In this episode of Total Retail Tech Insights, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Sarah Kositzke, global insights director at Blackhawk Network (BHN), the world’s largest network of gift cards and branded payment solutions. Listen in as Kositzke provides an overview of BHN and her role (1:15), current gift card market trends (3:10), and the recently released…

Spencer Spirit Holdings, the parent company of Spirit Halloween and Spencer’s, has agreed to acquire Hot Topic and its portfolio of brands from private equity firm Sycamore Partners, Yahoo Finance reports. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, although Bloomberg reported that the deal is valued at approximately $350 million. The acquisition brings Hot Topic, BoxLunch and Her…

E-commerce sales reached record levels this summer. Prime Day sales exceeded $26 billion in consumer spending, a 9 percent jump over last year, nearly matching the $32 billion shoppers spent during Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) in 2025. This points to a holiday shopping season that will be the biggest on record. For operations…

The infrastructure marketers have relied on for neutral campaign measurement and data collaboration is undergoing a quiet transformation. Over the past 18 months, some of the industry’s most prominent data collaboration platforms have been absorbed into larger organizations with direct interests in advertising, media execution, identity, or data monetization. Publicis recently acquired LiveRamp. WPP acquired…

For the past two years, AI has rapidly reshaped how consumers discover and evaluate products. Instead of solely relying on traditional search engines, shoppers are turning to AI assistants and large language models (LLM’s) to research purchases, compare options, and receive recommendations. Now, AI's influence is extending into the transaction itself. Recent announcements from major…