We didn’t set up the typical booth at this year’s Shoptalk. Instead, we brought an artificial intelligence confessional. On one side was a wall of color‑coded sticky notes tied to familiar retail customer experience pain points. On the other side was a simple prompt that disarmed people as they walked by: “Dear AI, we need…

For decades, social class has been a useful shorthand for understanding consumers. Income, occupation, and geography have been used as proxies for purchasing power, preference, and brand behavior. However, new consumer data suggests this framework is becoming less reliable as a predictor of behavior. Rather than identifying with one fixed social class, many consumers now…

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a challenge by Macy's to a National Labor Relations Board ​(NLRB) decision requiring the retailer to compensate employees who the company fired in a case in which the company sought ‌to roll back the agency's power to order such action. Macy's had appealed a lower court's…

As the United States hosts the World Cup, retailers, manufacturers, and logistics providers are positioning inventory, labor, and fulfillment capacity for what could become one of the most volatile demand cycles in recent years. Unlike traditional retail peaks such as Black Friday or back-to-school, the World Cup creates compressed, synchronized demand that can surge within…

Retail media ad spend in the U.S. is forecast to hit $71.09 billion in 2026, according to EMARKETER. Yet despite the innovation happening in the channel to capitalize on that buzz, one thing that hasn’t evolved is measurement. The worst offender? Add-to-cart rate. On the surface it’s easy to see why it’s popular. When we’re…