Today on Total Retail

rue21, a mainstay of malls across America, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and will close all of its stores. In a filing last week with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of Delaware, rue21 said it will close its roughly 540 stores over the next two months and hold going-out-of-business sales. It will…

In episode 451 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Jon Arnold, executive director of marketing at Bridgestone Retail Operations, a tire and automotive family of brands including Tires Plus and Hibdon Tires Plus. Listen in as Arnold provides an overview of the company (1:00), discusses his career background and role at the organization…

The retail industry has embarked on a transformative shift driven by the rise of generative artificial intelligence. While still in its early stages, this disruptive technology promises to revolutionize how retailers operate, from enhancing data quality and decision making to delivering highly personalized shopping experiences at an unprecedented scale. The recent efforts from Microsoft to…

Retail media will account for nearly 20 percent of global digital media spending this year and likely surpass social media spending by the next decade. With an annual growth rate of at least 21 percent through 2027, retail media is one of the fastest-growing advertising channels in marketing history. Driven by such impressive growth, industries…

The transition to PCI DSS 4.0 is a substantial advancement in payment security standards and reflects a shift towards a more flexible and scalable approach to compliance. It will help organizations accommodate the diverse needs within the payments ecosystem. But perhaps your organization has struggled to find the best ways to meet these new requirements.…

Walmart-owned Sam’s Club says it’s turning to artificial intelligence to speed up its own exit technology. Instead of requiring store staff to check members’ purchases against their receipts when leaving the store, Sam’s Club customers who pay either at a register or through the Scan & Go mobile app can now walk out of the…

With the widespread use of web trackers like TikTok, the Meta pixel, and web monitoring tools capturing session data, protecting customer data and ensuring compliance has never been more crucial. Additionally, rapidly evolving state and federal privacy laws have made web privacy compliance quite complicated. This article explores the top four web privacy challenges facing…

Seeing the remarkable success that live shopping has generated in China, U.S. retailers are eager to build out their own live shopping capacities to entice younger shoppers and deepen customer engagement. Although the live shopping category is expected to grow to $68 billion in the U.S. in just two years, translating the awareness that livestreams…

Self-checkout has become a hot topic in the retail landscape. While it has offered convenience and empowerment to customers, it has also presented opportunities and challenges for store owners. In recent weeks, retailers have started to make decisions about the future of self-checkout in their stores. Dollar General and Kroger have removed self-checkout from some…

Last month, Target made headlines when it launched its Target Circle 360 membership program, a paid extension of its existing Target Circle Rewards program. While media coverage notes that the recurring revenue generated by a subscription program could help mitigate Target’s recent trend of declining sales, it’s also a real-time case study for how retail…