Walmart

Amazon Go may be stealing the spotlight, but it is far from alone in the rush to revolutionize in-store checkout through the use of sensors, scanners, mobile devices and more.

The new optimism is fueled by rising standards of living, increases in smartphone usage and cheap data plans that are boosting internet penetration across the nation. Perhaps most important, India is the last big retail market still up for grabs, with an internet economy projected to double to $250 billion by 2020.

Consumers, who often understand little to anything about the fees retailers pay to accept cards, will not care about the details of the fight and will place their displeasure solely on the shoulders of any large retailer that elects this strategy, writes Myron Schwarcz, executive vice president of Strategic Resource Management.

The logistics company said it intends to use the funds to invest in supply chain technology and serve merchants on its platform, which connects scooter-riding drivers in about 400 cities with about 1.2 million online merchants and delivers everything from packages to groceries.

Amazon Go provides Amazon with the opportunity to market testing and do advertising on a new group of customer that are not Prime customers or regular Amazon shoppers. The Go Store essentially become a retention and customer acquisition channel for Amazon, writes Hendrik Laubscher, marketplace research director at Buy Box Experts.

In its push to compete more directly with Amazon, Walmart has partnered with American Express, enabling its customers to earn and burn Amex’s Membership Rewards points for e-commerce purchases on Walmart.com.

The Stamford, Conn., issuer of store credit cards has two potential options after the retail giant chose to partner with Capital One. But the decision over which path to take is out of its hands.

Synchrony Financial said its credit-card deal with Walmart won't be renewed and will expire next year. The largest issuer of store cards said Thursday that it's evaluating whether to sell the $10 billion in balances or retain the portfolio and convert qualifying customers to general purpose credit cards.

Consumers are already in shopping mode, so retailers that focus on personalized and targeted offerings, and promotional campaigns around Prime Day can all reap the rewards of the Prime Day halo effect, according to Tom Caporaso, CEO of Clarus Commerce.

About 15% of Walmart’s workforce is budgeting and taking pay advances through the app.