Omnichannel

Retail leaders have spent the better part of three years running artificial intelligence experiments. Smart shelf analytics here. A dynamic pricing engine there. A conversational bot standing in for customer service agents on the overnight shift. The results have been encouraging, sometimes even impressive, and the industry has responded with enthusiasm. But enthusiasm, unchecked by…

Managing inventory is challenging across all industries, but retailers face the added challenge of scale. While a standard company may need to plan for 100,000 products in a single warehouse, a major retailer needs to manage that same volume across thousands of different store locations. This makes even basic data collection difficult. For example, even…

2026 is delivering both challenges and opportunities for retailers and the retail sector. There is no avoiding the unknowns of supply chain pressures and inconsistent consumer purchasing confidence. However, there are opportunities for retailers that get the in-store and omnichannel experience equation right to spur sales, customer loyalty, and satisfaction. Core pieces of this puzzle…

The retail industry has entered a new era, one in which fragmented omnichannel strategies are no longer enough to meet rising consumer expectations and mounting operational pressures. According to Manhattan Associates’ latest report, Unified Commerce Powers Future Retail Success, the retailers pulling ahead are those that have moved beyond omnichannel and embraced unified commerce: a…

Inventory data has quietly become the most important customer experience (CX) system in modern retail, and the foundation of true, storewide intelligence that connects what customers see on shelves with what systems believe is available. When shelf reality and system reality match, every other experience promised — from personalization to buy online, pick up in-store…

After attending NRF Big Show earlier this year and EuroShop more recently, it’s clear that retailers aren’t short of ideas. They’re focused on what actually works, consistently, across stores, day in and day out, and that shift points to a broader reality the industry has been circling for some time. Retail’s biggest challenge is execution…

When considering fundamental shifts in how shoppers define value in today’s retail environment, at the center is continuity. It's the expectation that a shopper’s relationship with a brand doesn’t reset when they move between channels, but instead flows seamlessly across them. For retailers, this is where the challenge becomes operational. While digital channels have evolved…

Criteo bought its way into ChatGPT. Advertisers can now place sponsored products inside artificial intelligence responses, the same way they buy display inventory across the open web. It's a logical move. It's also the clearest signal yet that the ad industry is about to repeat its worst mistake at scale. Picture this scenario: a user…

Products from Ace Hardware are now available on Uber Eats nationwide as the hardware cooperative becomes the latest retailer to dive into on-demand delivery services and Uber Eats works to recast itself from the "Eats" part of its brand. The two companies announced the partnership Tuesday, saying it would allow customers who already shop locally…

How retailers can provide a best-in-class customer experience via a unified commerce model -- and what that means for the bottom line