Tom Buiocchi

Merchandise facility managers are having a hard time catching a break this year, dealing with labor shortages and a dearth of shipping containers and air freight capacity. All of that has caused major inventory backlogs for brick-and-mortar retailers. These ripple effects, of course, stem from the pandemic, which temporarily shut down factories and other production…

Sixty-eight retailers have filed for bankruptcy since 2015. Analysts say up to 12,000 stores could close in 2019. Alarmists are calling it the "retail apocalypse." However, at the same time, there’s a modern retail renaissance happening. Incumbents like Dollar Tree, T.J.Maxx, lululemon, Madewell, and Ulta are opening more stores. Digital brands like Away and Casper…

Technology is having a profound effect on the retail industry. Technologies such as the web, cloud, mobile devices and artificial intelligence (AI) are accelerating the evolution and transformation of this long-standing, multitrillion dollar industry. One obvious example is that consumers today have far more options for shopping than ever before, including from the comfort of…

The last few years have seen retail move through some dramatic and unexpected changes, and the fun is far from over. The transforming retail landscape is largely a result of disruptive and unprecedented business decisions (like Amazon acquiring Whole Foods, Walmart acquiring Jet.com), along with maturing technology (Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, etc.). The one…