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Nearly half of Australians trust AI shopping recommendations more than retail staff

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SYDNEY, Aug. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — More than three-quarters (76%) of Australians trust AI shopping recommendations as much as or more than advice from a retail sales assistant, according to new research revealing how artificial intelligence is challenging the traditional role of retail staff.

The study, commissioned by global leader in supply chain commerce, Manhattan Associates Inc. (NASDAQ: MANH), found nearly half of Australians (47%) trust AI recommendations more than those provided by a retail sales assistant, while a further 29% place about the same level of trust in both.

The shift is also reflected in where Australians turn for help when researching a significant purchase. Nearly one in four (23%) use AI as their first source of information, compared with just 7% who first seek advice from an in-store sales assistant.

Raghav Sibal, APAC Vice President at Manhattan Associates, said consumers are increasingly using AI to inform purchase decisions, changing the information they may have before they do reach a retailer and what they need from sales staff.

“Consumers are using AI for product discovery, to compare options and inform their purchasing choices. These are some of the many things they might previously have relied on a retail sales assistant for,” Sibal said.

“This doesn’t make retail staff irrelevant, but it does change what customers expect from them. Shoppers might now arrive in-store already knowing which products they are considering, what alternatives are available and what they expect to pay. Retailers and their teams need to be ready to add value beyond information the customer can now find for themselves.”

The changing role of retail staff comes as AI becomes a more established part of how Australians research purchases. More than four in five Australians (83%) have used an AI assistant such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot for shopping research, with 36% doing so regularly.

Value and convenience drive AI adoption

The growing use of AI comes as Australians continue to balance convenience with a greater focus on value. Separate research from PayPal found price comparison is now the most common way Australians use AI when shopping, with 57% of AI shoppers saying the technology helps them save money.

Manhattan Associates’ research suggests convenience is another important part of AI’s appeal. When asked why they would choose AI over speaking to a retail sales assistant, 42% of respondents said for its 24/7 availability, followed by speed (20%) and the ability to compare products more easily (19%).

Sibal said the speed and ease of AI-led research is raising expectations for the experience retailers provide through to purchase and fulfilment.

“AI can make it easier for consumers to reach a decision, but that puts more pressure on retailers to deliver when they move from research to purchase. Knowing a product exists isn’t good enough. Customers need to know whether it’s available, where it’s available, what it will cost and how quickly they can get it,” he said.

AI expands the path to purchase

Despite the rapid uptake of AI, Australians are not abandoning retailer-owned channels. Even if AI could accurately answer every product question, 84% of Australians said they would still be likely to visit a retailer’s website before, while 81% would still be likely to visit a physical store.

“AI can help a customer decide what they want, but it can’t compensate for a poor experience when they are ready to buy. If the price they find is different, the product isn’t available or the fulfilment options don’t meet their expectations, retailers still risk losing that customer at the point that matters most,” Sibal said.

“As AI becomes more influential earlier in the journey, retailers need to ensure they deliver a connected experience through to purchase. Consumers are arriving better informed and with clearer expectations, putting greater importance on the retailer’s ability to turn that intent into an accurate and reliable purchase and fulfilment experience,” he concluded.

-ends-

Methodology:

Manhattan Associates surveyed 500 Australian consumers.

About Manhattan Associates

Manhattan Associates is a global technology leader, providing supply chain and omnichannel commerce solutions with unmatched AI capabilities. We design, build and offer best-in-class, AI-powered, cloud-based solutions that drive resilience and efficiency for businesses. We enable enterprises to uniquely unify front-end sales with back-end supply chain execution. 

Our commitment to innovation, cloud-native platform and API-first architecture create simpler experiences and faster paths to value for our customers. We empower them to preempt and react to emerging trends and global disruptions with technical expertise and operational confidence, transforming challenges into competitive advantage. For more information, please visit www.manh.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/nearly-half-of-australians-trust-ai-shopping-recommendations-more-than-retail-staff-302860010.html

SOURCE Manhattan Associates Inc.

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Mitrade Advocates Composure & Calculation as World Snooker Tour’s Official Trading Partner

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DUBAI, UAE, Aug. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Mitrade is sponsoring the World Snooker Tour (WST) for the 2026/27 season, aligning its brand with a sport built on composure and sustained focus under pressure. Snooker demands discipline and total concentration from a player facing a shifting table — qualities that reflect the broker’s advocacy for responsible, informed trading.

This global partnership lands as Mitrade’s growth accelerates. Since January 2026, the group reports that active trading clients increased 54% year on year, while the number of trades rose 79% and total lots traded grew 148%. The WST sponsorship provides Mitrade with a platform to engage with its growing community of traders and snooker fans and strengthen brand awareness across multiple markets.

“The World Snooker Tour is a prestigious platform with a global following, and we are proud to support its reach,” said Kevin Lai, Vice President of Mitrade Group. “The sport reflects qualities we value. Thoughtful decision-making, discipline, and respect for risk. It reinforces our responsible growth and commitment to helping traders understand markets, and we look forward to a relationship with WST’s community.”

“We are delighted to welcome Mitrade to the World Snooker Tour,” said Peter Wright, Chief Commercial Officer of WST. “This is a significant partnership with a dynamic global brand, and we are excited about working together across our European events. We look forward to seeing Mitrade become a prominent part of the World Snooker Tour throughout the season.”

Mitrade’s involvement with WST kicks off at the British Open in Cheltenham on 31 August 2026.

About Mitrade Group

Mitrade is a globally recognised, award-winning CFD trading platform licensed under UAE’s CMA (20200000397), South Africa’s FSCA (FSP 54842), Cayman Islands’ CIMA (SIB1612446), Mauritius’s FSC (GB20025791), Australia’s ASIC (AFSL398528), and Cyprus’s CySEC (CIF438/23). 

Connecting 7M+ traders to 1,000+ OTC derivatives, including indices, forex, commodities, ETFs, and shares, Mitrade’s platform is designed to provide fast trade execution, competitive spreads, and a user-friendly interface accessible across multiple devices. 

OTC derivatives are a leveraged product and can result in the loss of your entire capital. Trading OTC derivatives may not be suitable for everyone. Please consider the product sheet, risk disclosure statement and client agreement before using the services and ensure that you understand the risks involved.

This article is for informational purposes only and not financial advice, an offer, or a solicitation. 

Visit https://www.mitrade.com/ for more information.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/mitrade-advocates-composure–calculation-as-world-snooker-tours-official-trading-partner-302859615.html

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Rapid Market Adoption of Viso Now signals a fundamental shift in how Computer Vision Applications are built

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Users build a real-world computer vision application simply by describing their problem, without collecting data, labelling images, selecting models, or having previous machine learning experience.  

This marks a category shift: Strong sign-up growth since launch shows clear demand for a faster, more accessible approach to real-world AI.

< 3 MINUTES median time to first vision application

LONDON, Aug. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — viso.ai has reported strong early demand for Viso Now, its recently launched platform that enables anyone to build a working computer vision application in minutes.

Since its recent launch, Viso Now has seen over 1,000 users creating more than 3,500 vision applications, with a median time to first application of less than 3 minutes, signaling immediate market acceptance of a faster, more accessible approach to computer vision.

With Viso Now, users can build a computer vision system by describing it, and easily upload a video or connect cameras. The platform creates a working, real world AI application that can solve highly complex visual tasks, and take actions like events and send alerts.  Its perception capabilities far exceed conventional detection, and offers human-level understanding.

“Viso Now changes everything about AI vision. No coding, no annotation, no model training. What took months now takes an hour, and AI vision moves from detection to human-level perception. This makes it possible to bring AI into the physical world. And that’s exactly why we want you to try it for yourself. ”
 Gaudenz Boesch, Co-CEO and Founder, viso.ai

Strong early adoption

The pace of signups shows clear demand for computer vision that can be implemented immediately. Teams can move from an idea to a working solution in the same moment, making it easier to test more possibilities and focus on the applications that create real value.

“Computer vision has traditionally forced teams to invest in data, models and infrastructure before knowing whether an idea will work. We believe that process is backwards. With Viso Now, teams start with the problem they want to solve and can build a working computer vision application in minutes. The response since launch shows there is real demand for a faster, more intuitive way to build computer vision.”
Nico Klingler, Co-CEO and Founder, viso.ai

From an idea to a working AI application

Viso Now brings video, visual understanding, logic, integrations and alerts together in one place. Users describe the outcome they need in ordinary language, test the application against real footage, and adjust the application as required.

With Viso Now, users can:

Describe what they want to build or a problem to solve in plain language.Upload footage from video or connect to a camera using a wide range of pre-built connectors.Review outcomes in a visual interface or build custom dashboards.Make changes to the visual perception engine or logic.Trigger actions through connectors like email, Slack, MS Teams, or send data anywhere via API.

Build systems that tackle real industry problems

Users are building applications for established use cases such as quality control, workplace safety and traffic analysis, while also experimenting with niche and unexpected ideas that would previously have been too difficult or costly to pursue (for example, use Viso Now to evaluate, rank and flag ISO compliance or food safety hazards). If a problem can be observed visually, it can become an opportunity to solve or automate it with computer vision.

One early user, an operations leader in automotive service equipment manufacturing, said: “In an afternoon, I built an agent that does exactly what we need it to do, and I had no previous experience building anything like this. It might as well be magic.”

Start on free forever, scale when ready

Viso Now is available through the browser and completely free to start. Every account receives free credits each day, plenty for users to continue building, testing and refining ideas without an upfront commitment. Users can invite their team and build several applications for different use cases.

Build your first vision application

Go to www.viso.ai/viso-now, describe what you want to see and build your first working vision application in minutes.

Media Contact:

Chrissie Jamieson
VP, Marketing
Viso.ai
c.jamieson@viso.ai
Tel: 07801 211 910

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/rapid-market-adoption-of-viso-now-signals-a-fundamental-shift-in-how-computer-vision-applications-are-built-302860976.html

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State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company Assists Enterprise in Obtaining China’s First “Carbon Neutral” Transformer Certification

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CHANGZHOU, China, Aug. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Recently, with the support of State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company, 15 units of 35 kV, 6,000 kVA pad-mounted transformers manufactured by Jiangsu Huapeng Transformer Co., Ltd. successfully obtained the British Standards Institution (BSI) carbon neutral certification, making them the first batch of export-oriented transformers in China to receive such certification. These units are scheduled to be shipped to Europe in the near future for use in local data center construction projects.

Currently, with the explosive growth of AI technology and the rapid expansion of the global computing power industry, transformers — as core power equipment for computing infrastructure — are experiencing surging market demand. Chinese-made transformers have gained strong international traction due to their advanced product performance and extremely short delivery cycles. Zhou Yuechao, Deputy Director of the New Energy Workshop at Jiangsu Huapeng Transformer Co., Ltd., stated: “To meet overseas market demands, our transformers can be delivered in as little as six months from order placement, giving us a distinct advantage over foreign competitors, whose construction cycles often take two to three years.”

In the first half of this year, the company’s export orders exceeded RMB 2.4 billion, with overseas business accounting for more than 60% of total revenue, and products sold to over 200 countries and regions worldwide. As overseas markets continue to expand, product green and low-carbon certification has become a key lever for the company to deepen its presence in high-end international markets.

Product carbon neutral certification is a systematic endeavor that requires precise quantification of carbon emissions across the entire product lifecycle, substantive emission reductions, and traceable offsetting. To overcome the certification challenges, the State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power “Electric Warm Current” Party Member Service Team went deep into the factory premises, identified carbon emission sources throughout the entire production process, customized specialized accounting ledgers for energy consumption, materials, and transportation, assisted the enterprise in aligning with international emission factors, and cooperated with third-party agencies through multiple rounds of data verification.

Chen Chang, a marketing staff member at State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company, stated: “After comprehensive and precise accounting, after deducting the emission reductions from the enterprise’s own photovoltaic generation, the remaining 1,242 tons of CO₂ emissions from these 15 transformers will be traded and offset through our carbon trading platform.”

To address the post-accounting carbon emission gap, the power supply company connected with the Suzhou One-Stop Carbon Neutrality Inclusive Service Center to precisely match carbon resources for the enterprise, completing a one-time retirement of 1,250 tons of CO₂ equivalent through carbon trading, fully covering the remaining carbon footprint of the products.

Earlier, State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power had released the “Electric Warm Current” 2026 “Practical Initiatives for the People” Ten-Action Plan, which included measures to expand energy efficiency and carbon efficiency service models. Through this certification process, the enterprise accumulated experience in full-chain carbon data management for its products, laying a solid foundation for future responses to international green trade barriers and deeper penetration of high-end overseas markets. This milestone marks another front-running achievement for China’s high-end power equipment in the green and low-carbon track, while also providing a replicable model for State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power’s “electric-carbon synergy” services.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/state-grid-changzhou-power-supply-company-assists-enterprise-in-obtaining-chinas-first-carbon-neutral-transformer-certification-302861234.html

SOURCE State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company

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