Latest news with #commerce
CTV News
5 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Stores in these 3 Quebec cities will stay open late on weekends in pilot project
Certain stores in select Quebec cities will be open late on weekends starting this summer as part of a new pilot project. Three cities are participating in the project, which will run for one year: Laval, Gatineau, and Saint-Georges. Non-food businesses, such as stores, boutiques, points of sale, markets and other establishments, will be allowed to stay open until 8 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Grocery stores, pharmacies and other businesses that are exempt from the law are not affected. The Quebec government announced the project in a news release on Wednesday, saying that the goal is to evaluate the effects of modified opening hours on workers and consumers, and to increase the competitiveness of the retail sector in the province. 'With the growth of online shopping, the consumption habits of Quebecers have changed. To remain competitive, our commercial establishments must be able to adapt their opening hours and days of access to welcome more consumers who are committed to buying Quebec products,' said Quebec's Economy Minister Christopher Skeete. 'With these pilot projects, our government is evaluating a new solution to offer local businesses an environment that is among the most stimulating and conducive to their success.' After one year, a report will be published to present the results and determine whether or not the changes should be made permanent throughout Quebec. The province says Gatineau was chosen because of its geographical location near the Ontario border, while Laval was selected because of its 'urban character and its position as a supra-regional retail hub.' Saint-Georges, a city located roughly 120 kilometres south of Quebec City in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, was chosen due to its local economy and because it is representative of regions that are far from major urban centres.
CTV News
6 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Stores in these 3 Quebec cities will stay open late on weekends starting this summer
Certain stores in select Quebec cities will be open late on weekends starting this summer as part of a new pilot project. Three cities are participating in the project, which will run for one year: Laval, Gatineau, and Saint-Georges. Non-food businesses, such as stores, boutiques, points of sale, markets and other establishments, will be allowed to stay open until 8 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Grocery stores, pharmacies and other businesses that are exempt from the law are not affected. The Quebec government announced the project in a news release on Wednesday, saying that the goal is to evaluate the effects of modified opening hours on workers and consumers, and to increase the competitiveness of the retail sector in the province. 'With the growth of online shopping, the consumption habits of Quebecers have changed. To remain competitive, our commercial establishments must be able to adapt their opening hours and days of access to welcome more consumers who are committed to buying Quebec products,' said Quebec's Economy Minister Christopher Skeete. 'With these pilot projects, our government is evaluating a new solution to offer local businesses an environment that is among the most stimulating and conducive to their success.' After one year, a report will be published to present the results and determine whether or not the changes should be made permanent throughout Quebec. The province says Gatineau was chosen because of its geographical location near the Ontario border, while Laval was selected because of its 'urban character and its position as a supra-regional retail hub.' Saint-Georges, a city located roughly 120 kilometres south of Quebec City in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, was chosen due to its local economy and because it is representative of regions that are far from major urban centres.
Finextra
9 hours ago
- Business
- Finextra
Remark raises $16 million for AI-based online shopping assistant
Remark, the company building human-trained AI product experts for commerce, today announced a $16 million Series A funding round. 0 The round was led by Inspired Capital, with participation from Stripe, Neo, Spero Ventures, Shine Capital, and Visible Ventures, bringing the company's total funding to $27 million. Despite trillions spent on e-commerce infrastructure, the single most effective driver of sales — the in-store expert — has never been replicated online. Shoppers crave personalized guidance, and when they receive it, they convert at staggering rates. Merchants that deliver tailored product advice see meaningfully higher conversion rates, larger order values, and reduced return rates. Remark brings this high-converting experience online, turning passive browsing into confident buying through AI personas trained by over 60,000 human product experts and counting. Remark's language models are trained on the knowledge, tone, and preferences of Olympic athletes, stylists, estheticians, new parents, and more. These insights become always-on digital advisors embedded directly in brand storefronts. Unlike generic chatbots or large language models fine-tuned on public data, Remark's personas are trained on the anecdotes and personal knowledge of subject-matter experts. The result is warm, informed guidance that helps customers find the right products and delivers the kind of personalized, high-touch experience shoppers expect in store. 'We believe AI should elevate the human experience, not replace it,' said Theo Satloff, CEO and co-founder of Remark. 'By working with real product experts to train AI personas, we're creating guidance that's trusted, helpful, and deeply personal. Our goal is to make online shopping feel less like a transaction and more like being guided by someone who truly understands what you need.' Since its funding last year, Remark has grown revenue 4x year-over-year, maintained 100% retention across more than 60 brand partners, and achieved nearly 130% net dollar retention. Remark has driven tens of millions in net new revenue for its customers, delivering an average lift of 10%, and has converted 28% of shoppers — far above the industry average of 1%. It has also helped brands save over $3.2 million in customer service costs by reducing support tickets and guiding shoppers to the right fit more efficiently. 'Remark is redefining how brands connect with customers,' said Kamran Ali, Principal at Inspired Capital. 'They've created an entirely new category of AI-native commerce, one that blends real human expertise with scalable technology. Remark is proving that this model not only improves the shopping experience, but also directly drives business results.' As shoppers increasingly expect deeper guidance in categories like health, beauty, apparel, and outdoor gear, Remark gives merchants a competitive edge by combining the revenue driving power of human retail sales associates with the speed and scale of AI. With this new funding, Remark will expand into new verticals, grow its expert network, and deepen its tooling for training, deployment, and analytics. The company is also building new systems to help brands launch AI personas faster, measure performance in real time, and adapt to shifting customer needs.
Forbes
12 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
How To Know If You Are Hiring Your Next Superstar Or Next Disaster
Levi King is the CEO, co-founder, and chairman of Nav, a financial health platform for small businesses. No chief executive officer (CEO), no matter how brilliant, would last a day in the shark-filled waters of commerce without tons of help. It isn't exactly easy to thrive in a hypercompetitive country teeming with smart people willing to claw, bite and wreak havoc in general to reach the top. At the end of the workday, look around. Look at those who stand by you and with you, ready and willing to do the heavy lifting. Who are they? Well, it's a complicated question. But I can think of one answer at least that will help to dispel the confusion: They're folks you hired. As the head of your company, you have an outsized say in who joins the team. Others may assist you, but you are the final word on the subject. In the not-always-bloodless arena of business, your lifted or lowered thumb means thrilling excitement for some, crushing disappointment for others. To Hire Or Not To Hire Weighty decisions require commensurate thought and preparation. In my experience, prioritizing résumés and college pedigrees at the expense of more human considerations in the hiring process is a major mistake. Perhaps I'm not cold-blooded enough, but as a college student, I wouldn't have gone on a single date with someone based on her GPA, much less have moved in with her! I understand that we're not talking about romantic relationships, but anyone who tells you that there's no intimacy involved in work relationships is either lying or naive. They involve our egos and dreams and ambitions; our financial security and worldly success. The fastest way to get to know someone, other than moving in with them, is to work with them. Becoming a CEO entails a tremendous amount of the latter. Allowing yourself to be dazzled by credentials or charisma to the point of overlooking everything else is a proven method of throwing that work down the toilet. Interview Questions To Ask I recently hired a chief financial officer (CFO) and a chief marketing officer (CMO). I'm confident that both of those roles are now filled by the kind of colleague I love and the kind of leader I trust. If you're asking how I can be so darn sure, the answer is pretty mundane: They told me themselves, in their own words, freely. I didn't have to smooth-talk them or resort to gimmicky sales tricks. In turn, they didn't have to do any smooth-talking themselves or resort to gimmicky flattery. They revealed who they were by being who they were, and I tried to make it as easy as possible for them by asking the correct questions. I not only asked good questions, but I shut up afterward and listened to their answers. I've been doing this long enough that I pride myself on the quality of my BS detector, but I've also learned that some lines of inquiry encourage more BS than others. After all, by the time a candidate is sitting across from me, they've been fully vetted in terms of their capabilities and past experience. I want to hear things like: • What are the most brutal and painful experiences you've ever endured personally and professionally? • How did those experiences shape how you show up professionally? • When you think of what you want to accomplish in your career, can you identify key formative moments from your childhood and youth that planted the seeds? • What is your idea of happiness, of personal and professional fulfillment? • What's your idea of the perfect company culture? • Think of one or two people you've worked with who you will stay in touch with the rest of your life; what was it you experienced together professionally that drove that enduring connection? • When was the last time you were red-hot angry? What happened, and how did you work through it? • Think of a time you had to drag yourself out of bed to go to a miserable job; what was it that caused the misery, and how did it change your perspective on your career plans? • If you think of your last job and contemplate your top two or three moments of pure joy, what happened to make you feel that way? • Setting aside compensation, role and responsibilities, rank the top three to five priorities you are looking for as you make your next career decision. There's more than one reason for following these open-ended lines of inquiry featuring practical and personal implications. They allow you to meaningfully assess the candidate—to figure out whether they're right for you—but it's just as important that you genuinely assess whether you're right for them. If I derive clear clues from a candidate's answers that they aren't going to be happy working for me or for my company, I owe them the same honesty I expect to be honored with. It doesn't matter how talented and amazing they are—I'm not going to pull a bait and switch. Employees reach their full potential when they're fully happy—period, stop. To hire great people, get out of their way. If you're wondering if your worlds align, if the mission of your company is one they're foaming at the mouth to join, if its vision is something they don't have to strain to see, they'll tell you in their own words. There is no such thing as perfect psychic clarity; even masters of the art of the interview fail from time to time, just as great psychologists sometimes have the wool pulled over their eyes. You can do everything correctly and still hire a dud—or be one, from someone else's point of view—and that's okay. As you slowly pull together the ideal posse, you'll feel less and less alone when faced with big decisions. You'll recognize misfits more readily and recover from them faster. You'll sleep better at night knowing that, though the sharks may be circling, you've got a team that can handle it. And that's the best feeling in the world. The information provided here is not investment, tax or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation. Forbes Finance Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful accounting, financial planning and wealth management firms. Do I qualify?
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Milwaukee Brewers vs. New York Mets: live game updates, stats, play-by-play
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