Marketing

Retail has spent the past two years asking the same question: Which AI model should we use? It's an understandable place to start. New foundation models continue to arrive, each promising faster insights, better recommendations, and more efficient operations. Yet many retailers are discovering that deploying AI is much easier than generating consistent business value…

Online shopping behavior in 2026 is being reshaped in real time. Consumers are experiencing a fragmented, AI-driven landscape where discovery happens everywhere: from social feeds and creator content to large language models (LLMs) that surface recommendations in a single response. In fact, more than 70 percent of consumers want generative AI integrated into their shopping…

Retail sales rose again in July, marking the 10th consecutive month of gains, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, powered by Affinity Solutions, and released today by the National Retail Federation (NRF). “Retail sales maintained their steady upward momentum in July as consumers kept shopping despite ups and downs in other economic indicators,” NRF President and…

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is changing the company name to Neighborhood Intelligence, relocating its corporate headquarters to Nashville, and moving the stock listing from NYSE to Nasdaq. These moves are all part of CEO Marcus Lemonis' vision of an “everything home” ecosystem built around three interconnected pillars — omnichannel retail, home services and home…

Retailers spent the last decade optimizing a familiar e-commerce path: homepage to category page to product detail page (PDP). Brand story first. Product decision last. That sequence is getting compressed. Artificial intelligence-driven discovery is increasingly delivering shoppers directly to PDPs, often from a single prompt like “best white sneakers for wide feet” or “what jeans…

Personalization isn’t coming back. It’s being reinterpreted by a new generation. We’re now seeing fun, custom pieces that mean monograms are a must-have. As back-to-school shopping enters crunch time, we’re seeing a surge across the board. From elementary school backpacks to college dorm rooms, customization is the essential finishing touch, and retailers that treat it…

The most significant shift in the history of performance marketing is happening right now, and most of the industry is responding by doing more of the same. Artificial intelligence isn't just changing how ads get delivered. It's changing the nature of the buyer journey itself. Answer engines are replacing search, agentic shopping tools are beginning…

More than 10 years after Amazon.com launched Prime Day, tentpole deal days from Walmart, Target, Best Buy and others have become major events akin to the holiday months. And while not on the level of the holiday shopping period that runs November through December — when retailers earn upwards of 30 percent of their revenue…

In this episode of Total Retail Tech Insights, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Eugene Yukin, vice president of products at MessageGears, the data activation and engagement platform that helps enterprises harness their data by streamlining the tech stack. Listen in as Yukin discusses his career experience in retail and product (1:10), the MessageGears platform (2:30), and…

Many convenience store operators walk into a strategy session with a promo calendar and call it a loyalty plan. A coffee BOGO this week. Two-for-one taquitos the next. A "we miss you" blast to anyone who hasn't scanned in a while. I've seen it a hundred times. That's not loyalty. That's a coupon schedule with…