Technology

With the retail apocalypse showing no signs of slowing down, brands hoping to survive need to harness intelligent technologies to ensure they thrive. Retailers must look at ways to integrate innovative solutions and accept that infusing artificial intelligence (AI) through a chatbot on your website, while important, is no longer enough. Instead, retailers should use…

Like most retailers, the 2020 pandemic nudged us at Cotopaxi to reassess every system and process we had in place. Our business has been growing steadily, and with the downturn of the economy looming, we wanted to take control of the areas we could streamline and improve. Payments were at the top of our list…

As early as April 2020, Forrester had predicted global retail sales to record a $2.1 trillion loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We've seen the retail industry go through a fundamental shift, with an average decline of 9.6 percent globally in 2020. With supply chains throttled and consumers asked to stay indoors, the world witnessed a sharp…

Nordstrom announced it will debut its own Livestream Shopping channel as part of a broader strategy to dive into e-commerce livestreaming, CNBC reported. E-commerce livestreaming is already very popular in Asia, and brands are trying to replicate that trend here. Shoppable livestreams, similar to QVC, have been slower to take off in the U.S. According to…

The spread of the pandemic has dramatically changed the way shoppers purchase goods. While there was already an increase in online shopping prior to the pandemic, that has jumped to record numbers amid shutdowns. Customers have grown accustomed to the convenience of receiving their products straight to their door. An Oracle survey reported that not…

COVID-19 has flipped the retail sector upside down. Grocery stores and pharmacies are more critical than ever, but many other “nonessential” retailers are in a trickier position. They either have to lean into e-commerce or dramatically alter their brick-and-mortar stores to support social distancing and contactless shopping through curbside pickup; buy online, pick up in-store…

RC Willey Home Furnishings is a Furniture Today Top 100 retailer owned by Berkshire Hathaway and based in Salt Lake City. Offering exceptional selection, value, and service for over 80 years, it currently operates 13 stores and three distribution centers in Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and California. Unlike many home furnishings retailers, RC Willey sells appliances,…

The retail industry has been rocked by the worldwide market disruption created by COVID-19. Despite the unprecedented challenges retailers are facing, consumers are still heavily shopping. In fact, Cyber Monday 2020 saw the highest spending for the holiday to date. According to Adobe Analytics, Cyber Monday wrapped up 2020 with $10.8 billion in sales, representing…

The challenges retailers are facing in 2021 aren't simply regional anomalies. From the economic instability and demand volatility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to sustainability concerns from rising levels of waste, these obstacles exist on a global scale and will only continue to evolve in the years to come. Finding the right answers requires an…

COVID-19 has shone a light on a common issue many retailers face: disjointed communications, particularly from company headquarters to brick-and-mortar store teams. With the safety of employees and customers depending on stores receiving timely information (e.g., safety policies and protocols) and taking immediate action, communication has become even more critical. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic…