Tech the Halls
If you want to know the hottest, most sought-after toy this holiday season, go straight to the source. That’s what Wal-Mart did when it surveyed kids ages 18 months to 12-years-old recently, according to a recent TheStreet.com article.
How one surveys an 18-month-old is beyond me, but the results are in and the Vtech Kidizoom Smartwatch, is at the top of the list.
According to one Amazon reviewer, “this newest VTech product is one kids are going to love… It allows children to take photos, videos, record their voice, play games, tell time via the analog or digital clock and add fun photo effects to the photos they take.”
Along with the Fire HD Kids edition, the Kidizoom Smartwatch follows a popular holiday toy trend of grown-up tech copycats for the kiddos.
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The impact of tech on the holidays reaches far beyond Santa’s list this year; it’s also changing the way people will purchase these hot tech toys. The recently introduced Apple Pay, marks a paradigm shift in the retail space, offering benefits to both consumers and merchants.
Shoppers can look forward to a speedy and seamless checkout process with a simple wave of their smart phone (read: less time waiting in line). Even better, Apple is rumored to introduce its loyalty program, which is expected to deliver deals (read: save money) just for Apple Pay users.Retailers are even expected to cash in on the more than 1 million users that signed up for the system just 72 hours after it went live. iPhone users historically spend more, translating into an opportunity for retailers to boost sales just by offering Apple Pay.
Perhaps more importantly though is the chance for brick and mortars, like Target, to gain back trust among shoppers deterred by data breaches. Personal information isn’t provided to retailers through Apple Pay, which protects them from data hacking (unless of course Apple’s security is breached).Holiday sales are expected to be up 4 percent over last year, and if these trends are any indication, it’s shaping up to be very a nice year for the tech industry. Happy shopping!
