Technology

Artificial intelligence (AI) and related fields — data science, machine learning, predictive analytics — have become mainstream across industries dealing with big data, including retail. One of my favorite ways to explain this influx is a quote (and great article) from Harvard Business Review: “[Data scientists’] sudden appearance on the business scene reflects the fact…

Now that summer is coming to a close, retailers’ thoughts are turning to planning and strategies for the all-important holiday season. The season spans Black Friday to Cyber Monday and through the varied landscape of early shoppers who plan ahead to last-minute shoppers who crowd stores and websites in the last days before Christmas. Retailers…

Today’s retail landscape is undoubtedly competitive. As customers flock to direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-commerce brands (e.g., Warby Parker, Casper, Dollar Shave Club), many traditional brick-and-mortar retailers are struggling to stay afloat. This is evidenced by recent store closures from Dressbarn, Charlotte Russe, Payless ShoeSource, and Gymboree. With Coresight Research predicting that U.S. store closures could reach…

Analysts predict that spending on artificial intelligence (AI) in the retail sector will reach $7.3 billion by 2022, a majority of which will be poured into customer-facing conversational solutions like voice assistants and chatbots. That’s not surprising, given how the power of conversation is poised to fundamentally transform customer experiences across industries. The use of…

The retail industry, like many others, is being disrupted and permanently changed by the ever-increasing capabilities and applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). As I wrote in my last post, we're just beginning to see the benefits of AI and ML implementations in the retail sector, but they've already helped forward-thinking companies…

Retailers are learning about all of the new technologies in the marketplace primarily through self-research. This was a key finding from Total Retail's recently released 2019 Retail Technology Report, which surveyed retail executives on a variety of technology-related topics, including how retailers keep abreast of the new technology solutions and innovations in the market, as well…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most prevalent buzzwords of our time. Everyone expects it to change the world, from driving our cars and making our burgers to policing our citizens – even writing surprisingly believable articles called "How AI Will Change Marketing." And what industry could be better suited to an AI revolution…

Aaron’s, an Atlanta-based retailer of furniture, consumer electronics and appliances that are available for sale or lease to own, is a rapidly growing company with more than 1,600 stores across 47 states and in Canada. However, Aaron's needed to take the necessary steps to improve upon its digital operations in order to be a truly…

In this special episode of Total Retail Talks, Total Retail's Joe Keenan and Kristina Stidham discuss the key findings and insights revealed in Total Retail's 2019 Retail Technology Report, produced in conjunction with Arm Treasure Data, an enterprise customer data platform. The survey was designed to get a better understanding of retailers current usage of…

Interacting with voice assistants is becoming a part of our daily lives. From smartphones and smart TVs to wearables and even microwaves, it’s hard to name a device that hasn’t been — or won’t soon be — enhanced with voice-enabled technology in some capacity. Despite its growth, voice assistant technology is a largely untapped resource.…