In episode 316 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Giovanni Monti, senior vice president of healthcare services at Walgreens Boots Alliance, a global leader in retail pharmacy. Listen in as Monti discusses his role and team at the company, how the COVID-19 pandemic increasingly blended healthcare and retail together, and what that dynamic…
Joe Keenan
Attaining customer loyalty is perhaps harder today than it has ever been. Consumers have an abundance of choice, both online and offline, when it comes to the retailers they can choose to spend their hard-earned money with. If a retailer doesn’t meet a customer’s high expectations, no matter the reason, that shopper is unlikely to…
Holiday retail sales are likely to increase between 7 percent and 9 percent in 2021, according to Deloitte’s annual holiday retail forecast. Overall, Deloitte’s retail and distribution practice projects that holiday sales will total $1.28 trillion to $1.3 trillion during the November to January timeframe. Deloitte also forecasts that e-commerce sales will grow by 11 percent…
In episode 315 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Joe Malmuth, vice president of franchise development and relations at Batteries Plus, a leading omnichannel retailer of batteries, specialty light bulbs and phone repair services for the direct-to-consumer and commercial channels. Malmuth discusses the 33-year evolution of the Batteries Plus business, his career journey…
Petco Health and Wellness Co. is expanding its PupBox subscription service to include dogs of all ages, the company announced Wednesday. Petco will now offer a PupBox subscription for puppies ages newborn to six months, puppies from seven months to 18 months old, dogs from 19 months to six years, and senior pups from seven years…
In episode 314 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Jonas Stillman, director of store systems at Office Depot, a leading provider of business services, products and digital workplace technology solutions. Stillman discusses his role at the company, how his responsibilities shifted over the last year-plus of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the changes he's…
After growing its workforce to more than 1.3 million people in 2020, Amazon.com is planning to hire another 55,000 employees globally in the coming months, the company announced earlier this week. This is the first major hiring push since new CEO Andy Jassy took the reins from Jeff Bezos in July. It comes ahead of the company's annual Career…
In episode 313 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Omer Iqbal, global head of digital strategy and enterprise architecture at Shiseido, the third-largest beauty and skincare company in the world. Iqbal discusses the breadth of Shiseido's business, the different sales channels that it uses, and how the retailer is working with Reltio to…
Ikea is piloting a furniture buyback and resale program in the United States as it aims to make the service a permanent fixture at its stores nationwide. The pilot program will be available at its store in the Philadelphia suburb of Conshohocken from Monday through Sept. 19. It will eventually roll out to additional markets. Loyalty…
lululemon athletica is instituting pay hikes for the majority of its employees as part of a push to boost its workforce ahead of the holiday season. Starting Friday, the high-end athletic apparel company will raise its minimum base pay for the majority of its store and Guest Education Centre employees across North America to $15 or…
Walmart said Tuesday it will start farming out its delivery service, using contract workers, autonomous vehicles and other means to transport rival retailers’ products directly to their customers’ homes as fast as just a few hours. The nation’s largest retailer said it will dispatch contract workers from its Spark delivery network, which was launched in…
In episode 312 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Marcelo Podesta, president of National Business Furniture (NBF), a Milwaukee-based commercial furniture retailer. Podesta discusses the various verticals and customers NBF serves, his career journey that brought him to the company, and how the business has adapted to changes in the furniture market due to…
Amazon.com is planning to open large retail locations that resemble department stores, The Wall Street Journal reported. The newspaper, citing people familiar with the plans, reported that some of the first Amazon department stores are expected to be in California and Ohio. The locations will take up roughly 30,000 square feet, around the size of a Kohl’s or T.J.…
In this episode of Total Retail Tech Insights, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Scott Stone, chief strategy officer at Sift, the leader in digital trust and safety, empowering companies of all sizes to unlock revenue without risk. Stone discusses how Sift's recent acquisition of Chargeback will bolster the company's overall offerings, his role at the business,…
In episode 311 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Kelly Cook, chief marketing and IT officer of David's Bridal, the largest American bridal store chain. Cook discusses the genesis of David's Bridal's Diamond Loyalty Program, how the program incentivizes brides and their wedding parties and guests to purchase from the retailer, and the member…
