Retail industry trends

Retail industry trends

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Artificial intelligence: The future of retail and hospitality
Interesting Engineering
Mai, an AI solution, provides accessibility for the blind and transforms retail and hospitality as we know them.
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US online grocery sales hit record $7.2 billion in June
Tech Crunch
Despite the slow reopening of the U.S. economy over the past several weeks, online grocery shopping is continuing to reach ever-higher numbers as Americans seem to be in no rush to return to the store. According to new research released today by Brick Meets Click and Mercatus, U.S. online grocery sales hit a record $7.2 […]
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How Moda Operandi is building the luxury department store of the future
Fast Company
How do you reach the wallets of the 1%? Via their phones, of course.
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The surprising way smartphones are changing the way we shop
Washington Post
For all the time we spend swiping and tapping on our phones, we don't actually use them to buy stuff. But they have become a crucial part of retailer's strategies for winning brick-and-mortar dollars.
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Distributed commerce — a big term for e-commerce
Medium
Throughout the year, we have started to hear a new term in the world of E-Commerce: distributed commerce. Distributed commerce allows consumers to purchase products directly from the content they are…
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10 trends shaping the future of retail
RetailDive
Retail industry news, voices and jobs. Optimized for your mobile phone.
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Retail enters third phase of digital evolution
Financial times
Making emotional connections with customers is the way forward
Signals
The potential of geolocation for revolutionizing retail
Harvard Business Review
It could be great for companies, but customers need a reason to participate.
Signals
Why online2offline commerce is a trillion dollar opportunity
Techcrunch
Editor's note: With the growth of local commerce on the Web, the links between online and physical commerce are becoming stronger. In this guest post, Alex Rampell, the CEO and founder of TrialPay, explores the forces behind what he calls "online2offline" commerce.

What do Groupon, OpenTable, Restaurant.com, and SpaFinder all have in common? They grease the wheels of online-to-offline commerce
Signals
The next big thing in retail: Programmatic commerce
Forbes
The future of commerce is all about consumers and businesses allowing technology to make purchase decisions on their behalf based on pre-programmed parameters and learned preferences.
Signals
IBM's Watson-powered sales associate robots to be rolled out into U.S. retailers by June 2016
Futurism
IBM has partnered with Softbank to begin exploring the use of robot assistants in retail stores across the US in 2016.
Signals
Magic Leap envisions a future where you can shop by talking to your AR glasses
The Verge
Magic Leap CMO Brian Wallace showed off a video preview last week of what we might eventually see from his secretive company. The video, which Wallace played at a conference in Shanghai, shows how...
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The future of mobile chatting: Commerce
Wall Street Journal
For growing numbers of smartphone users, once-simple messaging apps have become the center of their online activity, in some cases eclipsing social-media portals such as Facebook.
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WeChat unveils new device that allows customers to pay with their face
Pandaily
Chinese multi-purpose messaging app WeChat introduced a new payment device on August 27 named the “Frog Pro” at the Chongqing Smart China Expo in an effort to upgrade its offline payments.
Signals
Retailers are rethinking their Google Search strategies
Modern Retail
Google search is becoming less of a way for people to find links and more a destination for answers. As a result, marketers who once relied on the platform to facilitate transactions are forced to re-think their strategies.
Signals
The department store of the future is using actors to sell you stuff
Fast Company
Showfields, an ‘experiential’ store in New York, is running a theatrical performance similar to ‘Sleep No More’—but for selling you things.
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The man who's going to save your grocery store
Longreads
American food supplies are increasingly channeled through a handful of big companies: Amazon, Walmart, FreshDirect, Blue Apron. What do we lose when local supermarkets go under? A lot -- and Kevin Kelley wants to stop that.
Signals
Shopping centers exploring facial recognition in brave new world of retail
Wall Street Journal
As their struggle with store closings escalates, some U.S. mall owners and retailers are stepping up their use of technology that recognizes people’s faces but stops short of identifying and recording them.
Signals
The ‘blame Amazon’ era of bad retail is over
Modern Retail
It’s not Amazon’s existence or cut-throat competitive strategies that have sealed the fate of other retailers that are losing market share, like JCPenney, Bed Bath & Beyond and Sears. Instead, it was a series of executional and strategic missteps over a critical window of time during which today’s better-equipped competitors were taking action in areas like e-commerce and logistics as well a
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How artificial intelligence could change your real world shopping experience
Fox News
New technology would allow retailers to show shoppers targeted, real-time ads on video screens placed throughout their stores.
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'Retail apocalypse' now: Analysts say 75,000 more U.S. stores could be doomed
LMTonline
Widespread closures have roiled the retail industry, but many more stores are likely to...
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China’s billion-dollar shopping obsession
YouTube - BEME News
Livestream shopping in China is a multi-billion dollar industry, with a reported 425 million users as of July 2018. Some hosts feature well known luxury bran...
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America's dopamine-fueled shopping addiction
YouTube - The Atlantic
Consumerism in the U.S. has reached an all-time high. In 2017, we spent $240 billion on goods such as jewelry, watches, luggage, books, and phones—twice as m...
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Rise of the shelf scanning robot
ZDnet
There's growing competition among robotics companies targeting brick & mortar retail.
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Should cashless retail stores be banned?
The Guardian
Amazon and Walmart are fighting a New Jersey bill that would require stores to accept cash. But do cashless shops really make business sense?
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10 examples of how the future of shopping will be transformed by VR
Forbes
Virtual reality can be used in countless ways to change how customers interact with brands and products. Here are 10 examples of how the future of shopping will be transformed by VR, coming from brands that are already testing the waters.
Signals
New virtual reality system lets consumers make purchases without going to shops
The Mainichi
TOKYO -- A venture company set up by a former Sharp Corp. employee has developed a system that uses virtual reality (VR) to allow consumers to make pu
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The truth about the retail apocalypse
YouTube - CNN Business
There were a record number of store closings in 2017. But in that same year low-price and premium retailers saw strong sales. So is the hype about the retail...
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Alibaba's "New Retail" explained
YouTube - Alibaba Group
Online or offline: These cannot be the only options for consumers. See how Alibaba is transforming traditional retail with a complete digitization of commerc...
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Retailers race against Amazon to automate stores
New York Times
The opening of Amazon Go was alarming for many retailers, who saw a sudden willingness by Amazon to wield its power in new ways.
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Your shopping experience is on the verge of a major transformation. Here’s why
Singularity Hub
The convergence of exponential technologies has already revamped how and where we shop, how we use our time, and how much we pay. But there's still plenty of room for more digital disruption from machine learning, virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D printing and more.
Signals
China embraces Amazon’s unmanned store concept as part of country’s efforts to redefine retail experience
SCMP
China embraces Amazon’s unmanned store concept as part of country’s efforts to redefine retail experience
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How to close a store
Racked
Where the clothing, mannequins, and hangers go when the lights shut off.
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Inside America's dead shopping malls
TED
What happens when a mall falls into ruin? Filmmaker Dan Bell guides us through abandoned monoliths of merchandise, providing a surprisingly funny and lyrical commentary on consumerism, youth culture and the inspiration we can find in decay.
Signals
What's next for malls?
Fashionista
We took a look at two successful American companies who seem to be getting it right when it comes to shopping centers.
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Ocado Engineering reshapes retail with robotics and automation
The Engineer
Ocado Engineering is allowing the online grocer Ocado to establish a reputation as a major technology player. Jon Excell reports
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Why 020 commerce is a trillion-dollar opportunity
Inc
Until recently, O2O technology simply did not exist. Now it's a multibillion-dollar industry.
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Shopping the future with Joyce, Hong Kong’s most forward-thinking retailer
i-D
Joyce Central has supported independent brands like Dries Van Noten and Rick Owens since their beginnings. As the store re-launches, the two designers reflect on an industry now more corporate than ever.
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Amazon Go is a grocery store with no checkout lines
Engadget
It looks like those rumors of Amazon convenience stores were true. The online shopping giant unveiled Amazon Go today, its spin on brick and mortar retail. It uses computer vision, a whole bunch of sensors and deep learning to let you walk into a store, sign in with an Amazon Go app, fill up your bags and leave without stopping for a checkout line. Amazon is calling it a "Just Walk Out Shopping" e
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How predictive AI will change shopping
Harvard Business Review
Retailers need to prepare.
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Why do so many beauty stores look and feel the same?
Racked
Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering...
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Retail in the red: BDO bi-annual bankruptcy update
BDO
The pace of retail bankruptcies has accelerated since late 2018. Lackluster holiday sales led to 10 retailers filing bankruptcy in 2019's first quarter alone.
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The sneaker wars are coming to the subscription economy
Multichannel Merchant
Nike recently launched its Nike Adventure Club, a sneaker subscription service for kids aged two through 10.
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‘Contextual shopping’: Publishers are using model homes for retail experiences
Digiday
Publications like Real Simple, Hunker and Domino are using model homes to drive affiliate commerce and branded content revenue to complement sponsorships.
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Augmented shopping: The quiet revolution
Deloitte
Augmented reality and 3D technologies are changing how customers shop both online and in-store. How should retailers prepare?
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The next phase of the retail apocalypse: Stores reborn as e-commerce warehouses
Wall Street Journal
As the demand for in-person shopping diminishes, landlords, startups and retailers are converting abandoned stores into online fulfillment centers.
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The quiet revolution in augmented shopping
Deloitte
Augmented reality and 3D technologies are changing how customers shop both online and in-store. Deloitte's Allan Cook, Shopify's Daniel Beauchamp, and Wayfair's Shrenik Sadalgi give host Tanya Ott a tour of the future.
Signals
The reinvention of retail
Mckinsey
Everybody needs to rethink both digital and in-store sales. To help retailers prioritize these efforts, we compiled this research both prior to and during the shutdowns, looking at what changed and what trends will likely stick in the next two months.
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How Gen Z and millennials are shaping the future of US retail
Mckinsey
America’s youngest consumers are upending companies’ expectations. Here’s what retailers and brands can do about it.
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5 trends that will redefine retail in 2019
Forbes
The retail industry has undergone significant transformation over the past decade, and continues to evolve quickly. In 2019, the market will be defined by emerging technologies that change the way consumers interact with brands, let's look at five trends that will shape retail in the coming year.
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10 retail trends to watch in 2019
Retail Dive
Retail industry news, voices and jobs. Optimized for your mobile phone.
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What are brexit contingency plans for retailers and farmers?
The Guardian
With fears over long delays, high trade tariffs and a lack of migrant workers, here’s what firms are doing
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Why penn, drexel are recruiting retailers, not just students
Inquirer
As academia becomes increasingly competitive in attracting top students and staff, universities are turning to retail to create study, work and play environments that set themselves apart.
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Planet fitness is moving into old toys 'r' us and sears stores
CNN Business
Retailers like Toys "R" Us and Sears are vanishing. Planet Fitness is stepping in to fill the abandoned spaces they left behind.
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‘They’re all scared half to death’: retailers accelerate private-label push
Digiday
More big-box retailers are accelerating their private label push.
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‘Amazon prime was a game changer’: retailers are rethinking loyalty programs
Digiday
Brands and retailers are turning to loyalty programs to build an army of brand advocates and organic influencers.
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Why big retailers are getting smaller
CNN Business
Big box retailers and department stores are going small.
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5 retail technology trends to watch in 2019
Retail Dive
Retail industry news, voices and jobs. Optimized for your mobile phone.
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Sexism | strict dress code relaxed at virgin atlanic - should other companies follow suit?
HR Grapevine
Virgin's sexist image of female employees will now be a thing of the past...
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2020 retail industry outlook
Deloitte
In the 2020 retail trends outlook, we explore convenience, what it means today, and how retailers can position themselves to take on the challenge.
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The flagship store of the future will be nothing like the industry has seen before
Business Insider
Flagship stores are changing. Here's how they could look in the future.
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The next decade of data: why retail marketers will need to rethink their data strategies in 2020
Adweek
Consumer confidence is high and many retailers are thriving. According to National Retail Federation (NRF) projections, U.S. retail sales are expected to be up 3.8% to 4.4% in 2019, on top of 4.6% growth in 2018.
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What's your energy strategy for an empty office or retail space?
GreenBiz
Asking these five questions during the COVID-19 shutdown could help your organization reset its power consumption habits to more energy-efficient levels for the future.
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Can retailers embrace AR for immersive (and contactless) store experiences?
Tech Wire Asia
Retailers can stay relevant, sustain the operation, and retain consumers vis augmented reality capabilities in the age of social distancing.
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Recruiting for retail in the post-resume era: a 3-step breakdown
HR Technologist
Retail recruitment must identify candidates who are passionate, understand industry pressures, and less prone to attrition. Learn why resumes are not the way forward.
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Retailers are testing out reservation-like appointments
Modern Retail
The reservation-to-shop trend is in full swing, and results have been mixed. While grocery chains like DeCicco & Sons have “received an overwhelmingly positive response from customers," other businesses that rely on heavy walk-in traffic, such as bakeries, haven't found them very useful.
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Retail sampling likely won’t be the same again
ModernRetail
Many retailers and companies rely on people testing out their products. But with social distancing in place and many stores closed, that gets much more difficult. For some, it may mean sampling is completely off the table. For others, it means introducing new operations and safeguards that were never thought of before.
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As the virus rages on shore, merchant seamen are stranded on board
The Economist
The merchant seamen who keep the world warmed and fed are trapped in floating prisons
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The top 10 technology trends in retail: how tech will transform shopping in 2020
Forbes
Shopping and retail operations are being transformed by today’s new technology. Retailers are able to deliver personalized experiences to consumers while using technology to be more efficient and effective. Here are 10 tech trends that will transform shopping.
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How will the luxury retail sector recover post-covid?
Retailgazette
Covid-19 has since brought with it a wave of fear and uncertainty for luxury retail. How can luxury retailers recover now that lockdown is being eased?
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Retail industry groups create 'blueprint' to reopen stores
HR Dive
Human Resources and Workforce Management News
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6 retail tech trends you’ve got to see
Techaeris
Trends come and go which ones will stick around? Here are six fascinating examples of high-tech helpers for the retail sector.
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To boost the customer experience increase departmental collaboration
Retail Customer Experience
Joe Schultz, vice president of sales at Harbor Retail, explains why to be successful retailers need to build a sense of collaboration and camaraderie and destroy silos. But determining how to avoid clunky communications and incongruent touchpoints with consumers can be sticky.
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US online retail sales to reach $1 trillion in 2025 astride thriving Amazon
Consulting
A new report from management consultancy FTI Consulting projects US online sales to reach $525 billion in 2018, $660 billion by 2020, and $1 trillion by 2025.
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Micro futures for the major indices are about to launch. Here’s everything you need to know
CNBC
Micro futures begin trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange this weekend, and they offer "huge" benefits to day traders, experts say.
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Futurists predict 7 things that amazon could be selling us by 2028
Business Insider
Two leading futurists predict Amazon could disrupt major marketplaces like the prescription drug business, and create secure cities of the future.
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Politics at the post office is hiding a problem for retailers: holiday shipping costs are going way up
Forbes
Coming increases in shipping costs are one more challenge for retailers. But there are ways to mitigate the increases.
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Product barcodes could be replaced with synthetic DNA tags
Technology Network
Scientists have created a molecular tagging system that utilizes synthetic DNA strands to create a
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The luxury e-commerce wars heat up
The New York Times
On one side: Amazon. On the other: a new alliance of brands and platforms. Who will win?
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The next big thing in retail comes with Chinese characteristics
The Economist
Chinese apps are to 21st-century shopping what American malls were to last century’s | Business
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There has been ‘10 years of innovation in 10 months,’ retail body says
CNBC
The "seamless integration" of online and offline shopping is "becoming the rule" according to the American Apparel and Footwear Association.
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The exhilarating world of post-pandemic shopping
Fast Company
Experts suggest that brick-and-mortar stores are about to get more fun, because they’ll be devoted exclusively to entertainment and discovery.
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Retail marketers invest in livestreams to establish shopping's 'next normal'
Retail Dive
Retail industry news, voices and jobs. Optimized for your mobile phone.
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China is about to achieve a historic e-commerce milestone—and no other country comes close
Fast Company
‘For the first time anywhere, a majority of retail sales for an entire country will transact online,’ digital marketing research firm eMarketer predicts.
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Baby boomers, to retailers’ surprise, are dominating online shopping
Washington Post
As shoppers 60 and older head online, major retailers and consumer-goods brands are scrambling to meet them there.
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Older shoppers are the hot new thing for consumer brands
The Wall Street Journal
Demographic changes and the pandemic are prompting companies to launch new products aimed at consumers they say are increasingly interested in aging well.
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Nike now has what it needs to get (truly) personal
Forbes
On its third-quarter conference call last week, Nike Inc. expounded on its recent acquisition of Datalogue, a data integration platform, and its overall push to tap insights that it can use to drive personalization at scale.
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How to know what customers want
The Economist
Personalised products are reshaping manufacturing in China | Special report
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Retail speaks: Seven imperatives for the industry
McKinsey and Company
After a year like no other, the US retail industry faces a still-uncertain future. Our latest research highlights seven imperatives that will position retailers for success--regardless of what is next.
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Retailtainment: a deep dive into the new shopping experiences
Substack
A century later, Emile Zola's vision of shopping as a mass leisure activity is still relevant. However, in 2021, the playing field underwent a significant transformation. With the onset of the pandemic over a year ago and no respite in sight, digital escapism continues to fuel retailtainment with multiple facets and subtle undertones. If you are under the impression that you have seen everything a
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RFID’s renaissance in retail
McKinsey and Company
A new era in retail brings RFID to the forefront.
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LVMH opens $894 million luxury shopping destination in Paris
CNN
Inside the newly unveiled renovation of the 19th century Parisian landmark La Samaritaine, which has been transformed into a shopping, dining and tourist destination by luxury group LVMH.
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Food is a tough business. So why are Dior, LVMH jumping in?
Vogue Business
In the post-pandemic retail landscape, restaurants are playing a big role in fashion stores as a way to drive people back in.
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Shein is the future of fast fashion. Is that a good thing?
Vox
The Chinese retailer is quickly becoming Gen Z’s favorite fashion company, due to its speed and TikTok presence.
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What co-selling tells us about the future of retail
Total Retail
Co-selling is on the rise, and early adopters stand to reap big rewards. It presents the shopper with items in adjacent product categories from simpatico retail brands, which shoppers can purchase with a single click.
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Predictive transactions are the next big tech revolution
Venture Beat
Imagine this: An Amazon truck shows up each week with all the things it predicts you need and an easy way to return anything you don't want.
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Shein exemplifies a new style of Chinese multinational
The Economist
The fast-fashion label has adapted to a more digital and less open world | Business
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Social commerce: The next wave in online shopping
Ark Invest
During the past year, the COVID crisis accelerated the shift from brick-and-mortar retail to online shopping or social commerce, a shift...
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Fast-food chains test reusable cups, sandwich boxes
The Wall Street Journal
Burger King and McDonald’s have signed up to try Loop, a program that requires customers to return reusable packaging.
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Buy-now-pay-later firms want to be shopping mall apps
Vogue Business
In an effort to gain market share and bring in new revenue, deferred payments companies are expanding their reach, leaning on data and the fashion industry as they compete with big tech to build all-in-one shopping apps.
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Why health care systems should invest in medical malls
Harvard Business Review
They can make care more accessible, reduce inequities, promote economic development, and allow hospital-based health systems to lower their costs.
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Personalized returns are the future of the post-purchase customer experience
Forbes
Today, shoppers expect things like free return shipping and months-long return windows.
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How remote work is influencing what we buy
Deloitte
Learn how remote work is influencing consumer spending and what they purchase as strong signals suggest the shift to remote work will outlive the pandemic.
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Virtual avatars could change the future of retail
IoT World Today
DeepBrain AI’s life-like virtual avatars can respond to customer questions and solve problems
Signals
Resale set to be star of retail in 2022 for consumers and brands
Forbes
With a global desire to shop responsibly and sustainably – resale is predicted to be a major player in the retail landscape for 2022 – and to be a real success resale needs to blend with online selling.
Signals
Walmart is quietly preparing to enter the metaverse
CNBC
Walmart appears to be venturing into the metaverse with plans to create its own cryptocurrency and collection of NFTs.
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There's a vending machine for that: Why automated retail is becoming more the norm
CBC
Vending machines have taken a new, upscale form in the Canadian market, and experts say the pandemic, along with more innovative technology, have spurred this shopping trend.
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Can conversational commerce catch on globally?
Vogue Business
Conversational commerce is providing brands in Asia Pacific, South America and Africa with better ways to connect with clients. We unpack the lessons.
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The ‘dark’ stores in retail’s future: prepare to be ghosted
Forbes
Conversational commerce is providing brands in Asia Pacific, South America and Africa with better ways to connect with clients. We unpack the lessons.
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The ‘profitless prosperity’ of retail disruptor brands
Forbes
At one level, it is admirable that Wayfair, Casper and others have reset the consumer expectations bar on what certain types of products should cost, thereby propelling their ability to steal share from industry incumbents. But I could sell a lot of $20 bills for only $15.
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How quantum computers could cut millions of miles from supply chains and transform logistics
Forbes
Quantum computers are poised to optimize supply chains involving a wide range of intersecting variables.
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Is a wave of supply-chain reshoring around the corner?
The Economist
Experience and evidence suggests they are stickier than you think | Finance & economics
Signals
Amazon and Walmart are hiring hundreds of thousands of warehouse workers, as the invisible retail underclass form the ‘backbone of our economy’ this holiday season
Medium
Warehouse workers are facing a holiday season in which hazard pay has dried up, but COVID cases are once again on the rise. Every Saturday at 6:30 p.m., a worker at a Walmart distribution center…
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Supply unchained
Deloitte
Future-focused manufacturers, retailers, and distributors are exploring ways to transform the supply chain cost center into a customer-focused driver of value.