China’s November 11, also known as Singles Day, is by now the largest e-commerce day in the world, beating the famous Black Friday or Cyber Monday in the U.S. This year, there will be the first Singles Day after the retirement of Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who started the sales phenomenon around a decade ago, and now handed the job over to Daniel Zhang.

Data is an important part of decision-making for pricing, but what happens when the data can’t be trusted?

If the data is generated strategically by buyers, it could lead to bad pricing decisions by sellers.

Transmedia storytelling - also known as transmedia narrative or multiplatform storytelling - is the technique of telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies.

Perx Technologies, a leading enterprise cloud platform that helps businesses connect and engage with their customers, announced that it has inked a partnership with StarHub, a leading homegrown Singapore company that delivers world class communications, entertainment and digital solutions.

OneDash just announced the launch of a groundbreaking chat-to-checkout service. The Singapore-based technology company provides digital solutions using Artificial Intelligence to help brands interact better with their customers. Its new messaging platform allows online shoppers to perform direct, in-app, add-to-cart functions, with the option to check out in the very same chat. This new capability eliminates the need to exit a chat session in order to complete a purchase.

Cart abandonment is a major issue facing online retail. A Baymard 2019 Study showed that one out of four shoppers abandons a cart due to inefficient or time-intensive checkout processes. OneDash is addressing this pain point by optimizing the online shopping experience, providing a real-time service for customers to see their purchases from start to finish.

While most traders are still busy with multichannel, others are steps ahead, testing and experimenting with Mixed, Augmented and Virtual Reality.

Mixed Reality (MR) ) isn’t clearly defined till now but mostly used as a generic term for the merging of reality and virtuality - with countless gradual differences of which the augmented reality covers a spectrum.

In ever shorter intervals, digitization brings new trends to light that overwhelms us humans both at work and at home. IT businesses and media companies bombard us with phrases like Industry 4.0, Internet of Things (IoT), Smart Homes, Autonomous Driving, Artificial Intelligence (AI) – well-known synonyms that pitch new feel-good technologies nowadays that intend to make hard routine work easier and more convenient.

HP and its media agency, PHD, have partnered with VICE and The Economist to produce a content series entitled ‘Future X’, exploring the trends shaping the workforce and work styles of the future.

With trends expanding from immersive experiences, graphic design, photography, illustration, and more, brands can stay ahead of the mainstream, plan their next campaign, or inspire their biggest project yet.

What matters in content marketing this year is the optimization of relevant content for the smartphone and an increased presence on social media channels and voice assistants. This enables entrepreneurs to maintain personal contact with users and promote fast interactions, according to  Fionn Kientzler, Managing Partner of the content marketing agency suxeedo.

GroupM, WPP’s media investment management group, recently rolled out its influencer marketing solution called INCA in India. Leveraging GroupM’s unmatched scale, INCA connects brands to trusted publishers and influencers.  It creates and promotes content in social channels and beyond to drive brand engagement across digital platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and TikTok.

As you probably expected, artificial intelligence (AI) will again be one of the top IT topics in 2020 and the areas of empathy and improvement of the brand experience will continue to keep companies busy this year.

Qlik, a leader in data analytics, announced that it has secured its latest patent for Qlik Data Catalyst that’s focused on the product’s innovative capabilities in data management using a metadata repository.

Google’s new feature translates and transcribes audio in real time

Google Translate just launched ‘Transcribe’, a new feature that gives people the ability to translate and transcribe audio in real time.