Digital Innovation

For years e-commerce sites enjoyed an “unfair advantage” over their brick-and-mortar competition. The combination of click tracking, behavioral analytics, and customer journey planning provided a wealth of data that was simply unavailable in a physical retail environment. Loyalty programs, where customers scanned a plastic card at checkout, provided stores with shopper purchasing habits, but only…

In episode 368 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Brendan Lokes, brand media manager at Carhartt, a manufacturer of premium clothing and workwear known for exceptional durability, comfort, quality and fit. Lokes discusses why Carhartt has formed a partnership with Snapchat and Bitmoji (0:48), how the brand listened to customer demand for Carhartt…

A looming recession. Supply chain struggles. Household budgets under pressure. For retailers, it's shaping up to be a challenging holiday season. As stores begin to execute their all-important fourth-quarter plans, they’re having to adjust, anticipating logistical hiccups and changing shopper behaviors. Amazon.com is even rumored to be planning a second Prime Day holiday, partially to…

The pandemic was an extraordinary time for the retail community and, in 2022, retail marketers are still adjusting to the post-pandemic marketplace and the major, lasting shifts in consumer behavior. For example, with brick-and-mortar outlets forced to close during lockdown, the popularity of online shopping rose significantly during the pandemic. Another trend that has outlasted…

The pandemic pulled forward a decade’s worth of digital innovation into a single year. As a result, retailers and brands scrambled to shift their customer experiences online and set up new capabilities to reflect a multichannel approach to sales that seeks to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience — online from a desktop or…

Starbucks will unveil its web3 initiative, which includes coffee-themed NFTs, at next month’s Investor Day event. The company earlier this year announced plans to enter the web3 space, noting its NFTs wouldn’t just serve as digital collectibles, but would provide their owners with access to exclusive content and other perks. At the time, Starbucks provided little…

Ulta Beauty has become the latest retailer to launch a venture capital arm after announcing a new digital innovation fund Wednesday. The fund, called Prisma Ventures, earmarks $20 million for digital innovation in beauty, according to a company press release. The fund will invest in emerging technology startups that "seek to shape future online and in-store…

The past few years have been challenging for retail brands, which are adapting to external market forces like the pandemic and evolving in response to shifting customer expectations. It’s also an exciting time, and many brand marketers are experimenting with new ways to meet people where they are — increasingly in the metaverse and other…

Like many sectors, luxury retail has weathered more than a few challenges, crises and storms over the last few years — illustrated by the 23 percent drop in sales (or around $228 billion) in 2020 worldwide. These challenges have put considerable pressure on brands to keep pace with changing market trends and customer behaviors. For decades,…

The global pandemic sparked an evolution in the retail landscape that doesn't show signs of stopping. Namely, there have been two obvious shifts among consumers: increased omnichannel shopping habits and decreased brand loyalty. Customers aren’t hesitating to find another retailer that gives them the shopping experience they desire, whether in-store or online. To keep up…