Digital Innovation

Online retail is on a steady climb as consumers shift to digital channels for the convenience of using any device, anywhere, at any time to complete purchases. According to eMarketer, worldwide retail e-commerce sales are growing from $4.28 trillion in 2020 to $6.39 trillion in 2024, which is forecasted to correspond to 21.8 percent of total…

We’ll discuss key findings from Merkle’s 2020 retail media research and share actionable tips for retailers and brands.

As a result of the pandemic, consumers have gotten particularly stringent on what they expect from stores as well as what they consider “retail deal-breakers.” According to a report, The Resiliency of Retail in a Changed Landscape, by IDC and global cloud communications company Infobip: 25 percent of consumers will only shop at retailers that offer…

In episode 316 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Giovanni Monti, senior vice president of healthcare services at Walgreens Boots Alliance, a global leader in retail pharmacy. Listen in as Monti discusses his role and team at the company, how the COVID-19 pandemic increasingly blended healthcare and retail together, and what that dynamic…

Digital commerce has emerged as a winning business strategy since 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe. While a number of retailers such as Nike and Williams-Sonoma successfully reached consumers without being able to physically interact with them, most retail brands had to find new and innovative ways to connect with their customers. A…

The pandemic made for one of the most organic and authentic tests of the world’s progress towards digital innovation, demonstrating how resilient all businesses were. One of the greatest, long-lasting effects of COVID-19 on the retail industry is the digital movement it accelerated.

We’re now well into 2021, and we can say with certainty that retail’s rebound is legitimate. By continuing to invest heavily in in-location experiences, retailers have bounced back admirably from unprecedented adversity. As of early June, the National Retail Federation (NRF) forecasts retail sales to continue growing between 10.5 percent and 13.5 percent throughout the remainder…

The other day I purchased a hoodie from a direct-to-consumer brand that I like. “The softest hoodie ever” was how they hooked me, but post-checkout I found myself upsold to buying eye cream. How did they do it? Co-selling. And it’s going to transform every brand into a marketplace. Co-selling is on the rise, and…

Despite physical retailers opening their doors to a higher capacity of people, post-pandemic shoppers don’t have the same habits they did before the pandemic. They're spending less time in stores, with 43 percent moving more quickly in stores than they did before COVID-19, according to a recent Quotient survey. Although advertisers are combatting less time…

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) has recently introduced its first digital clothing collection on Bitmoji, the cartoon avatar creation platform owned by Snapchat, according to a company news release. With this new initiative, users can view the retailer's back-to-school collection on virtual representations of brand ambassadors Addison Rae, Chase Stokes, Madison Bailey, Caleb McLaughlin and Jenna Ortega. Their…