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.

There are already many companies that use augmented reality (AR) in e-commerce. But what do consumers think about such applications?

In the area of entertainment television, sports TV or shopping, 40% of consumers are currently very enthusiastic about video-triggered AR. This is a variant of AR, in which the user holds his smartphone or tablet camera on a moving image and is offered information and interaction options at the same time consistent with what he sees: 34% of those surveyed wish that video-triggered AR applications are generally available in all television programs.

Last month, IMDA and SGTech, together with the ICT community in Singapore stepped forward to extend support to businesses impacted by the COVID-19 situation.

With the circuit breaker announced by Prime Minister Lee, remote working is now in full swing for the majority of Singaporeans – many of whom are now facing immediate challenges with the new arrangements.

As a result of digitization, companies from all industries have more data than ever at their disposal: about their customers' needs, perspectives, and behaviors. The challenge is to use modern technologies such as Natural Language Processing (NLP) and conversational analytics, together with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), to raise and evaluate this wealth of data in order to design a customer journey with a consistently positive experience, i.e. make data-based decisions regarding its content offerings, identify trends, monitor the progress of campaigns or detect mood swings at an early stage. Conversations with customers are compared with their actual behavior to derive strategies for the target groups and to see the customer experience from the perspective of the customer.

Retail has undoubtedly recognized the great potential of artificial intelligence (AI), but targeted investments are still required to introduce AI-controlled solutions. This is the result of the study AI in Store by EHI and Microsoft.

AnyMind Group announced the launch of AnyFactory, a cloud manufacturing platform that connects individuals and businesses with factories across Asia.

For marketers and brands attempting to engage their audience at a time like this, there is no one answer to how consumer behavior has changed since the COVID-19 outbreak. Different people react in different ways, and general observations are no longer actionable.

In her book Touch.Point.Sieg. Kommunikation in Zeiten der digitalen Transformation, Anne M. Schüller identifies the 50 best content marketing formats that can be quite helpful to figure out what works best for your business.

“The more complex the performance of a company, the more content communication makes sense”, she says. Anyway, what’s for sure is the fact that digitization and the Internet are pushing the trend towards content immensely.

A breakthrough in the development of quantum-enhanced optical systems could pave the way for advances in encryption, communication and measurement, scientists say.

In a new paper published in the journal Science Advances, a group of researchers, led by Matteo Clerici at the University of Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering and colleagues from the UK, Japan and Germany, demonstrates a new method of generating and detecting quantum-entangled photons at a wavelength of 2.1 micrometers.

ABI Research identified the key freight transportation and logistics market trend that will transpire in 2020 – and the one that will not.

Criteo just announced global availability of its marketing solution for traffic generation, which helps advertisers connect with new audiences to drive engagement and increased website traffic.

Previously in beta testing with over 750 clients, Criteo’s Traffic Generation solution enables marketers to influence prospective users in high-intent moments as they research, compare and consider different brands.

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.

Microsoft Corp. and Genesys have expanded their partnership to provide enterprises with a new cloud service for contact centers that enables them to deliver superior interactions for customers.

With the omnichannel customer experience solution, Genesys Engage™, running on Microsoft Azure, enterprises have the security and scalability they need to manage the complexities involved with connecting every touchpoint throughout the customer journey.

The digital economy has never been more important than during the COVID-19 pandemic as consumers and businesses across the globe grapple with a digital-only reality. More broadly, as the digital economy continues to evolve, the need to accurately track online prices and actual spending to better understand trends and predict changes across industries and countries becomes even more critical.