AI assistants could do what retail media networks promise but often fail to deliver: increase basket size without making shoppers feel relentlessly barraged by transactional ads. The macro-opportunity for any retailer is to connect a shopper to information that changes a purchase decision and deliver a better customer experience. If an AI assistant can do that, the tool is an asset, not a gimmick.
AI Agents: Trusted or Transactional? Read More »
Retail media is a money grab dressed up as innovation. The industry likes to talk about enhancing the shopper journey, but what gets these programs funded is squeezing incremental trade dollars out of CPG brands already stretched thin by tariffs, climate changes that affect supplies, a war in Iran that is increasing transportation and farming costs, and a retailer’s own margin pressure. No shopper ever asked for more screens in a store.
Retail Media: Retail Hype Read More »
Join TRR contributors Phil Lempert, the Supermarket Guru and Warren Shoulberg, TRR Hit or Miss Editor, as they review the crisis facing retailers and American consumers. There is a deeper problem behind the crisis; FDA gave Taylor Farms the all-clear, only to reverse itself.
It’s About So Much More Than Lettuce Read More »
Who’s watching the lettuce? A market that’s learned it can shrug off a cyclospora headline in one quarter is also a market that isn’t anticipating what will happen when the agencies meant to catch contamination early are running at 75-80 percent strength. Retailers and restaurants can no longer assume FDA has their back.
The Hidden Threat of the Cyclospora Outbreak Read More »
Another grocery chain, another acquisition. Now that Kroger has bought Giant Eagle, is it a smart consolidation, or a company desperately spending money it doesn’t have?
Kroger’s Consolidation Polycrisis Read More »
The grocery channel is in a fierce battle for market share with Walmart and Kroger duking it out at the top and upscale chains trying to find a way to compete.
Whole Foods: The Robin Report Retail Hit of the Week, 6.13.26 Read More »
The economic shockwaves of the Iran war have spread far beyond average American consumers, shaking their heads in disbelief or cursing at the gas pump. The businesses that depend on that shopper, which include every grocery retailer, food manufacturer, and CPG brand in the country, are sounding the alarm.
The Domino Effect of the Iran War Read More »
We’re taking a hard-boiled look at the billion-dollar fraud lurking behind wine labels, olive oil, honey and the scallop on your dinner plate. These are true crimes happening in the grocery industry, and the detective work is novel worthy.
Retail Fraud: A Detective Noir Crime Story Read More »
Food rescue is the most underfunded climate and hunger solution on the planet. Grocers are finally waking up — but it’s going to take a lot more than trendy algorithms to bring retailers and consumers to their senses.
There’s a $1 Trillion Opportunity You Don’t Know About Read More »
Research on human-computer interaction has consistently found that people respond positively to interfaces that feel conversational and warm, while younger shoppers are especially comfortable chatting with bots. As a result, human-like AI agents with a name and personality tend to generate higher customer engagement, satisfaction and trust. What happens when they go rogue?
Woolworths’ Chatbot Went Rogue Read More »
