With consumer and merchant preferences shifting toward contactless payment methods during the COVID-19 pandemic, payments activated by Quick Response (QR) codes are gaining more attention. That’s because they are a low-cost way for merchants without NFC (near-field communication)-based applications, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, to add contactless payment.  

This month, a robot vaguely resembling a kangaroo will begin stacking sandwiches, drinks and ready meals on shelves at a Japanese convenience store in a test. Its maker, Telexistence, hopes the test will help trigger a wave of retail automation.

The American Red Cross and Hoffman Car Wash are joining forces for the first-ever “Practice Kindness, Donate Blood” campaign, inviting new and returning blood donors to embrace the Hoffman “Practice Kindness” motto by rolling up a sleeve to give. Those who give blood or platelets at participating Red Cross blood drives and donation centers from Aug. 1-31 will receive a certificate for a free Ultimate Exterior with Tire Shine car wash, courtesy of Hoffman.

Clean Streak Ventures, an express car wash platform headquartered in Orlando, announced the acquisition of seven Bay Breeze Car Wash and Lube sites located in Tampa Bay, Fla. The acquisition expands Clean Streak's current platform to 17 locations across Tampa Bay, Orlando and Naples.

GO Car Wash continues its Las Vegas market expansion with the announcement of its first new development site. GO Car Wash currently operates four sites in the Las Vegas market, with several more new development sites to be announced in the near future. In the next 24 months, GO Car Wash plans to build out an additional 10-plus sites in the market.

Hiring great candidates is a valuable component of building a successful company, but it’s only part of the story. To make the most of a great team, it’s important to integrate employees into a dynamic corporate culture.

In order to talk about any sensitive topic, be it racial injustice, LGBTQ rights, political differences or wearing a mask, we must examine our thinking, challenge our perceptions, gain an understanding of others’ perspectives and make a conscious choice about the way we will respond to and treat one another.

When you think about marketing today, it’s likely that you’re calling to mind images of email newsletters, digital ad campaigns and other internet-related approaches. But in this article we’d like to take the opposite approach and look at why some companies still turn to traditional methods such as direct mail, even when they already have a strong online presence.