Technology

As most people who have worked in the retail industry over the pandemic know, consumer demands for the best possible online experiences are at an all-time high. Consumers are not tolerating hiccups in performance. With potential loss of revenue and consumer trust on the line, potential outages and downtime aren't something retailers can afford. For…

In episode 344 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Scott Saeger, senior vice president, chief information officer and chief technology officer at GNC, a trusted leader in clinically studied dietary supplements for weight loss, strength and performance. Saeger discusses GNC's recent launch of Amazon Alexa voice ordering capabilities, including how consumers can utilize…

Young brands led by tech-savvy, marketing-aware entrepreneurs are snapping at the heels of established, more traditionally led brands, and their growth illustrates the success of their model. Emerging as “blands,” these B-to-C businesses are disrupting the e-commerce market by focusing on a holistic and true multichannel experience for customers. What are blands? In a recent…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Joe Keenan and Marie Albiges report live from the Women in Retail Pavilion at Shoptalk 2022, which was held this week in Las Vegas. They share their experiences at the industry trade show, including a few of the main themes that emerged during the event, including…

CPGS Walk a Fine Line of Profitability and Loss When it comes to profitability, CPGs don’t have much wiggle room to begin with, let alone small and midsized CPGs looking to establish and maintain shelf space in a hypercompetitive retail environment. And deductions management plays a big role in protecting profitability. Validating deductions and managing…

While retailers have been grappling with reverse logistics challenges for years, the current global supply chain disruption and ensuing logistics chaos are shining a spotlight on the issue. The pandemic shifted consumer spending away from service-based expenditures (e.g., restaurants, travel) and towards the purchase of goods. As a result, the e-commerce market skyrocketed — and…

We live in an increasingly digital world, where technology helps us complete tasks of all kinds throughout the day. With this in mind, it would be easy to think that the procedure of scanning and processing coupons in grocery stores, restaurants, department stores and other retail outlets would be one that's streamlined with technology. Surprisingly,…

Walmart and its big-box warehouse subsidiary Sam’s Club are suing rival retailer BJ’s Wholesale Club, accusing BJ's of stealing technology that powers a popular self-checkout option in the Sam’s Club mobile app. The lawsuit, filed in federal court this week, claims Walmart worked for years to develop Scan & Go, a feature that lets Sam’s Club…

Prior to 2020, the gradual shift from brick-and-mortar to e-commerce shopping had already begun. The pandemic, however, accelerated this shift as more consumers elected to shop online. The U.S. e-commerce forecast had online sales growing by double digits — 17.9 percent year-over-year — in 2021. Online sales were forecast to reach $933.30 billion last year, accounting for…

The interactive voice response (IVR) system has been with us for the better part of a century, with its origins dating back to the 1930s. Today’s IVRs do more than let consumers complete a range of routine tasks like checking product availability or store hours. Where brands have embraced conversational artificial intelligence (AI), they’ve found…