Technology

After a two-year hiatus, close to 10,000 retail innovators joined forces in Las Vegas last month for Shoptalk. The much-anticipated event focused on the future of retail, highlighting new technologies, trends and business models. Shoptalk offered a variety of engaging speakers, from small startups to the biggest brand names in the industry, along with original…

Since the dawn of retail as a human occupation, it has turned into a complex industry, with millions of players and networks between a manufacturer and an end buyer. So now, years and years after, retailers are amidst a highly saturated competition, diversified landscape of sales channels and store formats, tangled purchase funnel, and sophisticated…

During Shoptalk 2022 in Las Vegas last month, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviewed Katia Walsh, senior vice president, chief global strategy and artificial intelligence officer at Levi Strauss & Co. In this video, Walsh discusses her innovative role at Levi's, the challenges in attracting and retaining top digital talent, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected hiring. She…

The pandemic accelerated e-commerce growth and there’s no going back. Gartner reported that 86 percent of marketing leaders believe digital commerce will be the most important sales channel within the next two years. E-commerce leaders need a clear maturity road map to stay ahead of the competition, add differentiating value for customers, and improve commerce…

Modern retail consumers expect brick-and-mortar stores to provide a level of service and technological sophistication commensurate with their online counterparts. However, delivering this level of service requires significant IT infrastructure to support key functions and business processes. Customer-facing technologies such as integrated point of sale/CRM, frictionless returns and exchanges, and rewards programs have become mainstream;…

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…