Neighborhood Intelligence Inc., the new corporate identity for Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., is walking away from an acquisition it had announced in early April, reports Home Textiles Today. The now-defunct deal to purchase the assets of F9 Brands Inc. was originally intended to to build out BB&B Inc.’s home services platform, Beyond Home Services.…

Back-to-school shopping is becoming a longer, more deliberate, and more cross-channel process. The National Retail Federation found that 78 percent of shoppers are expecting higher prices on back-to-school items this season. And with 46 percent saying they’re waiting for the best deals to finish their shopping, consumers are taking more time to research, compare, and…

The retail industry has spent years building the shopping journey around one kind of customer: a person who searches, reads reviews, and puts something in a cart. Before long, that person may send an artificial intelligence agent instead. Imagine telling an AI assistant, "I need everything for a backyard barbecue this weekend. Stay within my…

A shopper looking for a Christmas gift for a coworker is making a very different decision from someone decorating a small apartment or searching for an easy craft to make with children. Yet retailers often ask all three shoppers to navigate product information built around the same basic fields: category, brand, price, color and specifications.…

Until recently, product labels have told only a fraction of a product's story. A country of origin, a few care instructions, and perhaps a sustainability logo. However, regulators, consumers, and business partners now expect far more information on packaging, such as: Where raw materials were sourced. How products were manufactured. What environmental impact they created.…