Omnichannel

Picture a shopper scrolling a boutique’s Instagram feed, tapping through to a cropped denim jacket, and dropping it into a digital cart. An hour later, on a whim, she walks into the store to try it on. The associate can’t find it. Not because it sold out, but because the register and the website’s inventory…

Every retailer I talk to has an artificial intelligence story. There's a new tool on the store floor, an AI marketing pilot, or a vendor pitching a solution for merchandising, pricing, or customer service. I think the industry is asking the wrong question. The question is not whether a retailer uses AI. Nearly every retailer…

E-commerce sales reached record levels this summer. Prime Day sales exceeded $26 billion in consumer spending, a 9 percent jump over last year, nearly matching the $32 billion shoppers spent during Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) in 2025. This points to a holiday shopping season that will be the biggest on record. For operations…

When we think of back-to-school, we often picture backpacks, water bottles, pencils and notebooks. The reality is this season reaches into nearly every corner of the retail industry. Grocery stores are stocking lunchbox staples and classroom snacks. Apparel retailers are promoting school uniforms or showcasing the latest fall fashion staples. And while marketing campaigns are…

The big summer sale season kicked off with a bang this year, with Amazon electing to move its annual summer promotion from July to June. This tactical shift meant that Amazon Prime Day, Walmart Deals, and Target Circle Deal Days overlapped during the last week of June, creating one of the most competitive promotional periods…

Conversations shift fast in retail. A year ago, many were wondering if artificial intelligence was here to stay. Today, the focus has shifted firmly to realizing gains from the many and ever-growing AI investments. Given this sort of change is unprecedented even by technology’s rapid standards, the consequences are real and business value will be…

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…

It’s no secret that effective inventory management is essential to supply chain success. It enables organizations to maintain optimal stock levels, meet customer demand, minimize operational costs, and sustain healthy cash flow. Companies are always looking for ways to enhance inventory, whether by adopting better tracking systems, implementing just-in-time practices, or using advanced analytics. With…

For years, retail demand forecasting worked because consumer behavior was relatively consistent. Shoppers gravitated toward familiar brands, orders fell within predictable size ranges, and historical sales data was a reliable guide for inventory decisions. A 2026 consumer survey from Locus found that 45 percent of U.S. shoppers now use artificial intelligence as either a primary…

As retailers pour investment into customer-facing artificial intelligence, are they overlooking the operational foundations that decide success? The race to put an AI face on retail is accelerating. Shopping assistants, conversational storefronts, and agentic checkout powered by the likes of Gemini and ChatGPT — attention and budget are gravitating toward the customer interface. Yet critical…