Technology

The 2020 holiday shopping season challenged retailers more than any previous peak season. As safety-conscious consumers cautiously flocked to previously less utilized methods that included online shopping; buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS); curbside pickup; home delivery; and more for their seasonal gift-giving needs, retailers had to adapt quickly and scale these capabilities to meet…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Marie Albiges and Kristina Stidham discuss an article recently published by Total Retail titled, “The Retail Reverse Logistics Reckoning: Brands Cast Eyes to Returns Amid the E-Commerce Swell,” authored by Jeff Cashman, chief operating officer at GreyOrange. While retailers' supply chains were primarily focused on getting goods…

In an e-commerce world obsessed with finding a magic cure for creating the perfect customer experience (CX), headless commerce is the hot new elixir. Retailers have heard time and again how a headless website architecture improves speed and performance by decoupling the front-end and back-end of their core systems. It sounds so enticing that some…

There’s a common misconception that technology in general and artificial intelligence (AI) in particular will disrupt retail customer service the same way it disrupted manufacturing. Fear not. Technology is certainly contributing to contact center evolution, but uniquely human traits like empathy and situational dexterity are so central to the customer experience that robots will never…

The pandemic’s impact on consumer shopping habits, specifically the exponential growth in e-commerce, pushed retailers and distribution centers (DCs) to previously unimaginable limits. DC and retail operations were tasked with developing and implementing safety protocols while keeping up with elevated order volumes and increased consumer demand for fast deliveries. At the end of the day,…

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…

Gap Inc. announced earlier this week that it's acquiring the New York- and Tel Aviv-based startup Context-Based 4 Casting (CB4), which uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to identify patterns in retail data and identify ways to improve in-store sales. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. CB4's software examines point-of-sale (POS) data to uncover consumer demand…

Congratulations, you're starting an e-commerce business! Perhaps you’ve decided to set up your own storefront vs. selling through a big marketplace like Amazon.com or Walmart. Or you’re looking to build your own to complement a presence on those channels. Either way, having your own site is a solid move. It lets you own the customer…

In e-commerce, many different technologies need to work together seamlessly for online merchants to deliver an exceptional customer experience. As the backbone of every online retail operation, e-commerce platforms typically rely on an ecosystem of business and technology partners to deliver the features and services that help merchants build, manage and grow their storefronts. These…

In an already digitally expanding marketplace, the last year-and-a-half kicked the transformation into overdrive. The ability to adapt or launch at lightning speed has become the charge for established companies and startups alike. As marketing budgets continue to recover from the 2020 fallout, the ability to measure consumer engagement quickly and respond to it effectively…