device with a product's label and physical button that could be used to easily reorder an item. The idea behind the buttons was that consumers could place them in places where the related product was relevant -- a detergent button in the laundry room, for example -- to reorder the item without using the company's app. Those buttons will stop working this month.

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Google announced today that it will make it easier to access your payment information within Chrome regardless of the device you're using. Now, as long as you're logged in on Chrome, you'll see the option to choose from saved payment information when you're filling out a checkout form. The hope is that this makes checkout faster and more convenient for Chrome users.

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Amazon has already tested the waters with in-person order pickup through services like Locker, but today the company is expanding on that concept in a pretty big way. Amazon is launching a new service called Counter, which is available in various Rite Aid locations around the US starting today. The idea behind Counter is pretty straightforward: Place an order on Amazon and instead of having it delivered to your house, you can have it shipped to a nearby Rite Aid and pick it up in person.

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Amazon has undoubtedly changed the way we shop today, if not directly then indirectly by pushing the idea of online shopping to the masses. For better or for worse, Amazon has become as indispensable a brand as Google. And to celebrate its influence in our lives, Amazon has confirmed its fifth and biggest Prime Day shopping craze that will span 48 hours of retail heaven or hell, depending on who you ask.

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Walmart is taking the fight to Amazon in a big way, announcing today that customers will soon be able to place grocery orders for in-home delivery. Walmart, of course, already offers grocery delivery, but as the company points out, this new service called InHome Delivery takes things one step further by allowing associates to deliver groceries right to your kitchen, even going so far as to stock your refrigerator or cupboards as part of the drop off.

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While there are people who'd readily admit being addicted to shopping, few of those will probably look forward to doing groceries. It's one of life's necessary evils that has created a market for online groceries and deliveries. Not everyone can afford to escape regular trips to the supermarket, which parents with toddlers may look to with dread for fear of trolley accidents. Putting its driving expertise to work, Ford has designed a new trolley that intelligently step on the brakes to prevent kids from colliding with people or shelves.

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After getting your and your friends' data and bombarding you with ads, the next frontier for social networks is getting users to shop on or through them. Not even Instagram, who has evaded most high profile scandals last year, isn't immune from that desire. Granted, it already has a shopping feature but with the new Checkout feature that's rolling out, it will keep users from having to jump to brands' own online stores and, consequentially, keep most of the data for itself.

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Amazon has taken another step in addressing the problem of counterfeit products on its platform. The company has unveiled Project Zero, a program that enables brands to directly target counterfeit product listings. Using what Amazon describes as a 'self-service' tool, brands can remove counterfeit product listings themselves rather than wait for Amazon to act on a report.

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Today Amazon Prime gets Amazon Day, a service that'll place all items ordered into a single delivery. This initiative is aimed at people who like the idea of using less boxes - and of getting a bunch of stuff they bought on the internet all at once. Less packaging means less environmental impact, and Amazon Day means you're more likely to feel like you've got a standing appointment with Amazon, a convenience-made-promotion not unlike that of a coupon or a gift card in such a sense.

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This morning Amazon made public their cancelled plans to create a headquarters in Long Island City, Queens, New York. They appear to blame this cancelled move on "a number of state and local politicians" and their opposition to Amazon's NY-based presence. They suggested in a document released today that these politicians "will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City."

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US-based supermarket chain Stop & Shop is the latest to unveil autonomous grocery deliveries, but with a twist. Unlike other grocery delivery options unveiled by competitors, Stop & Shop will load self-driving vehicles with a variety of items that consumers can directly purchase, essentially transforming these cars into miniature convenience stores. The vehicles will first deploy in the Greater Boston area this spring.

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