Today on Total Retail

The digital marketplace is thriving, with consumers increasingly turning to online channels for their shopping needs. However, this shift has brought about a concerning disconnect between online perception and offline reality, leading to a surge in return rates. During the holiday shopping season, it's crucial for retailers to address this issue to improve customer satisfaction…

Retailers are gearing up for 2024, setting their budgets, campaigns and strategies for engaging omnichannel shoppers in the new year. But what happens if a new trend changes the way customers shop in stores or online halfway through the year? Or what if you have the opportunity to engage an audience that wasn’t prioritized in…

Do your company’s supply chain leaders have an influential role in shaping your brand’s decisions? If your organization’s supply chain leaders haven’t gained prominence in the wake of the myriad supply chain disruptions over the past few years, the proliferation of artificial intelligence technologies might be what boosts their visibility among the C-suite and board…

Without question, retailers’ busiest days of the year are during the holiday season. Holiday sales in November and December averaged about 19 percent of total retail sales over the last five years. Nevertheless, the increased traffic can be a double-edged sword, overloading networks and causing outages. At the same time, cybercriminals are more active during the…

Retail behemoth Amazon.com took the top spot in terms of total retail sales on Black Friday this year, according to a report from data insight company Numerator. Walmart came in second, followed by Target, Best Buy, and Costco. Numerator tracks purchase data and surveys verified buyers to understand shifts in consumer behavior. Over Cyber Weekend…

In episode 430 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Trina Spear, CEO and co-founder of FIGS, a direct-to-consumer, modern healthcare apparel and lifestyle brand. Listen in as Spear provides an overview of the FIGS brand (0:40), her inspiration for launching the company (1:40) and why now is the right time to open its…

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is the next big thing for retail. With 92 percent of retailers planning to increase AI investments next year, leading brands like Walmart are already rolling out GenAI assistants to help customers with purchases. The possibilities for GenAI are endless, but they create new risks for data breaches that everyone needs…

With the 2023 holiday season upon us, the predictions for how the season will shape up are a bit of a mixed bag. Adobe predicts online shopping will increase by almost 5 percent between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31. Yet other indicators have signaled a decline in consumer confidence. The reality of the new economy…

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine have had a significant impact on the global economy, disrupting supply chains and altering consumer behavior. And though the repercussions of the war in Israel haven't yet been determined, it's safe to say that amid these challenges e-commerce has emerged as a vital lifeline. Case in…

The fashion industry doesn’t have a good reputation when it comes to sustainability. According to the United Nations Environmental Program, fashion industry processes account for up to 10 percent of global carbon dioxide output, and the industry is accountable for 20 percent of the 300 million tons of plastic produced each year around the globe.…