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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Are ads causing shoppers to lose faith in Amazon search results?
Amazon has long been the main go-to place for online product search, but a recent Washington Post article finds that it is no longer giving customers what they want because…
Best Buy’s virtual store pilot earns high customer satisfaction scores
Best Buy has implemented and expanded its use of digital clienteling to serve more than a quarter million customers since announcing its virtual store pilot in 2021. Customer satisfaction has…
Is it time for Publix to scale its Greenwise Market concept?
2022 is shaping up as a breakout year for Publix’s Greenwise Market format. The Greenwise organic food and essentials specialty concept in Florida experienced higher year-over-year foot traffic growth in…
Is Kroger lagging in e-commerce?
A columnist at The Wall Street Journal has found some “nits to pick” with Kroger following the grocery giant’s release of its third quarter earnings results and its recent deal…
Retailers find inflation is often about location, location, location
Inflation is a top concern for both businesses and consumers currently, and rightfully so as the U.S. trend continues to remain high. What do you see as the most effective…
What drives social influencers’ abilities to influence purchases?
A university study finds originality and follower size are among the common factors driving engagement in influencer campaigns. However, many influencer attributes fall under the Goldilocks Effect, or the sweet…
Walgreens rolls out 24/7 delivery and parents with sick kids do the happy dance
Walgreens is coming to the rescue of parents caring for sick kids in the middle of the night. The retailer’s same-day delivery program is going 24/7 as of today. How…
Is the Kroger-Albertsons merger really a retail media deal?
Some market watchers see the biggest benefit from the proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons being the extended geographic reach and consumer data access that could help Kroger capitalize on…
Will candy consumers recycle their wrappers?
One of the biggest candy manufacturers is slowly rolling out a new, paper-based wrapper material in Australia and New Zealand that could prove to be a more sustainable alternative to…
Was the high-traffic Thanksgiving weekend a promise of things to come?
A record number of consumers in search of deals on holiday gifts went shopping in stores and online over the Thanksgiving Day weekend, according to the results of a new…
Can Alexa find a path to monetization?
Echo devices continually rank among Amazon.com’s best sellers, but the Alexa business is reportedly bleeding money and management is facing questions about the initiative’s viability. Do you eventually see voice…
Claire’s sets up shops inside of Macy’s stores
Macy’s has been pursuing opportunities to grow its business through store-within-a-store partnerships, and in its latest alliance is teaming up with Claire’s to open shops inside 21 Macy’s stores, including…
What does the promotional climate mean for off-pricers and resale?
Major off-pricers have raised their full-year outlooks, confident in their ability to reposition their mix for an increasingly promotional environment. Apparel resale marketplace thredUP, however, reduced its outlook due to the…
Amazon and Asda go head-to-head in RetailWire’s Christmas Commercial Challenge
Will it be Amazon or Asda that joins Etsy, Kroger and Publix into the finals of the 2022 edition of the RetailWire Christmas Commercial Challenge? What is your critique of…
Will Shoppable Shorts become a viral sensation for YouTube?
YouTube in late 2020 launched its Shorts feature to keep up with a new generation of competing video services posting short-form content. Now YouTube has added an e-commerce element to…
Is being the low price leader critical to Amazon’s ongoing success?
A study finds online prices are on average 13 percent less expensive on Amazon.com than other leading U.S. retailers across 15 categories, narrowing from 14 percent lower in 2021 and…
Do boring leaders make for better business results?
According to Harvard business administration professor Raffaella Sadun, the collapses of FTX and Theranos and the recent turmoil at Twitter prove “boring management matters” as well as the importance of…
Retailers are using newfound clout to put the squeeze on suppliers
With inventories elevated in many categories and the economy slowing amid inflationary pressures, larger retailers are using reclaimed leverage to cancel orders, fight price increases and seek out concessions from…
Do digital coupons discriminate against those who can least afford it?
Public interests groups are taking aim at digital couponing, saying that the practice is discriminatory insofar as the less tech-savvy consequently pay more. Do you think it is accurate to…
Black Friday is back as record number of Americans are expected to go shopping
Americans may have started their Christmas shopping in July or October or some other point before this week, but research indicates that a record number of the nation’s citizens still…
Will a new shopping platform redefine the formula for AI-driven personalization?
Founded by Romney Evans, True Fit’s co-founder, a new shopping platform, Shoptrue, launched in beta last week with a goal of blending “human inspiration” and data science to build a “one stop…
