Today on Total Retail

Walmart will begin offering new training programs and certifications to fill high-demand roles across its business, such as HVAC technicians, opticians and software engineers, reports CNBC. The big-box retailer said it will also offer hourly store workers a bonus of up to $1,000 per year. Walmart’s new programs give employees more ways to move into…

In today's competitive retail landscape, providing a seamless customer experience is no longer enough. Consumers and businesses increasingly seek flexible and personalized financial solutions at the point of sale (POS). Since 2018, POS lending products have experienced an annual growth rate of 20 percent, and the number of users of these services is expected to…

In a privacy-first world where new technologies are evolving rapidly, the digital marketing industry is experiencing an upheaval due to its historic lack of standardized measurement and attribution. As e-commerce businesses struggle to adapt their approaches to performance reporting, companies that don't prioritize deeper analytics investments will face greater challenges than others. Let's take a…

Go to any retail store and the associates likely have some spooky stories to tell when it comes to returns fraud and abuse. For instance, imagine a box arrives for a returned computer and all that’s inside is a heap of heavy rocks. Unfortunately, fraudsters and organized retail crime (ORC) groups are only getting craftier…

Across the globe, a transformative wave is reshaping the landscape of international commerce. Nations and economic blocs worldwide are instituting a broad array of supply chain due diligence laws aimed at eradicating forced labor and safeguarding human rights. These regulations mark the most concerted global push ever for more ethical supply chains, signaling an era…

Hanesbrands, the apparel company with several brands within its portfolio, announced Wednesday it had agreed to sell its sportswear brand Champion to another retailer, Authentic Brands, for $1.2 billion. Authentic Brands also owns apparel brands such as Aeropostale, Billabong, Brooks Brothers, Forever 21, Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand, Nine West, Sperry, and Volcom. The sale was…

Why is there such an emphasis on buyer personas today? Because buyer-driven websites are two to five times more effective and easier to use by their targeted audience. Studying and understanding buyer personas — research-based profiles depicting a target customer — helped 82 percent of companies connect with their customers and create an improved value…

Although it’s only June, now is the time for retailers to plan ahead for a successful holiday shopping season. Projections indicate that retail sales will exceed $5.23 trillion in 2024, but consumer demand is already outpacing retailer readiness. Proactive retailers must take action now to close the gap or risk leaving profits on the table…

In 2023, 57 percent of B2C martech leaders said they planned to deploy generative artificial intelligence within the next 24 months, according to a Gartner survey. Marketers are under pressure to get GenAI working on behalf of their organization’s bottom line as quickly as possible. However, many consumers remain wary of AI and the companies…

We’ve all experienced awkward, bad or just plain cringe-worthy customer experience situations — both with human and automated interactions. Maybe it’s the interactive voice response (IVR) system that makes you listen to an endless array of options. It could be the chatbot that just doesn’t understand your question and offers completely irrelevant answers. It might…