Target

Kroger

Albertsons

Tesco

Walmart

Costco

Technology to customize and procure furniture

Furniture Tech

Casper Sleep Inc. is an award-winning sleep company known for its design-driven products, unparalleled customer support, and seamless shopping experience. The company has revolutionized the mattress industry by offering a direct-to-consumer model, allowing customers to purchase affordable, high-quality mattresses online and have them delivered in a compact box.
Casper's mattresses are designed with three core principles in mind: cooling, support, and comfort. The company's research and development arm, Casper Labs, obsessively engineers its sleep offerings, including mattresses, pillows, bedding, and furniture. In January 2024, Casper unveiled a new line of mattresses reflecting the most up-to-date needs of customers, set to launch in February 2024.
Casper operates on a subscription-based model, where customers can purchase products directly from their ecommerce platform or through authorized retail partners. The company offers a 100-night risk-free trial, allowing customers to return the mattress if unsatisfied, and has it donated to charity or recycled. As of October 2019, Casper served over 1 million customers across eight countries and generated USD 439 million in revenue for the year.

Creating affordable content for the digital age

Content Creation Tools

StoryXpress is a cloud-based video creation platform that enables businesses to create promotional videos using photos, video clips, audio, text, and tweets. The platform allows users to transform image galleries into videos and provides access to video templates. Through its open APIs, users can automate their video creation processes. The service offers various subscription plans starting at USD 19 per month for a single video, USD 149 per month for 10 videos, and USD 599 per month for 50 videos. Each subscription includes unlimited access to templates, unlimited video length, and unlimited downloads.

Empowering efficiency, visibility and collaboration throughout supply networks

Supply Chain Tech

<div>
 
 Inspectorio provides a supply chain management platform aimed at enhancing the efficiency, transparency, and sustainability of the production chain operations across a range of industries. The company leverages technology to address the challenges in quality assurance, responsible sourcing, production management, traceability, and supplier relationship management. 
 
 
 
 
 Inspectorio&rsquo;s platform is AI-powered, providing dynamic and intelligent solutions across various operational needs. It also helps organizations collaborate with their global supply chains, thereby streamlining operations and preventing potential issues. 
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 Inspectorio serves a broad spectrum of industries such as apparel and footwear, food and beverage, home and furniture, multi-category retail, and outdoor and sports, providing solutions tailored to the needs of brands and retailers, suppliers, and factories. As of April 2023, the company served over 8,000 customers worldwide. In January 2022, the company&rsquo;s clientele included renowned brands and retailers such as Target, Crocs, and Carter's. 
 
 
 
 
 In June 2022, Inspectorio entered a global sales, marketing, and product partnership with CGS, a provider of business applications and outsourcing services. The collaboration integrated CGS's Shop Floor Control technology with Inspectorio's Sight quality management system, offering enhanced visibility into manufacturing and supply chain processes. The combined solution was expected to yield robust AI algorithms, powerful analytics, and real-time insights into every phase of the manufacturing process.
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 
 In January 2022, Inspectorio raised USD 50 million in a Series B funding round led by Insight Partners, a New York-based private equity and venture capital firm. Other investors such as Techstars, Flexport, Ecolab, and Matchstick Ventures also participated in the round. The new funding was expected to be channeled towards research and development initiatives, as well as enhancing its product development, go-to-market teams, and overall expansion. 
 
</div>

Casper is a sleep startup that launches a comfortable mattress sold directly to consumers, eliminating commission ­driven, inflated prices. Casper's mattresses are developed in-house by a team of product engineers with experience from IDEO.  The company developed a line of core sleep products, including the Casper pillow, sheets, foundation, bed frame, duvet, and a dog mattress. The startup was founded in 2014 and is based in New York, United States.

Inspectorio is the leading AI-powered supply chain platform optimizing performance, building resilience, and providing intelligence across production chains for global brands, retailers, and their multi-tier suppliers. Our innovative platform seamlessly connects and digitizes supply chain processes to optimize decision-making, while providing real-time visibility and control over production chain operations.

StoryXpress is an end-to-end video marketing platform that enables brands and retailers to convert their e-commerce product catalogs into videos at a fraction of the cost and time. The cloud-based startup has its headquarters in New Delhi and also offers video personalization, hosting, and analytics to help enterprises boost sales.

Spruce offers personalized style consulting, barber services, and contemporary clothing and accessories. The company's mission is to empower men so they feel great & look great from head to toe. Spruce achieves it by providing a high education / low judgment atmosphere, offering an array of classy, stylish casual footwear, as well as hair, beard, and other grooming products.

It's By U is a do-it-yourself arrangement kit with farm-fresh blooms, by subscription. It's By U kits provide you with pro-quality tools and everything you need to learn how to perfectly arrange the blossoms in gorgeous artisan-made vases. Plus, It's By U also donates a percentage of each sale to Random Acts of Flowers, a charity that up-cycles flowers and distributes them to patients in hospitals and nursing homes.

Nexosis is a software company that provides a machine learning API for developers. Its API allows developers to quickly and easily build applications that leverage machine learning.  The company was acquired by DataRobot, an automated machine learning platform that helps build and deploy predictive models. It was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Target serves guests at stores nationwide and is committed to providing a convenient shopping experience with access to unique and differentiated products at affordable prices. The company delivers engaging experiences for the team members and guests. The company's products include electronics and others.

<div> Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is an American general merchandise retailer that operates in all US states. As of January 2023, Target operated 1,956 stores and supply chain facilities across the country and had over 57 owned brands. Products can be purchased either in-store or online, with the former accounting for ~18% of total revenue in FY2022. Target held a <a href="https://csimarket.com/stocks/competitionSEG2.php?code=TGT"> 4.5% share </a> in the US retail sector as of March 2024, generating USD 107 billion in revenue in FY2023 (ended February 03, 2024). Target&rsquo;s products can be categorized into five segments: Beauty &amp; Household Essentials (~29% of total revenue in FY2023), Food &amp; Beverage (~22%), Home Furnishings &amp; Decor (~17%), Hardlines (~15%), and Apparel &amp; Accessories (~15%).&nbsp; All of Target&rsquo;s revenue is generated in the US. The company plans to invest up to USD 3 billion&ndash;4 billion in FY2024, focusing on opening new stores and locations, upgrading existing ones, and expanding its portfolio of owned brands. A plan to achieve net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2040 has also been announced. </div>

‘$320 of gift cards’: Target shopper issues warning for anyone who buys gift cards

Providing a seamless consumer experience is one hope for bringing back brick and mortar retail, automated stores are being built to do just that.

Automated Stores

Companies providing smart shelves (hardware and software systems, including vision-based systems) and stock tagging systems (including radio frequency identification [RFID]) to track items inside a store

Companies providing shopping carts enhanced with cameras, sensors, and AI to enable automatic checkout

Includes self-checkout kiosks (typically cameras and weight sensors) and mobile app-based scanning solutions (commonly leveraging barcodes and QR codes) that enable users to carry out the checkout process themselves

Companies providing hardware and software solutions (including cameras, sensors, and AI computer vision solutions for stores) to enable customers to completely avoid the checkout process (allowing them to enter a store, pick up an item, and exit the store)

Marketplaces and related solutions for selling goods and services online

Ecommerce Platforms

C2C and B2C ecommerce platforms that enable users to sell a range of goods and services via their online marketplace (e.g., eBay, Amazon).

B2B ecommerce platforms that enable businesses to sell a range of goods and services aimed mainly at other businesses. These companies mostly provide wholesale/bulk purchases (e.g., DHgate, Lightinthebox).

B2C ecommerce platforms that enable businesses to sell specialized product categories (including electronics, fast fashion, or books) via their online marketplace (e.g., Trendyol, Asos, Bookshop).

Ecommerce solutions providers that offer software for customizable ecommerce and other websites or specific modules embedded in websites such as digital experience intelligence and ecommerce management support (e.g., Shopify, CommerceIQ).

Companies that buy and grow ecommerce brands on ecommerce marketplaces (e.g., Thrasio, OpenStore, Moonshot Brands).

Companies that use GenAI as a core part of their product offering for ecommerce platforms

Digital Wallets

These enable users to utilize their wallets for various transactions at virtually any merchant that accepts digital wallet payments without any restrictions on usage.

These enable users to carry out transactions at a selected list of merchants and locations. Merchants may need to set up predefined agreements with digital wallet issuers to accept payments from the wallet.

These are typically developed by merchants themselves and allow customers to use their wallets to make payments at the merchants’ own stores. Users are unable to use these wallets for transactions outside the issuing merchant.

Companies that offer white-label solutions for businesses and fintechs to set up their own digital wallet offering.

Includes companies that offer furniture for a monthly rental, offered on a subscription basis or rent-to-own basis

Companies that develop customized furniture based on specifications (material, color, design, etc.) selected on the website by the customer

Companies that develop IoT-enabled furniture, usually controlled via a mobile app (e.g., an app-controlled bed that allows users to customize bed settings, create lighting scenarios, open safe drawers, etc.)

Companies that provide an online marketplace for P2P and B2B2C buying and selling for both used and new furniture

Companies that offer ready-made furniture sold directly through the website

Companies that offer virtual interior design solutions to design spaces, including furniture. These companies also typically offer furniture sourcing, installation, and coordination activities

Companies that develop lego-like and modular furniture systems that are easy to assemble and disassemble. Also includes space-saving expandable furniture systems

Reinforcing recycling, rerouting refuse, and reducing wasteflows

Waste Recovery & Management Tech

INCUMBENTS_PRESENT

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 Target, a leading discount retailer, has launched a denim trade-in program to minimize textile waste in landfills. Customers can swap their old denim items for a 20% discount coupon for their next purchase at Target between August 4 - 10.
 The program models Target's successful car seat trade-in initiative. Participants can bring up to five pairs of used denim, regardless of style or color, and receive 20% off coupons applicable to their future shopping at Target.
</div>

Target

Featured Industries

EDGE Insights

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless