Today on Total Retail

Father’s Day spending is expected to reach $22.4 billion this year, according to an annual survey released today by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics. This is the second highest figure in the survey’s history and on par with last year’s record of $22.9 billion. Half of consumers plan to purchase…

In episode 454 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Allison Ferguson, head of customer loyalty at Honda, a manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and battery-powered equipment. Listen in as Ferguson discusses her role at Honda (0:50), what she enjoys about working in loyalty at the company (1:35), how Honda is engaging with its customers…

If you have a subscription-based business, a concept that may seem counterintuitive at first glance is strategic churn. Losing hard-won customers is something that we try to avoid at all costs. Yet, for many savvy subscription leaders, strategic churn, or the intentional loss of poor-fit subscribers who drag down overall customer satisfaction, gross margins, and…

Retailers worldwide are achieving significant growth in sales and profitability by employing omnichannel consumer engagement strategies across online, mobile and social platforms. This approach enables hyperpersonalization, accurate demand forecasting, and efficient inventory management. These benefits extend to dynamic bundling and pricing management, global supplier management, programmatic procurement, and cost-effective last mile logistics. These strategies are…

Getting caught up in cookie chaos isn’t doing retail brands any good. Marketers distracted by the directional shifts of deprecation progress — including Google’s latest delay — are once again forgetting what this change is about. Data signal loss is arguably a problem that the marketing space brought on itself. Created to help early web…

Foot Locker saw comparable sales decline 1.8 percent during its fiscal first quarter, far better than the 3.1 percent drop-off that analysts expected, according to StreetAccount. The sneaker retailer also reaffirmed its fiscal year guidance, which projects sales to be between a 1 percent decline and a 1 percent gain, compared with a decline of…

In this video, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Jennifer Slegers, director of CRM at Carhartt, a heritage American brand known for the highest quality workwear, outdoor apparel, and gear. Slegers discusses Carhartt's brand growth, its work with Bluecore to better understand its customers, and customer retention challenges and how those issues were impacting the business. She…

Short codes have been around for a long time because they continue to be a trusted, convenient and effective way for consumers to interact with businesses. Retailers provide a five- or six-digit short code in their advertising, and all consumers must do is send a text message to that number to opt in for alerts…

As consumer viewership continues to shift towards streaming, it’s clear the future of TV is digital. This digital future brings with it the critical need for retail marketers to make the most of their connected TV (CTV) advertising investments to drive conversions. With the growth of streaming viewership, we’ve seen impressive investment from the sector.…

The postal price increases for marketing mail are driving down volume and, more importantly for the USPS, driving down profits. The postal price increases need to be rolled back. Basic economic principles apply to the pricing decisions for catalogs and direct mail: Catalogs (and direct mail) are very sensitive to the cost of mailing. More…