Daily Round-up: Farmstead applies ML, Amazon expands Middleeast marketplace, CVS Q1 earnings, and more…

1. Farmstead applies ML The San Francisco-based online grocer is introducing a new feature called Smart Shopping List that goes beyond recommendations to predict what customers need. Smart Shopping List bases predictions on multiple data-driven factors, including weekly shopping history, buying signals, and what’s already in their cart.

‍2. Amazon rebrands middle east marketplace Dubai-based Souq, which Amazon purchased for $580 million in July 2017, is being rebranded to Amazon.ae in most of the Middle East. The Souq platform remains operational in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Visitors to Souq.com in other countries will be automatically redirected to Amazon.ae. The new site features 30 million products, including everything previously available on Souq as well as 5 million additional items from Amazon US.

‍3. CVS Q1 earnings call CVS’ Q1 earnings have beat street estimates. Net income rose to $1.42 billion, or $1.09 a share, in the quarter ended March 31, from $998 million, or 98 cents a share, in the same period a year ago, as the company’s newly acquired Aetna health insurance business gave a boost to results. Adjusted EPS came to $1.62, easily topping analysts’ estimates of $1.50.

‍4. Instagram now lets creators sell directly Instagram has announced that creators will now be able to tag items to sell them directly to people viewing their posts and Stories. For now, this will work only on items that are tagged from businesses that are part of the new checkout beta program Instagram is running in the US. Additionally, the company also said that it is working on adding donation stickers to stories.

‍5. Walmart-Flipkart in talks to buy grocery chain Walmart-owned Flipkart is reportedly in talks to buy Indian grocery chain Namdhari’s Fresh. Namdhari's operates over 30 stores in the southern city of Bengaluru, and the acquisition will help Flipkart expand its food and grocery segment. Both companies had held talks, one source familiar with the matter told Reuters, adding that it was not immediately clear if it would result in a deal.

‍6. Indochino launches in Australia Canadian custom suit company Indochino launched a local e-commerce offering in Australia last week, offering made-to-measure apparel at prices comparable to off the rack alternatives. The local website offers duty-free shipping and prices in the local currency and is the first step towards a larger bricks-and-mortar presence in Australia.

7. Shopify, Facebook dynamic ads, Snapchat story E-commerce platform Shopify this week started letting merchants create, manage and launch dynamic ads on Facebook and began rolling out Story Ads on Snapchat to help reach more shoppers. Facebook's dynamic ads let markers create an ad template that automatically uses images and information from their data feed to reach consumers who have shown an interest in their products and services. Snapchat's Story Ads let advertisers reach their audiences with a branded tile in the app's Discover section that features professionally produced content from publishers and media outlets.