Shopping

Amazon has launched a new cashback program to attract more people to take out Prime subscriptions. Prime Reload lets subscribers earn 2 percent cashback for making payments with a debit rather than a credit card.

It's not quite as simple as that, however; it's not just a case of filling up your basket and checking out. The Reload part of the name refers to the fact that you need to reload your Amazon Gift Card Balance using a debit card. And there lies the rub -- you need to remember to keep your balance topped up.

There will still be people working in the stores of the future, but technology is still going to make a profound impact on the retail industry. This is what retail workers think about how their job will transform in the near future.

According to a new report by Epson, 70 percent of retailers think technology will never be able to fully replace people in stores, but it will revolutionize the shopping experience.

Graduation is almost here for many high school and college students. With that comes both fun and scary aspects. The enjoyable part is finally achieving the diploma and having a party with friends and family. The scary part? Being thrust into the real world. It can be a good scary, however, as it means the world is a blank canvas -- full of possibilities.

If you need to buy a gift for a graduate in your life, you can always give them cash, but that is so impersonal. If you want to set them up for success, a Windows 10 PC is a wise choice -- especially when paired with an Office 365 subscription. If you want to go that route, and save some money, the Microsoft Store has you covered. The store is offering up to $200 in savings during a limited-time special gradation sale.

Amazon has been talking about using drones as a way to deliver parcels to customers for some time, but Hermes has a more down to earth solution it’s about to start trialing in London -- self driving robots.

In partnership with Starship Technologies, the courier firm will soon trial a number of parcel collections in the London borough of Southwark. This follows on from a successful pilot project which saw Hermes Germany test parcel delivery by robot in the Ottensen, Volksdorf and Grindel suburbs of Hamburg.

Amazon today announced details of Amazon Cash, a new way to shop online that does not require shoppers to have a bank card. The system allows shoppers to print out a barcode -- or display it on the screen of their iOS or Android phone -- and make a payment in brick-and-mortar stores.

Launching in the US, Amazon Cash can be used to add money to a customer's Amazon Balance, and a number of big names including CVS Pharmacy, Speedway and Sheetz are among the stores participating in the scheme.

Robbing the mail has a long and dishonorable history dating back to the days of the stagecoach. But UK-based online parcel broker ParcelHero is warning that automated delivery drones and droids could see the rise of a new breed of high-tech highwaymen.

The development of devices that alter the drone or droid's instructions, or simply stop them dead, is seen as inevitable. With UK online retail sales now worth more than £130 billion a year, if deliveries are to become largely automated and just one percent of items are waylaid using new technology, that's over £1bn of goods stolen a year.

The Gen Z population -- those born between the late 1990s and the mid-2000s -- still value the in-store experience even though they're likely to search for products online.

This is among the findings of a study into shopping habits by retail analytics specialist Euclid Analytics. It reveals that this age group like to see, hold and try on products before buying and 28 percent of Gen Z shoppers want to engage with store associates while shopping, the most of any generation.

Voice assistants are all the rage nowadays, with hardware like Amazon Echo becoming very popular in homes. While some people are fearful of such devices because they are always listening for commands, some consumers are willing to trade their privacy for convenience. In other words, since consumers aren't required to buy such a device, they are empowered to make that decision with their wallets.

One alternative to Amazon's solution is Google Home. The search-giant's device is essentially the same concept as Echo -- an always-listening assistant ready to serve you. Today, Google announces that its assistant-focused device is gaining a really great new feature -- shopping. Consumers can leverage their voices to buy goods -- no need to go to their laptop or smartphone.

Nobody likes to share bad news, and PayPal is no different. Price increases certainly fall into the category of bad news, and PayPal has decided to publish the details as "Policy Updates". But it's not just the price hike that's included in this misleadingly-titled document -- there's also something rather weird.

If you are a seller -- such as on eBay or other shopping sites -- you will soon be subject to a "non-discouragement clause". What does this mean? In short it means that sellers are not permitted to encourage shoppers to use another payment method instead of PayPal. Let's drill into the detail.

Boxing Day is not a holiday largely celebrated in the USA, but it is very big with our neighbors to the north -- Canada. If you aren't familiar, it is recognized on the day after Christmas -- December 26th. Unlike Christmas, however, it is not a religious holiday.

To celebrate this day, Amazon is offering some special deals to its Canadian customers. Starting tomorrow, at the Amazon.ca website, there will be many discounts to be had, and you can see some notable ones below.

One of the benefits of shopping with Amazon is that you are able to read reviews written by other customers before you part with your cash. Now the company has updated its review policy, placing a limit on the number of reviews customers can write in a week.

The new limit means that there is now a maximum of five reviews per customer per week, but there is an exception. If Amazon is able to verify that products have been purchased by -- rather than gifted to -- the reviewer, the limit is increased. But it gets a little more complicated.

Black Friday is still a week away, but that hasn't stopped stores from beginning the sales rush. The deals have been announced and some are already available.

Now Amazon has a unique idea to make shopping simple, but it does have one requirement -- you have to be an Alexa customer to benefit.

Holiday shopping is upon us, and some people in my life have started asking me about technology to give as gifts. Tablets are sure to be popular again this year, although probably not as much as years past. Apple's iPad is always a smart choice, but it is becoming harder to recommend an Android tablet.

Unfortunately, quality tablets running Google's mobile operating system are becoming increasingly rare. Many Android variants are simply low-quality. Thankfully, a high-quality tablet from Huawei should excite shoppers. Previously available in Europe only, the Huawei MediaPad M3 is available in the USA starting today. Best of all? It is very affordable too.

Black Friday is just around the corner, and while shoppers may be looking forward to making big savings the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued a warning to online retailers about price-fixing.

The consumer body has not revealed which retailers it has written to, but it says that "a number of online companies" have received letters. It's part of a campaign to make it clear to companies selling online that "discussing and agreeing price levels with competitors is illegal, and can result in serious penalties".

We're increasingly reliant on our mobile devices for many aspects of our lives and that includes our shopping.

As we move towards the holiday season advertising platform Opera Mediaworks has surveyed 800 mobile users to find out how they intend to use their mobile devices for their seasonal shopping.