According to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) latest research, shoplifting incidents fell 12.4 percent last year, an improvement NRF credits to investment in technology and training. The same research finds violence hasn't followed it down. lululemon’s CEO has publicly said staff are trained to step back and let theft occur; Circle K’s policy bars verbal…

For many retail operations teams, Black Friday week is still the operational summit of the year: peak staffing, peak inventory positioning, peak everything. InMarket’s 2026 Holiday Shopping InSights report, drawn from InMarket’s commerce and visitation data alongside a survey fielded with Kantar, suggests that assumption is wrong for most of the industry, and the operational…

U.S. online sales are forecasted to grow 6.7 percent this holiday season, nearly the same ​pace as last year, as promotions attract ‌deal-seeking shoppers, Adobe Analytics reported on Monday. Higher household costs are making shoppers more selective and value-seeking. ​Retailers, including Walmart, Kohl's, and American Eagle Outfitters, have raised concerns ​on consumers' spending capacity ahead…

Every brand has a peak season story it doesn't tell publicly. The viral SKU that kept selling for six hours after inventory hit zero. The returns that sat received-but-unrecorded through the first week of January while refund tickets stacked up behind them. Nothing broke, exactly. Every system did its job. They just didn't tell each…

Retailers engaged in online commerce with third-party sellers are generally well equipped to catch clear violations, such as a prohibited product, a known bad actor, or an obvious policy breach. Technology can typically catch these violations, often before a seller even begins transacting on a platform. The problem, however, is that bad actors are becoming…