Shopping

Drivers of EVs looking to stock up on snacks while waiting for their vehicles to charge could soon find a cashier-free mini convenience store popping up at charging stations across the US courtesy of a startup based in North Carolina.

We could soon be checking our heart rhythm while grocery shopping, thanks to a device incorporated into the handle of a supermarket cart designed to monitor for atrial fibrillation, a common heart arrhythmia that’s a key risk factor for stroke.

Around this time last year, robotics startup Nuro was granted a deployment permit in California for its autonomous delivery vehicle. Now the company has partnered with convenience store chain 7-Eleven for the first commercial delivery service.

Robots are an increasingly common sight in stores, and now they’re getting a bit more hands-on. Japanese company Telexistence has begun trials in convenience stores of a robot shelf-stacker that can be controlled by a human via VR.

Amazon has announced that it's adding a smart shopping cart service to its upcoming Woodland Hills store in Los Angeles, California. The Dash Cart registers what you're buying as you shop and charges your credit card as you exit the store.

Convenience stores that rely on technology instead of cashiers to keep things ticking over might sound like a futuristic notion, but there are a number of such concepts being tested around the world. 7-Eleven is the latest to enter the fray.

​While many kids do like pushing grocery carts, they can get kind of over-enthusiastic about it, and often run into things as a result. It was with this supermarket hazard in mind that Ford recently created the one-off Self-Braking Trolley.

As Waymo’s self-driving vehicles continue to clock up the miles, the company is focusing its trips based on feedback from the first year of its early riders program in Phoenix, Arizona. As well as expanding existing partnerships, Waymo has now teamed up with Walmart and DDR to streamline shopping.

​If you lead a car-free lifestyle, then you likely have to transfer your groceries from the store's shopping cart to your own hand cart or bicycle trailer in order to get them home. Gudrun and Harald Buschbacher have decided to address that situation, with their multifunctional shopping trolley.

​Amazon’s hi-tech, cashier-free convenience store has just opened to the public and predictably resulted in torrents of “store of the future” headlines. But is it really the future of shopping or is it just a very expensive publicity stunt?

GM has unveiled Marketplace, the automotive industry's first in-car e-commerce platform. Customers with eligible GM-branded vehicles can now use Marketplace to pay for fuel, pre-order food as well as make reservations at their chosen restaurant, all from the comfort of their vehicle.

​Machines already play a part in the shopping experience for many, with self-checkout kiosks popping up in stores all over the world. They now continue their push into retail, with Walmart expanding its trials of robots that roam the aisles for sections in need of attention.​​