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The fee, which many retailers and online purchases levy on delivery, could help free up millions of dollars a year for road maintenance in Washington cities and counties. State lawmakers must decide whether the option is worth pursuing as they and local leaders struggle with rising transportation maintenance costs and declining gas tax revenue, the main source of funding for road construction. “Clearly, our cities, counties and states have transportation issues with potholes and overcrowding,” said Sen. Marco Lias, D-Edmonds, after a Tuesday meeting of the bipartisan Joint House and Senate Transportation Committee, which he chairs. “This is one of…
Shanghai — A key barometer for retail trends across China, this year's 618, the month-long shopping festival that ended around June 18, was decidedly lackluster. Big names like Alibaba and JD.com dropped slogans like “the biggest 618 ever,” and livestreaming star Austin Li couldn't help but say, “Sales haven't been easy.” To be sure, online retail is recovering steadily: The latest official data showed that online retail sales surged 12.4% year-on-year to about 5.77 trillion yuan ($795.1 billion) in the first five months of the year. However, third-party data showed a disappointing 618. According to data from Syntun, a Chinese…
Just months after the corporate spat over star anchors, the e-commerce platform is back in the spotlight after publicly disclosing problems with its live-streaming business. Highlights: Eastby's shares fell to a two-year low after candid comments from the company's CEO and top sales host highlighted the challenges of the livestreaming model. The company has tried to diversify and strengthen its business with initiatives such as one-hour delivery service, but uptake has been limited. Molly Wen Oversharing information or being too open about challenges in online conversations can come at a cost to your business. Chinese e-commerce platform Eastby Holdings…
Blue Dart Express, a courier and integrated express package delivery company, announced it has launched drone delivery in collaboration with drone technology company Sky Air. “This move marks a major step forward towards cleaner and more efficient delivery solutions,” the company said in a statement. “While initially focused on the growing e-commerce sector, this innovative approach will revolutionize last-mile delivery by offering same-day delivery of packages, significantly reducing delivery times and environmental impact,” it added.”India's logistics sector is booming as the country's strong economic growth coupled with consumer enthusiasm and growth in tier 2 and 3 cities is resulting in…
Welcome to AI News Today, your daily roundup of the biggest happenings in the AI industry. McDonald's ends AI drive-thru test after operational challenges McDonald's announced the end of its AI drive-thru test due to significant operational issues and frequent order errors. The AI system, intended to streamline order-taking, often misinterpreted customer requests, leading to frustration and inefficiency. The decision highlights the challenges of deploying advanced technology in fast-food environments, prioritizing consistent and reliable customer service over the potential benefits of AI automation. For more information, please visit the TDR website. NVIDIA becomes world's largest company NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) has…
China's annual e-commerce sales have failed to generate much excitement among shoppers, even as major platforms extended their sales periods over several weeks to attract budget-minded consumers amid a bleak economic outlook, industry experts said.The 618 festival, named after e-commerce provider JD.com's founding date of June 18 and adopted across all platforms, is China's second-biggest annual sales event after Singles' Day in November and a key test of household spending confidence.Weak sales during the festival would suggest that the world's second-largest economy, already struggling with a protracted property crisis and high unemployment, faces further challenges.”The buzz around 618 has faded…
Casey Hall and Sophie YuSHANGHAI (Reuters) – Sales in China's big mid-year e-commerce sales fell for the first time on record as consumers remained cautious about spending amid a faltering economy, according to third-party data estimates released on Wednesday.Gross merchandise volume (GMV), a widely used indicator of e-commerce sales, reached 742.8 billion yuan ($102.36 billion) across China's major online platforms during the so-called “618” shopping event, down 7 percent from a year earlier, according to digital retail data provider Xintun.618's sales have been growing even amid the pandemic, reaching a peak of nearly 800 billion yuan in 2023, according to…
Retail giant Shinsegae has appointed Jung Hyung-kwon (left) as the new CEO of GMarket and Choi Hoon-hak as the new president of SSG.com. [SHINSEGAE] Shinsegae has replaced the leaders of struggling e-commerce operators SSG.com and Gmarket, which are being pushed aside by rivals such as Korea's Coupang and China's AilExpress and Temu. The South Korean retailer has appointed Jeong Hyun-kwon, a former general manager at Alibaba Korea, to head Gmarket. SSG.com is significantly downsizing its business operations, and Choi Hoon-hak, who currently heads sales, will take over as CEO, Shinsegae said in a news release on Wednesday. According to the…
Meta announced five major new AI models and research, including a multimodal system that can process both text and images, next-generation language models, music generation, AI speech detection, and efforts to improve diversity in AI systems. These releases come from Meta's Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team, which has been dedicated to advancing AI through open research and collaboration for over a decade. As AI innovates rapidly, Meta believes it is critical to engage with the global community. “By making this research public, we hope to encourage iterative research and ultimately contribute to advancing AI in a responsible manner,” Mehta said.…
Meta announced five major new AI models and research, including a multimodal system that can process both text and images, next-generation language models, music generation, AI speech detection, and efforts to improve diversity in AI systems. These releases come from Meta's Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team, which has been dedicated to advancing AI through open research and collaboration for over a decade. As AI innovates rapidly, Meta believes it is critical to engage with the global community. “By making this research public, we hope to encourage iterative research and ultimately contribute to advancing AI in a responsible manner,” Mehta said.…