Digital Innovation

It was early 2020. Retail was confident it had the right marketing strategies, technology and understanding to reach and guide customers, no matter where they were and under any circumstance. Then suddenly everything changed and one of the very few unanticipated scenarios came into being. A pandemic required everyone to hunker down, undermined confidence, raised…

The peak of the holiday shopping season is upon us, and in a year of uncertainty, retail executives have needed to rethink priorities and strengthen their resilience against unknown challenges ahead. According to our Road to Election survey, 35 percent of business leaders said the nation’s pandemic response creates new risks for their organizations. Furthermore,…

2020 has been a year marked by a series of uncertainties. Many companies have seemingly been flying blind the past several months, attempting to weather the fallout from our COVID-19 new normal and pivot their operations in response to our anticipated next normal. Many business leaders are understandably somewhat disoriented by the rapid changes we've…

Holiday season 2020 ... bring it on. More than ever, consumers are longing for the joy the season typically brings, especially since life as we know it amidst the worst (and only) pandemic of our lifetime still looms. When we think of holiday shopping though — the crowds, tight spaces and just the sheer madness…

More than 6,300 U.S. stores are expected to close in 2020 amid a pandemic and ongoing changes to the brick-and-mortar model. Among them are some of the longest-running brands in retail, including Lord & Taylor, Victoria’s Secret, and Brooks Brothers. In order to re-stimulate the sector, retailers are mixing in digital solutions to create memorable…

As e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retailers adapt to a new world characterized by remote work and social distancing, they must cater to virtual audiences while preparing for the return of in-person customers. Fortunately, the techniques used by many leading brands can serve as a blueprint for effectively engaging people — no matter where they are. Before…

Up until the past year or two, most efforts with artificial intelligence (AI) in retail fell under the umbrella of “optimization.” For example, on the advertising side, AI is used to optimize ad placement, content and delivery based on various AI-reviewed inputs. For the online shopping experience, AI-powered tools provide retailers with product recommendations to…

In this special episode of Total Retail Talks, Digital Content Manager Kristina Stidham speaks with Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan about Total Retail’s recently released Top 100 Fastest-Growing Retailers report, a ranking of publicly traded companies based on year-over-year net sales growth. Keenan shares that this annual report identifies the retail brands that are growing sales at…

Seven months on and, for most brands, online sales are still rising while the overall retail landscape is challenged with plenty of uncertainty. Travel restrictions remain in place, lockdowns are lifting and returning, and the need to wear masks in indoor spaces is contributing to a marked decline in physical footfall. This is resulting in…

Seasons greetings! Yes, technically it’s still autumn, but retailers are already getting into the mode of preparing for the holiday shopping season. And amid a year unlike any other, the holiday should feel particularly unique — perhaps, even daunting — as consumers continue to adapt to a largely digital-first world and brands gear up to…