How to Avoid the AI Trust Recession
Join Shelley and Alice Pope, author of The Trust Algorithm: How Leaders Build Trust with Generative AI to get up to speed on a current trust recession. Alice says that we are facing more customer data than ever yet have a deeper skepticism about AI than ever.
The Latest Retail Industry Insights and Analysis
Return on Experience by Store Design
Are you sure you’re measuring what matters? Talk to the finance team, and they have entrenched benchmarks defining a brand’s
EU Dispatch: European Luxury Feels the Heat
Fashion brands are facing the prospect of higher inventory costs thanks to an EU ban on destroying unsold apparel, accessories
Cannabis Dispensaries Taking Dinner Reservations
I’ve spent four decades walking supermarket aisles and restaurant floors trying to spot the next place where food and commerce
Listen Up
Retail Unwrapped
Our weekly podcast with Shelley E. Kohan, & guests. Available on your favorite podcast platforms.
Experience
H&M’s Subculture Collabs
H&M’s pivot toward ongoing partnerships with niche designers and independent collectives marks a fundamental shift in its retail strategy: it’s
Why Brand Clarity Matters
Brand clarity improves the customer experience because it removes any friction the customer consciously notices. Clarity defines space and place,
Ralph Lauren: The Ultimate Belonger Brand
Ralph Lauren is one of the few luxury brands that has made belonging (aspirational and authentic) an art. Its long-standing
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Opinion
What Now? What to Do
Tariff-driven cost inflation is likely here to stay, and now, with an ongoing Iranian war, potentially explosive expense inflation is
Tariff Chaos and the Widening Gyre
How does a business leader who may have just breathed a sigh of post-Covid-19 relief in early 2026, only to
What Now? What to Do
Tariff-driven cost inflation is likely here to stay, and now, with an ongoing Iranian war, potentially explosive expense inflation is
Tariff Chaos and the Widening Gyre
How does a business leader who may have just breathed a sigh of post-Covid-19 relief in early 2026, only to
New Episodes Weekly
The Retail Unwrapped Podcast
Retail insights on-the-go, with Shelley E. Kohan. Available on your favorite podcast platforms.
From Our Partners
Placer’s 10 Brands to Watch + 3 Surprises
Check out Placer.ai’s latest enlightening report on the 10 Top Brands to Watch in 2025 when it comes to retail
How LoveShackFancy and WeWoreWhat Are Crushing Consumer Engagement
Watch and learn LoveShackFancy and WeWoreWhat are building engagement and social media strategies that matter to today’s younger consumer.
Technology
When AI Amplifies Retail Dysfunction
New systems cannot replace bad processes and a misaligned culture to compete for success. When owning a process matters more
Gaming AI Search
Join Shelley and Heather Holmes, Founder of Publicity for Good, as they unpack how brands need to think like their
The AI-Empowered Store
Join Shelley and Stephanie Cegielski, Vice President of Public Relations and Industry Education at ICSC as they dig into the
Management
JCPenney: The Robin Report Retail Miss of the Week, 7. 18.26
Like many people, we want JCPenney to succeed; there are some good pros there and they have been working hard
Kimberly Shenk, CEO, Novi: Service Before Self
Kimberly Shenk has never taken the expected path. A data scientist and former Air Force captain, she has carried the
Operations
EU Dispatch: European Luxury Feels the Heat
Fashion brands are facing the prospect of higher inventory costs thanks to an EU ban on destroying unsold apparel, accessories
Home Retailers: Search for Life Beyond Furniture
With the entire home furnishings category, especially furniture, in the doldrums, retailers in the sector are looking at new categories,
Shein: The Robin Report Retail Miss of the Week, 8.1.26
Shein, the Chinese-origin online seller of trinkets and baubles, first came on the U.S. scene in 2017, and then really