Customer Acquisition

Several major retailers have signaled that they're using Amazon Prime Day 2020, which runs today and tomorrow, as the starting point to begin their holiday sales — even though they're not mentioning Amazon.com directly. On Monday, for example, J.C. Penney launched an event that runs through Wednesday that allows "shoppers to get a jump start on…

In the early moments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of brands elevated nearly immediately. Some retail stores were deemed essential, and their employees became frontline workers seemingly overnight. Trusted brands also quickly moved to the forefront of the COVID-19 conversation. People, businesses and brands were given the opportunity to improve the greater good, or…

Everyone is feeling the impact of COVID-19 on brick-and-mortar retail — from small businesses to goliaths like Neiman Marcus and J.C. Penney. Although storefronts are closing, this traditional channel is pivoting as brands look to do more with less by enhancing the retail experience across fewer, more targeted locations. Despite the news, consumers value brick-and-mortar…

Walmart today announced the launch of Free Assembly, a private label men’s and women’s clothing brand. The brand will debut this week online and in 250 stores, hoping to appeal to shoppers who want style and value. Free Assembly was built with an in-house fashion design team, "with decades of experience designing for modern American brands…

We’ll address how, through proper communication and training, Sephora was able to set its employees up for success while reopening.

As states across the U.S. are relaxing stay-at-home orders, and with restrictions on everyday activities easing, Americans seem to be finally settling into a new routine. The burning question now is: How must retailers adjust to the new normal to best serve the post-pandemic consumer? According to the most recent EY Future Consumer Index, a…

Consumer behavior tends to change very slowly, but when it does eventually change, the shift can be quite rapid. After several "false dawns" around mobile shopping, the data now shows we're entering a new era. While concerns around the coronavirus have increased the adoption of contactless shopping methods, marketers have also played their part by…

Businesses are opening back up, but things are far from business as usual. Facing new customer concerns around health and safety, retailers have had to reimagine their operations. And while the crisis has spawned a bevy of new and innovative solutions to overcome unprecedented challenges, it’s become clear that the needs and expectations of consumers…

In part one of this article, I examined the challenges that the retail sector has faced since the beginning of the pandemic, and its inability to rely on traditional historic consumer data when it comes to meeting consumer needs. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, however, could be the key to providing retailers with the…

At the start of 2020, the biggest challenges for the retail industry were issues such as market saturation, finding new ways for old and aging brands to stay relevant, and the impact of new technologies and innovations. No one anticipated the greatest challenge of 2020 — and beyond — would be a pandemic that shut…