Technology

During the pandemic, it seemed as if shopping had changed forever. With stay-at-home orders and lockdowns across the U.S., consumers had no choice but to shop online. Today, however, the COVID-19 pandemic is largely behind us, and in-store shopping is very much back. According to one survey, 85 percent of retail sales in 2023 are…

Consumers are generally dissatisfied with their retail experiences, at least according to a global study from the IBM Institute for Business Value called "Revolutionize retail with AI everywhere: Customers won't wait." The report points out that only 9 percent of consumers said they were content with their in-store shopping experiences and 14 percent content with…

Artificial intelligence allows retailers to gain a far deeper understanding of customer preferences and behaviors by analyzing information like browsing and purchase histories. Using sophisticated AI algorithms, retailers can build comprehensive profiles that reveal what individual shoppers like and need over time. This empowers retailers to provide hyperpersonalized product recommendations that closely match each customer's…

During the five-day holiday weekend spanning from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday last year, 200.4 million consumers shopped, setting a new record both in the number of people shopping and the amount spent — online sales rose 7.8 percent from 2022 to $38 billion. With 2024 upon us, retailers find themselves on the brink of a…

In a truly dynamic market, retailers that leverage disruptive technologies like generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) to embed themselves in their customers’ lives better are more likely to succeed than their peers relying on traditional selling methods. Numerous retailers have displayed remarkable resilience over the past year, cultivating empathy and delivering personalization despite an uncertain…

While debates rage around the pros and cons of artificial intelligence, the technology is slowly being adopted by the online retail sector and generating some positive results. It has the potential to do so much more, though. While many people talk about AI, it’s fair to say that few fully understand its potential or how…

The National Retail Federation forecasted 2023 holiday sales to grow between 3 percent and 4 percent. And while sales growth has slowed due to the pandemic, economic uncertainty, and other factors, retailers must still compete — if not compete even harder — for consumers’ eyeballs and wallets. The smartest retailers will leverage advanced technologies like…

The holiday season and year-end months account for as much as a fifth or more of annual sales for some retailers, with 2023 set to be no exception. Thanksgiving and Black Friday may have passed, but as consumers get ready to enjoy the final days of the holiday season, it’s the perfect opportunity for fraudsters…

At this point, doing one's holiday shopping at the mall feels almost like a nostalgic throwback — not far removed from listening to music on vinyl or taking pictures with a disposable camera. The records for online holiday shopping are broken on what seems like a yearly basis, with last year's $9.12 billion representing the…

2023 may be shaping up as the first holiday shopping season driven by artificial intelligence — for the brands that are positioned and equipped to leverage this technology at scale. For the brands that aren’t, 2023 could end up being the year their customers’ experiences fall short of expectations, which could determine the difference between…