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WE COVER WHAT’S DRIVING CONSUMER UNDERSTANDING, ENGAGEMENT AND CONVERSION ALONG THE PATH TO PURCHASE.

BY BILL SCHOBER

In late October, Klarna announced a partnership with the NBA’s Chicago Bulls. Fans can use the Klarna shopping and payments app to purchase Bulls gear from the team’s stadium store and have it delivered to their seat during a game. It also uses Klarna’s signature “Pay-in-4 method,” which splits purchases into four interest-free payments. Bulls player Zach Lavine is a Klarna brand ambassador, and a curated collection of his apparel is also available for purchase in the app. Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based LLENA (AI) Health Solutions recently began working with Walmart to provide personalized diabetesmanagement grocery purchasing recommendations on its platform. LLENA (which means “Learn to Love Eating Nutritiously Always”) has an AI-driven “Cook it Yourself” module that creates individualized glycemicindex-value meal suggestions based on blood sugar, blood pressure and other indicators. Users can then either pick up or receive delivery of their groceries from Walmart.

Boston-based Pointr recently announced the “world’s largest indoor mapping deployment” without identifying the retailer. (Hint: Pointr’s site features The Home Depot’s new store-mapping TV commercials.) The company digitized 2,000 stores across 280 million square feet using AI technology that retrieved all existing maps and converted them into interactive indoor maps that are updateable in seconds. Pointr also noted that 78% of the top 50 U.S. retailers offer a “store mode” on their apps, but only 19% are actually activated as in-store maps.

This fall, San Jose, California-based Olyns and Mars Wrigley launched the “Sweet Rewards Challenge” at a handful of Bay-area locations, including Safeway. When consumers first sign into the Olyns app and then deposit qualifying candy containers into Olyns’ “Cubes,” the video display starts spinning three symbols that — depending on how they line up — offer prizes of up to $100. Each Cube can compress thousands of plastic, aluminum and glass containers, and also serves as a retail media network.

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