Walmart wants associates, not gig workers, to deliver more orders as the retailer struggles to verify the identity of its Spark drivers

Tech Insider
A Walmart employee in the beauty, makeup aisle
Walmart wants associates to deliver more of its online orders.

Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / AP

From taking orders to cutting avocados, AI is solving the labor shortage problem for fast-food chains

Tech Insider
White Castle and SoundHound
White Castle is rolling out voice bots by SoundHound at 100 drive-thru locations.

SoundHound

Instacart deactivated a shopper, and he nearly lost his home. He battled the company and won $28,000 in back pay.

Tech Insider
The back of an Instacart shopper who's wearing an Instacart shirt while shopping at Whole Foods.
An Instacart gig worker shops for groceries.

Cyrus McCrimmon/Getty Images

The most insidious part of online shopping is about to get even worse

Tech Insider : Economy, Politics
A group of ninjas stealthily add extra zeros to a price tag, unbeknownst to a mesmerized shopper who thinks she's getting a good deal
Companies have for years added hidden fees onto every online purchase we make — but now these nefarious fees are getting even harder for customers to see.

Nicole Zaridze

All I wanted to do was attend a concert.

How knockoffs took over America

Tech Insider
A row of handbags gets duplicated.
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Chelsea Jia Feng/Insider

The typical brown bag school lunch costs 50 cents more this year, and it's a perfect example of how little daily costs from inflation add up to a big expense

Tech Insider : Economy
A parent fills a lunch box with bread, fruit, and vegetables for a kindergarten child.
Each day's packed lunch is about 50 cents more this year than last year – assuming a very rough 10% combined increase in prices for ham sandwich supplies, plus sides.

Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images

The main reasons retailers are posting weaker profits this year have nothing to do with theft

Tech Insider
A man walks past shelves of items locked behind a case in a grocery store.
The National Retail Federation estimates shrink topped $94 billion in 2021, which would put this year's figure well north of $100 billion if the rate remains the same or increases.

Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images

An online exchange between China's 'Lipstick King' and a viewer over the affordability of an $11 beauty item shows just how messed up the country's economy is

Tech Insider : Economy, Economy
Beauty blogger Austin Li Jiaqi applies lipstick while livestreaming on the e-commerce platform Taobao on October 26, 2018 in Shanghai, China. 27-year-old man Austin Li Jiaqi, with a nickname 'Lipstick Brother', is the hottest online beauty blogger in China.

Burger King and Wendy's are trying to start the chicken wrap wars. But their messy meals made us yearn for the return of McDonald's iconic snack wraps.

Tech Insider
Nancy Luna, Insider restaurants correspondent, reviews Burger King and Wendy's chicken wraps.
Nancy Luna, Insider restaurants correspondent, reviews Burger King and Wendy's chicken wraps.

Nancy Luna/Burger King

Your cold pills could be yanked off the shelf. An FDA panel just ruled some of them don't work.

Tech Insider
Shelf stocked with cold medicines including Sudafed and Tylenol.
Certain cold medications could be pulled from the shelves after the FDA ruled that phenylephrine doesn't work.

AP Photo

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