Amazon is developing technology that allows consumers to store credit card information on their hands and pay by having their palms scanned, sources say. The technology company is in discussion with credit card companies and plans to begin the payment method in brick-and-mortar stores with repeat customers.

Under Armour's emphasis on storytelling and its target customer -- the "focused performer" -- are key for the activewear brand, founder and Brand Chief Kevin Plank said last week at NRF 2020 Vision: Retail's Big Show. "When a consumer walks into a retail store, there's two things they need to know and understand. What's your personality, and what's your point of view?" he said. Read more.

Unlike some other digitally native brands, menswear label Mizzen+Main made wholesale part of its strategy from the beginning, to give men a way to see, touch and try on the merchandise. The brand has struck deals with specialty stores, golf shops and Nordstrom to showcase and sell its shirts.

Government officials and consumers in India are pushing back against plans by Amazon to invest $1 billion to help the country's small and mid-sized merchants digitize. The protests came as CEO Jeff Bezos toured the country, and on Friday the company announced plans to create 1 million jobs in India by 2025.

Pinterest and market research firm IRI are offering a service that enables brands to measure consumer packaged goods ad campaigns' effect on offline retail sales for food, health and beauty products. IRI utilizes information to determine lift from a variety of sources, including 500 million frequent shopper loyalty members, a survey panel and other types of data.

Ad buyers using Snapchat's dynamic ads that are targeted based on behavior and directly linked to product catalogs are reporting lower cost-per-thousand impressions and similar or higher return on spend than Facebook and Instagram, writes Deanna Ting. Agency Within's Asher Chester says the costs balanced out between higher conversion rates and higher costs per clicks, while Havas Media's Tessa Kavanaugh noted clients realized CPMs were almost five times lower than Facebook.

Village Studio, an offshoot of influencer marketing firm Village Marketing, has turned a penthouse in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, N.Y., into a studio space that influencers and brands can use for photo shoots. The company operates similar spaces in New York City's SoHo neighborhood and Los Angeles.

Soft Robotics, a startup that makes soft grippers to help robots grab and hang on to objects, raised $23 million in a funding round that included an investment from FANUC, the world's biggest industrial robot maker. The new capital will allow Soft Robots to expand into new fields including consumer goods, food packaging, logistics and e-commerce.