Since the novel coronavirus pandemic began, low-paying frontline positions in grocery have been recognized by the public as some of the most indispensable and dangerous in the country. As states begin to open more businesses to the public, should the higher wages paid to frontline grocery workers during the pandemic become the standard moving forward?

Robots have been hailed for their effectiveness as contagion-proof workers in hospitals and are being seen as a potential solution for retail’s new COVID-19-related challenges. In what areas will robots likely offer the biggest benefit in helping retailers navigate the coronavirus pandemic?

In another rollout accelerated by the pandemic, Google is now allowing merchants to list their products on Google Shopping for free. Will offering free listings help the Google Shopping platform better compete against Amazon?

Walmart last week said it was rolling out Express Delivery for “more than 160,000 items” across groceries, general merchandise, electronics and toys categories within two hours for $10. Will Express Delivery offer much appeal to Walmart’s customers during and after the pandemic?

Wellpath has been lucky enough to be in the unique position of having more demand for wellness products. With higher demand, however, come new challenges of keeping up with all areas of the supply chain.  What do you think are the keys for consumer-direct brands and retailers to navigate supply chain challenges that have arisen with the coronavirus pandemic?

Amazon reported higher revenues and lower earnings during the first quarter. The results were expected as the e-tailing and tech giant saw sales demand and expenses increase as it sought to keep up as the novel coronavirus crossed the U.S. How well do you think Amazon has responded to the coronavirus outbreak in comparison to its “essential” retailing peers?

Amazon is implementing a solution it hopes will help significantly cut down on bootleg sellers while remaining consistent with guidelines for social distancing. Will video calls be an effective way for Amazon to vet third-party sellers?

Paid and unpaid sick leave policies are facing wide scrutiny amid reports of infections and deaths among retail, warehouse, factory and delivery workers. Do you see more benefits in lenient versus strict paid leave policies amid the coronavirus pandemic?

The surge of online grocery adoption due to the coronavirus pandemic has led to slowdowns and stock-outs from the once untouchable Amazon.com. Will wait-listing new customers and converting Whole Foods locations to online fulfillment centers allow Amazon to get on top of its e-grocery demands?

Amazon.com is reportedly delaying Prime Day 2020, typically held in July, at least until August as it faces extraordinary demand created by COVID-19. Is Amazon facing a make-or-break period based on how it executes amid the pandemic?

Net-a-Porter and Next last week suspended online operations as the accelerated spread of the coronavirus places greater safety risks on its delivery and warehouse workers. What are the biggest hurdles to keeping distribution workers protected from the novel coronavirus?

Retailers and brands have ramped up e-commerce promotions, but with customers just as unconfident about their futures as retailers, it’s not a sure thing that they will spend. What can retailers do to differentiate themselves online at a time when so many are trying to make up for lost brick-and-mortar transactions?

This is a stressful time for retail managers and employees as they go about trying to meet the demands of a frightened public while at the same time dealing with concerns for their own personal health. What should retail management be doing to help store associates and warehouse workers deal with the stress they are under in the current coronavirus emergency?

Earlier this week, Whole Foods and Amazon announced that they would begin paying workers an additional $2 an hour on top of their current rates, until the end of April. Amazon and Whole Foods offer a minimum hourly wage of $15. Will Amazon and Whole Foods come out of the coronavirus viewed as more or less attractive places to work?

IKEA announced the kickoff of a six-month test selling its products to Chinese consumers on Alibaba’s Tmall online marketplace. Are third-party platforms becoming increasingly critical for retailers selling to U.S. consumers or is online marketplace participation primarily required in other countries?

Bookshop.org was founded with the understanding that, while independents have seen a revival, Amazon sells more than half of all books, online sales will expand and the majority of indies have a meager online business. Should independent booksellers welcome the opportunity to work with Bookshop.org?

According to a survey from Feedvisor, brands are looking to use Amazon.com for many reasons beyond simply selling products. If you were a brand manager, what would be your top reasons be for selling on Amazon?

Amazon.com announced yesterday that it has begun selling the technology behind its Amazon Go and Amazon Go Grocery concepts to other retailers. Will other retailers buy Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology?

A bill called the Shop Safe Act of 2020 currently being considered by Congress aims to curb the perennial problem of counterfeit goods being sold through e-commerce marketplaces. How would Amazon and others have to retool their operations if the Shop Safe Act of 2020 becomes law?

Walmart will begin testing a new annual subscription plan as early as next month with features that will eventually go beyond those offered by rival Amazon.com’s Prime program. Is playing a one-upmanship game with Amazon Prime perks a smart strategic move for Walmart?

Walmart has launched a new service — Walmart Fulfillment Services — that stores, picks, packs and ships items ordered from third parties on walmart.com. Will the launch of WFS help Walmart expand its roster of marketplace sellers and draw more consumers to walmart.com?

Amazon.com is debuting its largest cashier-less food concept today with the opening of the Amazon Go Grocery store in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle. What is your reaction to the opening of the Amazon Go Grocery store?

Deliverr uses “machine learning and optimization technology” to bring two-day delivery to sellers on marketplaces. The service is pitched as a way to compete with Amazon Prime delivery. Do you see machine learning or other technologies helping competitors, large and small, catch up to Amazon in logistics and last-mile delivery?

Big tech is on notice. Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission ordered five large technology companies — Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft — to provide details on past acquisitions of small firms.. Do you think anticompetitive behavior in the technology sector is having negative effects on retailers and consumer brands?

Convenience store giant 7-Eleven has announced it is testing a “cashierless” concept at its corporate headquarters in Irving, TX. Do you think there is a real future for cashierless stores in the convenience store channel?

The numbers of customers using Prime’s one-day and same-day delivery more than quadrupled in the fourth quarter to help drive healthy holiday sales for Amazon.com. Has success at executing one-day and same-day delivery become a significant competitive advantage for Amazon?

When Amazon Go launched it was billed as the future of the convenience store, but the fully-automated retail store had one notable omission — no hot bar. Now, Amazon has plans to reopen a location with hot food and other add-ons. Are food and drink offerings compatible with Just Walk Out technology?

IKEA recently decided to end a pilot in which the retailer tested the strategy of selling on Amazon.com’s U.S. site, although it apparently isn’t giving up on marketplaces — those operated by others or on its own. What do you take from the decision by IKEA to not sell its products on Amazon?

A university study concludes that many businesses purposefully make customer service complainers deal with unnecessary obstacles to avoid providing them with refunds, replacements, repairs or other compensation. Do the benefits of adding hassles to the customer service resolution process outweigh the drawbacks for business?

Retailers rose to the top of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s eighteenth annual “Corporate Equality Index” report, which rates workplaces on their policies and treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees. What do you see as the current state of LGBTQ affairs within the retailing industry?

Amazon.com offers an upside and a downside as a marketing and sales channel for digital start-ups, according to a panel of venture fund managers at an NRF Big Show session.  Is Amazon more of a friend or foe to digital start-ups?

A university study finds people increasingly attributing lifelike qualities to virtual assistants and warns this may cause them to reveal more personal information to the companies that use them than they otherwise would. Do you agree that the more personable a virtual assistant is, the more likely a user is to share personal data?

The 2019 holiday shopping period has come and gone and we in the retail trade are left to figure out what went right and what didn’t. In terms of the technology deployed, what are the big lessons from the 2019 holiday season?

At least two Amazon.com employees who publicly criticized the company’s environmental policies have been warned they could be fired for future violations of its communications policy. Are Amazon’s updated public communication guidelines appropriate?

Having physical stores is often touted as a primary differentiator against Amazon.com. A survey of digital commerce decision-makers, however, identified a number of other ways to compete. Which of the areas identified in the Wunderman Thompson survey will best enable online retailers to compete with Amazon?

Amazon is expanding its free returns policy to include electronics, pet supplies, household items, kitchen appliances and more. Previously, only apparel, footwear and bedding were eligible. Does Amazon gain much of a competitive advantage by expanding its free returns policy?

Fresh fruit and vegetables are not easy to ship, posing last-mile challenges that can be pricey to address. Yet according to a new study, e-commerce customers are ordering fresh produce nonetheless. How can e-grocers overcome hurdles in providing fresh produce to meet growing customer demand?

Starting Dec. 18, Amazon will begin temporarily restricting marketplace sellers from using FedEx’s ground services for Prime orders. What do you believe is the reason behind the restriction Amazon temporarily imposed on marketplace sellers from using FedEx’s ground delivery services for Prime?

A significant number of customers are just not interested in joining loyalty programs, according to a new study, a fact that to some suggests how retailers might engage that cohort. What do you think are the reasons why many Americans choose not to join loyalty programs?

Finding seasonal temps is a tough challenge for retailers in a market with a historically-low unemployment rate, but quickly onboarding them to support a variety of omnichannel tasks represents a whole new learning curve. Where do you see the biggest challenges onboarding holiday temps to support omnichannel functions?

Amazon.com is shutting down a program offering free product samples to consumers as a paid advertising service for CPG brands. Do you see sending free samples based on browsing and purchase history being more problematic than sending consumers personalized recommendations?

The 2019 Christmas selling season is off to a fast start, and for a growing number of Americans, researching and buying gifts begins and ends with their smartphones.  Assuming there’s a correlation between mobile app downloads and Christmas selling season success, how should retailers and brands leverage this advance information?

Consumers, retailers, third-party vendors and law enforcement are all seeking ways to cut down on package theft. Where do you see the biggest opportunities for retailers to cut losses due to stolen or misplaced deliveries?

Allbirds, the sustainable footwear upstart, didn’t sue Amazon.com for making a wool sneaker that mimics one of its popular models. Instead, it is encouraging the e-tailing giant to do a better job of copycatting its products. What do you think of Allbirds’ approach to copycat infringement?

Only a year after launching its Jet City Grocery fresh food delivery service in New York City, Jet.com’s parent company, Walmart, is ending the experiment. What can retailers learn from the Jet City Grocery failure and how might they apply it to their own fresh delivery initiatives?

We’re ready to kick off week one of year seven of the RetailWire Christmas Commercial Challenge.  This year’s competition, as in the past, will feature commercials from two retailers every week. What is your critique of the Christmas spots from Amazon.com and Etsy?

All signs point to a strong holiday season as Target continues to make gains in apparel and online sales, while improving its inventory management and profitability in the process. What major retailers have the most to lose from Target’s gains?

Regardless of views on climate change, what is undeniable is that shipping multiple low-value items in different packages to the same address creates more waste. Would Amazon benefit from doing more to minimize the environmental impact they profit from?

In 2017, Nike hoped to reduce counterfeits and increase sales when it signed a pilot deal with Amazon. The benefits evidently weren’t enough. What will the end of Nike’s deal with Amazon mean for each company in the short- and medium-term?

A new report confirmed by Amazon reveals that it will open a grocery store in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles next year. The posting suggests that the store will operate under a banner other than Whole Foods. If you were in charge of the decision at Amazon, what type of grocery store would you open?