Today on Total Retail

For years, the retail delivery game was a race. Whoever could slap a “next-day” badge on the checkout screen won. Back in 2018, for example, Rent the Runway ran the social lives of countless New York women. Friday nights hinged on outfits that arrived just in time, and networking coffees and panel appearances often featured…

After years of rapid developments in artificial intelligence technology and customer experience, we’re entering an era when companies can finally redesign their digital interactions to be truly intuitive and transparent. Based on a recent report with observational data from design teams around the world, the most innovative brands will use natural language and zero user…

Retailers are spending more than ever to win repeat customers, but many are losing ground. As consumer expectations evolve, traditional loyalty strategies are falling short. Every year, the data gets more grim: 61 percent of consumers say they’re less loyal to brands than they were just a year ago; 77 percent of Gen Z shoppers…

Retail stores and grocers are cutting prices and offering a bigger assortment of low-cost products to attract shoppers who are pulling back on spending in the face of an uncertain economy. Aldi, widely known as a budget-friendly grocery chain, announced last week that it's cutting prices on more than 400 products, equating to nearly 25…

In episode 483 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Chandhu Nair, senior vice president of data, artificial intelligence and innovation at Lowe's. Listen in as Nair provides an overview of the home improvement retailer's new Mylow AI assistant (1:35), how it fits into its business model (3:20), and how shoppers as well as…

Just months ago, the National Retail Federation (NRF) unveiled a study in which retailers reported a 93 percent increase in shoplifting incidents in 2023 compared to 2019. Over the same period, these companies saw a 90 percent increase in dollar loss due to shoplifting. In between, during those COVID-19 years, we’d see stores let shoplifters…

The retail landscape is undergoing a rapid transformation driven by evolving customer expectations and technological advancements. According to a recent KPMG report, a significant majority of financial institutions (93 percent) and retailers (87 percent) are actively modernizing their payment infrastructure or planning to do so within the next six months. This requires significant investments to…

The plethora of brand loyalty programs have led to an engagement challenge for marketers as many customers don’t stay as active members for long after sign-up. Gartner's 2024 Consumer Omnibus Survey found that 79 percent of consumers did not actively use all of the loyalty programs they joined. In today's competitive market, brand partnerships have…

Peloton has launched an online marketplace for buying and selling used bikes, treadmills, and brand accessories, multiple news outlets reported this week. Dubbed Peloton Repowered, the marketplace — available in New York City; Washington, D.C.; and Boston — gives discounts on the used equipment activation fee to buyers, and discounts on Peloton equipment purchases to…

In this episode of Total Retail Tech Insights, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Rony Vexelman, vice president of marketing at Optimove, the global leader in Positionless Marketing. Listen in as Vexelman provides an overview of the Optimove business (1:05) and discusses the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in retail marketing (2:42), as revealed in the…