Every golden quarter, retailers place the same high-stakes bet. How much gifting stock is enough? Gift packs sit at the sharpest edge of this trade-off. If you underforecast, you’ll watch peak season revenue walk out the door; if you overforecast, January becomes a season of clearance rails, heavy discounting and eroded margin. However, optimal forecasting…

For a long time, retail media barely registered as marketing. Budgets often sat with trade or sales teams rather than the marketing department. It's grown into something closer to a hundred channels, heading in a direction that makes reporting harder. And it now lands squarely on the marketing team's plate. U.S. retail media ad spending…

Today’s tariff volatility, geopolitical turmoil, and supply chain disruptions are exacerbating margin stress for retailers. As sellers contend with rising costs across procurement, warehouse operations, and distribution, they’re flocking to new marketplaces and sales channels to drive top- and bottom- line growth. Many retailers are turning to social selling platforms like TikTok Shop, Meta Shops…

Fanatics has partnered with OpenAI to introduce an artificial intelligence-powered shopping feature designed to make it easier for sports fans to discover and purchase merchandise across its online stores. The new “Shop the Look” tool, developed using OpenAI’s Codex, recommends coordinated outfits and accessories based on shoppers’ favorite teams, product preferences and available inventory. The…

Merchandise has always been one of the most direct links between artists, sports teams and fans. A tour shirt, a limited-edition jersey drop, a collectible tied to a release — these objects hold the residue of a moment and give it physical form. For artists, merch has been one of the few consistent ways to…