Today on Total Retail

Using AI to Predict the Unpredictable
January 17, 2020 at 8:49 am

Today’s merchandise management teams simply cannot keep up with the demands of modern retail. Too many stores (both digital and physical), store plans and products — each with unique characteristics — leave no room to make quick adjustments as shoppers’ tastes continue to rapidly change. With a plethora of information, opportunities and competitors in the…

Amazon Lifts Ban on FedEx Ground Delivery for its Third-Party Sellers
January 16, 2020 at 12:38 pm

Amazon.com has lifted its ban on FedEx Ground delivery for its third-party sellers, resuming service on Tuesday, reports CNBC. The e-commerce giant temporarily suspended FedEx's Ground delivery for Prime shipments last month, citing poor delivery performance, which caught many of its sellers off guard during the busy holiday season. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that…

Northgate Market Adds Tech to the Grocery Shopping Experience
January 16, 2020 at 11:41 am

As the grocery market becomes more digital and customer expectations rise, grocers like Northgate Market need to implement new technology to stay competitive. In this interview conducted at the 2020 National Retail Federation Big Show in New York City this week, Total Retail's Joe Keenan speaks with Harrison Lewis, chief information and privacy officer at Northgate Market,…

3 Retail Technology Trends to Watch in 2020
January 16, 2020 at 9:51 am

The dust has settled following the “retail apocalypse” of 2018, and the numbers reveal that retail’s radical transformation is more nuanced than we once thought. While headlines in early 2019 spelled the end of retail, data from IHL Group shows otherwise. In 2019, retailers announced 2,965 more store openings than closings. Certain retailers led the…

How Retailers Can Reach Overwhelmed Consumers in 2020
January 16, 2020 at 9:41 am

The retail industry has witnessed a seismic shift as of late, with the emergence of direct-to-consumer (D-to-C) brands, an increasingly saturated market with a flood of new options in every vertical, and the ever-lingering dominance of Amazon.com and other e-commerce giants. Therefore, it’s no surprise that brands have had to drastically shift their strategies to…

Why Product Information Management is Fundamental to Omnichannel Success
January 16, 2020 at 9:14 am

B-to-B organizations aren't immune to the omnichannel trends impacting the B-to-C space. A recent inRiver survey found that 80 percent of B-to-B organizations are facing more competition than five years ago, requiring companies to transform and deliver experiences that stand out from the crowd. However, something is hindering businesses from achieving this. The amount of…

What Retailers Get Wrong About Millennials
January 15, 2020 at 9:36 am

The notion that millennials are harbingers of the retail apocalypse is, in fact, a myth. New data from Accenture quashes this misconception, having found 82 percent of millennials prefer shopping in brick-and-mortar stores. The fact that millennials haven’t simply abandoned brick-and-mortar retail in favor of online shopping is a testament to the power of a smart, unified…

TechStyle Fashion Group Wins Repeat Customers Through Membership
January 15, 2020 at 1:00 pm

Laura Joukovski, president, global fashion brands at TechStyle Fashion Group, parent company of Fabletics, Savage X Fenty, JustFab, ShoeDazzle, and FabKids, detailed the company's approach to customer retention during an interview with Total Retail's Joe Keenan this week at the 2020 National Retail Federation Big Show. Joukovski discussed how TechStyle is working to evolve and stay…

CVS Plans to Open 600 HealthHUB Stores in 2020
January 15, 2020 at 12:47 pm

CVS Health is on track to meet its goal of rehabbing more than 1,000 of its stores, CNBC reported. At the end of 2018, CVS launched three of its HealthHUB concept stores in the Houston region, before expanding the program to 50 locations in four markets by the end of 2019. Hundreds more are scheduled to be…

Getting New Technologies Right Will Make or Break Retailers in 2020
January 15, 2020 at 10:57 am

More than 8,200 retail stores closed in 2019.  Well-known brands like Forever 21, Radio Shack, and Barneys New York declared bankruptcy as consumers continued to move away from physical stores in favor of online shopping or more specialized experiences. Whether they’re looking at a product in person or on their mobile device, consumers now expect…