Retail insights at the intersection of now and next. Unfiltered. Unbiased
Sure, you can argue what took them so long, but better late than never. This week Walmart+ and its warehouse club cousin Sam’s announced a joint membership program that ties the two brands together in a way they have never been before.
Join Haley and Laura Hnatow, Vice President of Marketing and eCommerce at Sea Bags, to discover how a 20-year-old company with a startup attitude has built an authentic, nimble business boosted by a passionate focus on mission and impact.
The female dollar is too powerful for brand executives to ignore. In 2024, women controlled an estimated $31.8 trillion in global spending. Within the next five years, women are projected to account for 75 percent of discretionary spending worldwide.
Many Americans work in retail as a first-time job. Why do so few choose retail as a career? Tech jobs are sirens to recent grads; millions of people learned what retail is from an entry level job that was never designed to show them the business. And the result is a missed opportunity.
Being open to learning and new experiences is supported by understanding oneself. Having humility, acknowledging being vulnerable, and accepting feedback are leadership skills for success. If you understand how you operate, what motivates you, what scares you, and what creates a potential a backslide of confidence, you’re able to advocate with both your supervisor and peers.
It was once beloved and respected, but now it’s besieged and repelled by a curious transformation we don’t see very often in the retailing world.
This week Albertsons filed a $9 billion lawsuit against Kroger accusing it of messing up the deal. C’mon Albertsons, this is coming up two years from the day the deal was nixed and you’re just now getting around to filing a lawsuit? What does this say about your sense of urgency, perhaps reflecting the culture of your entire company? Again, I don’t know who’s right and who is wrong, but it seems to me that when a company says it’s been done wrong with something this big, it’s got to move faster to try to seek justice.
Join Shelley and Birdie Smith, Head of Sales at Happy Returns, as they reveal how the smart play is to transform returns into a growth lever; retailers that give shoppers options, speed, and convenience can turn a return into the next purchase. They also discuss what happens when AI agents start handling returns for the shopper and why only two percent of retailers believe they can detect return fraud heading into the holidays.
The immediate priority for retailers hit by cyberattacks is to understand where critical systems depend on technology that is outdated, remotely accessible, or managed by third parties. The complexity of guarding from cyberattacks is only going to get greater as AI enters more systems and hackers get smarter, more inventive, and more attuned to the practical and reputational damage they can wreak.
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