Customer Data

Context-Aware Experiences: The Newest Stage in the Evolution of Customer-Facing Personalization
May 7, 2025 at 11:56 am

Leading retailers are interested in personalization efforts that drive the “right” customer behaviors. In marketing, the right messages, delivered at the right time to the right consumer and featuring easy-to-act-upon content result in more revenue at a better margin than non-personalized mass messaging. However, the aim of modern marketing efforts isn't about delivering personalization per…

Retail in Transition: Nikki Baird on Consumer Sentiment, Unified CX, and the Evolving Role of Stores
May 5, 2025 at 1:54 pm

In this exclusive interview, Total Retail speaks with Nikki Baird, vice president of strategy and product at Aptos, to explore the evolving retail landscape. Baird offers valuable insights into shifting consumer behavior, the growing importance of unified customer experiences, and the strategic role of technology — particularly artificial intelligence — in enhancing in-store engagement. She…

Identity Resolution Gets in the Way of Customer Centricity
April 23, 2025 at 12:53 pm

Shoptalk’s theme this year was customer centricity. Putting the customer at the center can be a big challenge for brands. The first issue many companies run into is competing priorities. A retailer that needs to clear excess inventory before the next shipment feels the pressure to push clearance messaging even if a customer-centric strategy would…

2025: The Year the AI Hype Drives Measurable, High Returns in Retail
April 2, 2025 at 12:45 pm

2024 was the ultimate retail rollercoaster — and not the fun kind you find at a theme park. With rising and falling inflation, jobless claims and consumer sentiment, retailers had a lot to toss and turn about last year. As we venture further into 2025, all eyes are on retailers. Will they adapt to shifting…

Before Leveraging AI Tools, Data Ecosystems Must Be AI-Ready
March 18, 2025 at 11:11 am

Retailers are eager to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) tools to take advantage of unstructured datasets. Unlocking the untapped potential of both structured and unstructured data through AI will help retailers build more meaningful relationships with consumers, boosting brand loyalty and creating more upsell opportunities while optimizing the shopping experience and driving greater product innovation. However,…

What's in Store for Retail Media Networks in 2025
February 26, 2025 at 12:53 pm

The retail media hype seems to have hit a fever pitch over the past 12 months, but the dollars flowing in proved that it’s far more than just an ad tech-driven buzzword. eMarketer says the ecosystem raked in about $43 billion in 2023, and it’s now expected to reach nearly $85 billion by 2027. Big…

AI Experiences: Ask Versus Assume to Balance Privacy and Personalization
January 15, 2025 at 12:42 pm

Imagine logging onto your favorite social platform and seeing a digital avatar of yourself modeling a brand’s latest loungewear or, more surprising, underwear. Creepy? Cool? Maybe both? According to The Verge, Meta announced that it’s testing a new feature that creates artificial intelligence-generated content for you “based on your interests or current trends,” including some…

AI in Retail Relies on Clean, Accurate Data
January 6, 2025 at 9:39 am

Artificial intelligence is only as good as the data that trains it. If disparate, unorganized data is input to AI-powered tools, the results may be inaccurate or unusable. Research from Nvidia found that while 64 percent of large retailers (annual revenue exceeding $500 million) are already using AI, 22 percent are currently assessing or piloting…

How to Wrap Up More Sales With the Gift of First-Party Data
December 17, 2024 at 12:03 pm

While the festive holiday shopping season is in full swing, this year retailers and consumer goods companies face a pressing challenge: a shorter period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. With five fewer shopping days and economic pressures making consumers more price-sensitive, companies need to act fast if they want to engage shoppers. Amid these challenges lies…