Technology

The Future of Sustainable Manufacturing is a Hybrid Approach
September 6, 2021 at 7:40 pm

If you're in the retail business, one of your worst nightmares is being stuck with boxes and boxes of unsold inventory taking up space in your warehouse. Wasted stock can be a huge cost to your bottom line and pose serious risks to your business. For eco-conscious brands, a lot of unsold inventory is also…

People Sell Products: Why E-Commerce Must Embrace Live Video
September 2, 2021 at 2:05 pm

Retailers accelerated their shift toward e-commerce during the pandemic. But for all the excitement around e-commerce — a category eMarketer projects will grow by 13 percent in the U.S., totaling more than $900 billion in annual sales — the online shopping experience still has plenty of room for improvement, especially when it comes to assisted…

Using Tech to Solve the Truck Driver Shortage
August 24, 2021 at 9:35 pm

Like many industries, retailers are dealing with a shortage of labor at every level, from delivery drivers to store associates. As a result, they must often be prepared to do more with fewer resources, including handling irregular deliveries and replenishment schedules as well as managing available inventory for maximum efficiency and sales. Meanwhile, a new…

Why You Should Be Thinking About Scalable Commerce Now
August 16, 2021 at 9:09 pm

If, like me, you’re of a certain age, you’ll be able to remember the first version of the Apple website. It was all text, had an appalling layout, and was light years from today’s sleek offering. Although that was all of 10 years before the first iPhone appeared so we shouldn’t be too hard on…

How Retailers Can Conquer Disruption With the IoT
August 10, 2021 at 7:55 pm

It's no secret the pandemic completely upended how retailers approach serving their customers, from rethinking omnichannel experiences to working through some major supply chain disruptions. Now, as we begin a return to a level of normalcy, retailers are looking for ways to keep their customers happy and ensure they’re ready to face future hurdles caused…

How PepsiCo Uses Data and Technology to Create Holistic Brand Interactions
August 9, 2021 at 7:24 pm

In episode 310 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Jeff Swearingen, global senior vice president of demand accelerator, venturing and global business services at PepsiCo, an American-based multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation. Swearingen discusses the business and consumer changes PepsiCo has experienced in the last year-and-a-half during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how his…

Defining Retail’s Next Phase: Obstacles and Opportunity for the Cloud
July 28, 2021 at 4:42 pm

The pandemic and subsequent acceleration of digital transformation made the cloud a rallying point for the entire C-suite. When COVID-19 hit, retailers needed to pivot to strategies like online delivery and adjust their supply chains based on constantly changing conditions. Cloud-enabled retailers had the visibility and data to make these changes quicker than analog counterparts.…

The Luxury Pivot: From Tech Laggards to Leaders
July 28, 2021 at 4:26 pm

Luxury fashion brands were once infamously technophobic. Unlike direct-to-consumer (D-to-C) brands born with digital in their DNA, luxury was slow to embrace e-commerce. Iconic names and signature styles were enough to secure a loyal following, and most high-end consumers preferred to shop in stores. But recently — especially during the pandemic-induced e-commerce boom — this…

What Retailers Need to Know About Conversational AI vs. Chatbots
July 27, 2021 at 3:58 pm

Traditional chatbots have become commonplace on e-commerce sites, yet too many are becoming unreliable and are alienating consumers due to their limitations. This is because many retailers rely on what's called "rule-based" chatbots when instead they should be implementing conversational artificial intelligence (AI), two terms often used interchangeably, but which are actually very different. Conversational…

The Value of Location Intelligence in Regional Demand Fulfillment
July 27, 2021 at 3:46 pm

Location intelligence (LI) combines location-based data with business intelligence (BI) to uncover new business opportunities that were previously hidden. Identifying new patterns and establishing critical relationships between trends and demographics create a gold mine of opportunities for chief merchants, supply chain leaders, and strategists who are waiting to explore new avenues. As the demand for…