Digital Innovation

Total Retail and sister brand Women in Retail Leadership Circle (WIRLC) are proud to present our eighth annual list of the Top Women in Retail. This year's list features a who's who of top female executives in the retail industry. Take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about some of the brightest minds and leaders retail has to offer.

As we begin 2018, it’s safe to say that artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to infiltrate our everyday lives and challenge business processes to become more intelligent and proactive. In fact, according to Forrester, 38 percent of enterprises are already using artificial intelligence, growing to 62 percent by 2018. Additionally, IDC believes AI will be a $47 billion…

A recent study on the impact of coupons concluded that they're still very popular with shoppers and can help drive loyalty, footfall and increased customer spend. The study also found that there were 6 percent fewer coupon redemptions in 2017 than the year prior. Ironically, this is good news for retailers and marketers. How is…

Retailers online and offline are struggling to compete in the age of Amazon, the behemoth that, in its most recent quarter, racked up $43.7 billion in sales. Amazon.com has changed the game, no doubt. However, you can compete, survive and even thrive in this new era if you can create one or more digitally native…

Kroger announced it will be testing “cashier-less” technology in 2018. Business Insider reports Kroger's new "Scan, Bag, Go" technology allows customers to scan and pay for goods as they shop. Here's how it works: shoppers scan the barcodes of items they wish to purchase using a handheld scanner, provided by Kroger, or the chain's "Scan,…

Wal-Mart's Code Eight, the first portfolio company in its newly launched incubator, Store No. 8, has started testing personal shopping services for moms in New York City, Recode reports. The  service is targeted to “busy NYC moms ” who are "high net worth urban consumers" and will enable them to get product recommendations and make purchases simply through text messaging. The…

Lowe’s has named Vikram Singh senior vice president, chief digital officer, effective Jan. 4. Singh will report to Michael P. McDermott, chief customer officer. The newly created position is designed to accelerate Lowe’s digital evolution and drive a holistic integrated strategy to…

Something interesting happened as we spent countless news cycles prophesizing the demise of brick-and-mortar retail: 2017 Black Friday foot traffic at stores remained very high and barely saw any change from last year. Meanwhile, online shopping saw another 17 percent increase from last year, with mobile shopping accounting for almost 40 percent of those online…

The holiday shopping season is often a chaotic frenzy with consumers frantically searching for the perfect gifts for their loved ones. Due to wider adoption and the abundance of mobile shopping apps, as well as recent breaches in secure data, holiday shopping today isn’t the same as it used to be. To help retailers prepare…

Kroger announced this week it will begin offering mobile payments next year through a partnership with JPMorgan Chase & Co. The Cincinnati Business Courier reports the retail chain will offer a service known as Chase Pay at select stores and e-commerce programs next year. “Technology is transforming our customers’ experiences and greatly influencing how we're re-imagining…