POS and Retail

For several years, PayPal, Square, Adyen and Stripe have dominated the lucrative payments market. Now hundreds of upstarts with names like Bolt, Toast and Due are muscling into the market with their own twist on facilitating commerce between merchants and shoppers.

The country’s largest grocery retailer, Kroger, is partnering with Microsoft to pilot two connected experience stores for a proof of concept, featuring new retail technologies that will eventually be deployed across Kroger stores and be sold to the retail industry.

Cashierless tech startup Standard Cognition has acquired the robotic mapping startup, Explorer.ai, to accelerate the rollout of its autonomous checkout solutions to retailers.

Banks, retailers and technology companies have spent years relentlessly working to replace cash with plastic, digital or mobile alternatives. And cash has hit back hard.

Square Inc. named Activision Blizzard Inc. executive Amrita Ahuja as chief financial officer, replacing Sarah Friar, who stepped down from her role as Jack Dorsey’s No. 2 at the digital-payments company last month.

Blockchain technology will allow players to purchase items or games faster, while ensuring their payments are secure, according to Nicolas Gilot, co-CEO of Ultra.

Merchants will need to feel comfortable that enough of their vendors will also accept crypto, writes Jared McClure, co-founder and COO of CrayPay.

Despite years of advancements in mobile and online payments, the physical point of sale remains still ripe for disruption.

The 2019 outlook for China’s cross-border e-commerce sector remains positive due to strong consumer demand, favorable regulations and tech-savvy shoppers’ interest in convenient mobile pay options, writes Franklin Chu, managing director for Azoya USA.

Even if used to decorate your home with ideas before you purchase anything, the technology will completely change your perspective on reality-altering technology, writes Michael Volkmann, an entrepreneur who focuses on business operations and finance.