Today on Total Retail

The festive season has long been the most competitive retail period, and this year is set to be no different. Competition is fierce and advertisers are most likely looking to take advantage of increased consumer confidence. This, coupled with the overall level of saturation in the digital ecosystem, has meant that consumer attention is at…

Consumers are cautious about holiday spending this year. Inflation and ongoing uncertainty about the economy are influencing consumer spending, even at the busiest retail time of the year. Consumers are shopping earlier, taking the time to research the best deals on the items they want, and looking for ways to stretch their budgets further. Retailers…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Joe Keenan and Kristina Stidham discuss the recently published 2023 Top 100 Omnichannel Retailers report. This seventh annual report, sponsored by Cordial, identifies the companies performing best at delivering frictionless cross-channel shopping experiences based on an evaluation of nine omnichannel services. The nine criteria included buy…

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday behind us, the holiday shopping season has officially kicked off. There's no better time for brands to engage and earn the loyalty of new customers as they seek out the perfect gift. However, brands only get one chance to make a good first impression. According to Salesforce, 80 percent…

Hasbro is laying off about 1,100 employees as the toy maker struggles with soft sales that have carried into the holiday shopping season, according to a company memo obtained by CNBC. Hasbro had about 6,300 employees as of earlier this year, according to a company fact sheet. The company, which already laid off hundreds of employees…

A boom in online shopping or will there be a return to in-store shopping in the lead up to Christmas this year? We all know that more and more buying decisions start online. According to our latest research, that figure sits at a hefty 84 percent. With inflationary pressure continuing to overshadow the public purse,…

It’s fair to wonder whether merchants will soon pull their hands down from happy high-fiving over strong November sales and begin wringing them over the ample discounts they offered inflation-weary consumers during Cyber Five 2023. The long Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday weekend was a selling success, with e-commerce sales up 8 percent over a year…

In spite of economic headwinds, a recent survey revealed that an overwhelming 73 percent of brands anticipate increased holiday sales in 2023. Similarly, 67 percent of consumers report that they plan to spend as much money or more on holiday gifts this year compared to last. However, years of supply chain disruptions and volatile consumer…

2023 may be shaping up as the first holiday shopping season driven by artificial intelligence — for the brands that are positioned and equipped to leverage this technology at scale. For the brands that aren’t, 2023 could end up being the year their customers’ experiences fall short of expectations, which could determine the difference between…

There’s no question that the holidays are a time of joy and celebration. However, for many they can also be a time of stress and anxiety, especially when it comes to personal finances. According to Purchasing Power’s 2023 Consumer Holiday Spending Survey, more than half (56 percent) of lower income U.S. consumers (those earning $75,000…