Say the word “vending machine,” and many consumers picture machines that dispense snacks and drinks. While these devices are in no danger of extinction, more sophisticated and intelligent vending technology is steadily taking center stage — and savvy retailers are capitalizing on this shift.

In just over two years, IceCream Labs has leveraged the power of machine learning and visual intelligence to improve content, increase consumer engagement, improve merchandising productivity and accelerate revenues at two of the world’s biggest retailers.

NRF is proud to provide our members with the online Retail Buying Guide to search for trusted vendors, products and services in the retail industry. Our guide is a user-friendly forum designed to bring suppliers and purchasers together. You can search by keyword, location, company name or category. Available whenever you need it, the Retail Buying Guide makes it easy to locate products and professional services geared to the retail industry. Click here to visit the online Retail Buying Guide! To advertise, please contact Sarah Allen for more information.

The new Dunkin’ Donuts store in Quincy, Mass., might just be worth the trip. The company calls the site its “store of the future experience,"  featuring modern design, integrated digital kiosks and new uniforms designed by Life is Good.

The digital edition of STORES includes must-read pieces, including the articles featured here. Read the current issue and browse the archives for issues you may have missed.

What do Warby Parker and STORY have in common? Entrepreneurs with a keen eye for innovation. Warby Parker’s Neil Blumenthal and STORY’s Rachel Shechtman come from different backgrounds, but they both built brands with a fresh take on retail. Listen to the two friends and retail disruptors chat about building a brand around a crazy idea in this week’s episode of NRF’s Retail Gets Real podcast.

Retailers are beginning to assess what the new tax code means for their businesses. Walmart, Starbucks, The Home Depot, Best Buy, Chipotle and others have announced plans to invest in their workforces because of tax reform, and more than 3 million American workers are receiving special bonuses, higher wages or expanded benefits as a result.

Millennials account for a significant portion of the $1 trillion that U.S. families spend annually on their children. However, Millennial parents have a different approach to shopping than parents from other generations. Learn more from NRF’s latest Consumer View report.

GIANT Food Stores announced in partnership with its sister company Peapod, the country’s leading online grocer, that the convenience of online grocery shopping and delivery is now available in the Reading, Birdsboro and Temple communities of Pennsylvania.

First Insight, a technology company transforming how leading retailers make product investment and pricing decisions, and rue21, a U.S.-based fast fashion retailer, have forged a long-term partnership. rue21 is using First Insight’s consumer-driven predictive analytics to make design and buying decisions on categories including apparel, footwear and accessories.

Great Clips is proud to be named the Official Hair Salon of the NHL as part of a partnership with the National Hockey League Players’ Association and the National Hockey League for the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The partnership centers around a campaign aptly named the LegendHairy Greats of the NHL.

Heritage footwear brand K-Swiss announced a groundbreaking new partnership with premier e-sports organization, Immortals, to launch the first signature sneaker for a professional gaming team.

CGS, a global provider of business applications, enterprise learning and outsourcing services, announced that Reliable of Milwaukee, a family-owned apparel and consumer goods business, selected BlueCherry Enterprise Suite of solutions, including enterprise resource planning, product lifecycle management and B2B ecommerce.

Fressnapf Group, Europe's market leader in pet retail, is leveraging Revionics SaaS solutions to help provide more customer-focused price and markdown strategies. Fressnapf Group will be using Revionics machine-learning science-based technology for more integrated pricing across the company’s 11-country footprint.

Aptos Inc., a recognized market leader in retail technology solutions, announced J. McLaughlin, the classic American clothing and accessories brand for women and men, has successfully gone live with Aptos’ Singular Commerce platform in the cloud.

OneView Commerce, a leading provider of digital point of sale, enterprise promotions and inventory management, announced that Molton Brown Limited has gone live with the digital POS framework at the retailer’s first two London High Street stores, with two stores in Ireland following immediately thereafter.

Oracle announced that Brazilian footwear retailer Paquetá has deployed Oracle Retail Clearance Optimization Engine to drive profits and streamline inventory planning.

NMI, a provider of payments enablement technology for independent sales organizations, independent software vendors, value-added resellers and payment facilitators, and Paysafe, a leading global payments provider, announced an expanded partnership which sees NMI leverage Paysafe’s global acquiring and processing reach and Paysafe deepen its integration and offering accessible through NMI’s payments enablement technology.

Square Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Weebly. Square will pay a mix of cash and stock of approximately $365 million, which includes Square restricted stock units for Weebly's founders and employees that will vest over four years subsequent to closing. Weebly is a San Francisco-based technology company that provides customers with tools to easily build a professional website or online store.

VF Corporation, a global leader in branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories, announced that it has completed the sale of its Nautica brand business to Authentic Brands Group LLC.