The economic impact of the Iran war has hit American consumers in a highly visible way as gas inflation is creating a new spending crisis for retail and apparel brands. New consumer spending data from SoLo NowCAST, an artificial intelligence-powered market prediction engine, shows that between February 2026 and April 2026, apparel’s share of general merchandise…

Merriam-Webster has announced “slop” as its word of the year. The organization defined slop as “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.” We’ve all seen slop these days. If you were on social media recently, the odds are good that you’ve seen it today before reading…

One of the biggest misconceptions in fraud prevention is that it’s a purely technical challenge. The most effective fraud fighters rely on more than better tooling. They start with a different mindset: thinking like a fraudster. In today’s era of artificial intelligence-powered attacks, that shift from reactive defense to proactive offense is no longer optional.…

Macy's posted its strongest fiscal first-quarter comparable sales performance in four years on Wednesday, as the legacy department store’s turnaround continues to show progress. Led by the 200 so-called reimagined stores Macy’s has upgraded, comparable sales grew 3 percent overall during the quarter and 1.6 percent at its namesake banner. At Bloomingdale’s, comparable sales grew…

Most retailers still think of RFID as a counting tool. The ones gaining ground have figured out it's something else entirely. I've spent the better part of two decades working in retail technology — including in IT at lululemon, at Avery Dennison, and as a vice president of supply chain at PVH — and the…