Amazon plans to open “dozens” of grocery stores in a new lower-priced concept distinct from its upscale Whole Foods format, according to The Wall Street Journal. What would Amazon’s launch of a conventional grocery concept mean for the company and the grocery industry?

Brands are viewing consumers’ increased comfort with voice assistants as less of a threat than an opportunity, per a survey of more than 500 U.S. brands from Feedvisor. Is voice ordering more of an opportunity or threat for brands?

Earlier in February, Walmart quietly launched a new retail holiday that’s being described by some as a Prime Day for babies. Will Baby Savings Day have a significant effect on Walmart’s share of the baby products category?

Amazon announced that it is abandoning plans to build part of its HQ2 campus in Long Island City, NY. What is your general opinion of the bidding process for Amazon HQ2 and the e-tailer’s decision to pull out of plans to build in Long Island City?

Google’s latest patent indicates that the tech giant may once again be playing with technology that would reshape how we buy, use and think of smartphones. Will modular smartphones be the next evolution of the smartphone, and how would retailers like Apple and others have to adapt?

Prices are on the rise at your local grocery store as consumer packaged goods companies pass along increases to retailers, citing higher commodity costs. Do you think Whole Foods has more room to raise prices than other grocers or is it limited by its recent promises to lower prices?

Amazon’s secretive, invite-only Amazon Vine program that provides free products to the platform’s “most trusted reviewers” was recently explored by The New York Times. Does the Amazon Vine program appear to be equally beneficial for Amazon, its customers and participating vendors?

As the retail world continues to grapple with the future fate of shopping malls, a new trend is emerging in the use of former mall space — it’s going industrial. Do you see more malls being converted into fulfillment centers in the years to come?

According to an evaluation of about 2,000 retail websites from OrderDynamics, only 38.1 percent of retailers show basic inventory visibility on product pages. How transparent should retailers be in giving consumers information on inventory availability?

Forget drones for home deliveries of online orders. That was the consensus of a variety of industry experts at NRF, on conquering the challenges of the last mile. How do you see the battle between Amazon and the major carriers for last mile deliveries shaking out over the next several years?

Amazon.com is experimenting with free product samples as a paid advertising service for CPG brands. Does Amazon’s free samples program hold more benefits than risks for CPG brands?

Whole Foods Market will not be opening any new 365 stores because management believes the recent price cuts instituted since Amazon.com’s acquisition of the grocer have made its namesake locations more price competitive. Do you approve of the decision by Whole Foods Market to end the expansion of its 365 store concept?

At a Sunday morning presentation at the NRF Big Show 2019, Yi Hou, VP of Alibaba and CEO of Freshippo, said omnichannel in the U.S. has too many silos dividing digital strategies. He argued that online and offline selling isn’t integrated enough for the next level of “new retail.” Would a concept such as the Freshippo grocery concept from Alibaba work in the U.S.?

Voice-activated digital assistants are again in the spotlight at CES. The jury is still out, however, on whether they’ll become key to connecting smart homes. How important will smart speakers become to the daily lives of consumers over the next five years when compared to mobile phones?

CPG giant Procter & Gamble is among the first to dip its toes into the direct-to-consumer space. One example of this is P&G’s Tide Eco-Box, an ultra-concentrated liquid detergent contained in a cardboard box designed to be shipped to consumers’ homes. How do you see online commerce affecting the CPG industry over the near-term and further out?

Amazon.com is reportedly planning a nationwide expansion of Whole Foods with the support of — and in support of — its two-hour Prime Now grocery delivery service. How aggressively should Amazon expand Whole Foods to support Prime Now’s growth goals?

Retailers scored high marks this season meeting guaranteed shipping dates, according to the 2018 Holiday Shipping study from Kurt Salmon. Where do you still see the pain points in last-minute holiday delivery execution?

According to Mastercard SpendingPulse, holiday sales in the U.S. from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24 expanded 5.1 percent, the strongest growth rate in the last six years. Do you see more external than internal factors driving the healthier growth rates this holiday-selling season?

For more and more shoppers, the sales associate with timely advice or cashier with a smile is no longer their favorite retail helper in the purchasing process — it’s the delivery driver. Are the holiday thank you notes for delivery drivers a sign that third-party carriers are the optimal handlers of online delivery or that delivery should be brought in-house?

A new article claims Amazon is not living up to the inherent promise of Prime, two-day delivery in exchange for an annual fee. Is Amazon Prime really about free two-day shipping anymore or is the variety of other benefits more important?

What would it mean for cashiers around the world if the largest global convenience store chain went fully-automated with cashier-less technology? With 7-Eleven in Japan now exploring such a move, we may find out. What would 7-Eleven’s adoption of cashier-free technology chain-wide mean for the U.S. c-store business?

On Monday, Target became the latest retailer to plug its wide range of in-store, online and hybrid options for last-minute holiday shoppers. Which last-minute holiday options resonate most with holiday procrastinators?

Today, with a wide range of complexities, Amazon experts come in all shapes and sizes. What advice would you have for brands on handling advertising and other aspects of their Amazon relationship in-house versus working with outside experts?

Regional grocery powerhouse H-E-B is the latest to try to tackle the challenge of long lines at the checkout by putting a tech solution in the hands of its customers. Is H-E-B’s QR code-based solution a better bet than the fully automated Amazon Go-style JWO technology?

Reuters reports that Amazon opened a scaled-down version of Go inside one of the company’s offices in Seattle. What do you think of the upside potential for Amazon to open smaller Go stores in office buildings, airports and markets outside the U.S.?

A lot can change in 12 months, but for one analyst a conjecture made around the start of the year still stands as we get ready to ring in 2019 — Amazon.com should acquire Target. Is Loup Ventures’ Gene Munster on-point about Target’s potential value to Amazon?

Move over CVS and hold on Amazon.com, Walgreens last week announced a partnership with FedEx on the nationwide launch of a next-day prescription delivery service. Does Walgreens gain much of an advantage in prescription delivery with its partnership with FedEx?

Amazon is reported to be working on a way to put the technology behind its Amazon Go convenience stores in much larger store environments. What do you see as the biggest challenges Amazon faces as it attempts to port its Go technology to larger store environments?

Top retailers have improved their speed in last-mile fulfillment drastically over the last two years and those gains have been instrumental in helping them stay afloat. How can retailers best succeed in the last mile without spending so much to get there that it negates the value of the investment?

Does nothing good ever last? First, there was the news that Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson split up ;o) and now it appears as though the burgeoning relationship between Amazon.com and J.Crew may soon be over, as well. Should J.Crew continue working with Amazon even as it phases out the Mercantile line?

Cyber Monday records are made to be broken and that’s what happened yesterday. Has Cyber Monday become more important to the overall top and bottom line results for retailers during the holiday selling season?

People who love Walmart, really do love Walmart. That loyalty is built around one theme: price. The bad news is that the people who don’t like Walmart, really don’t like Walmart. What do you think explains the polarized nature of Walmart’s supporters and detractors?

This week’s Christmas Commercial Challenge pits Amazon.com against Best Buy. Which does a better job of connecting with its core customers while reaching out to new shoppers?

While most people living and working in Amazon’s chosen HQ2 cities are probably pleased with the news, those in towns that failed to make the cut may be having a different, more negative, reaction. Has Amazon’s handling of its HQ2 search had an effect on the company’s image?

Amazon is approving the sale of the latest iPad Pro, iPhone and Apple Watch models by authorized resellers rather than just through the third-party marketplace, according to TechCrunch. The move represents yet another shift in the push/pull trade relationship between the two retail giants. What do you make of what appears to be a warming relationship between Amazon and Apple?

A new research study shows that when it comes to the lowest prices online, Amazon.com is the winner more often than not. Are low prices more or less important in the consumer decision making tree during the holidays when compared to other parts of the year?

Amazon’s private label women’s apparel doesn’t seem to be giving other clothing retailers as much trouble as some experts have projected. Do you agree that Amazon’s struggling private label women’s apparel sales are disruptive to its own brand clothing strategy?

Americans do not like having to pay shipping charges, particularly at Christmastime. Now Walmart, Target and Amazon.com are now trying to outdo each other in this respect. Will Amazon’s free shipping with no minimum purchase offer mitigate any disadvantage it may have had in its competition with Target and Walmart for the holidays?

CVS is testing a subscription program that allows members to get free deliveries on prescription medicines and front-end merchandise for $48 a year or $5 a month. Has CVS found an answer with CarePass that will help ward off Amazon’s push into the prescription drug and over-the-counter remedy categories?

In a recent interview, Michelle Gass said Kohl’s bears little resemblance to struggling department chains. She believes the company’s success is largely a result of coming up with different solutions to the same challenges faced by others. What do you think are the primary reasons for Kohl’s success at a time rivals are struggling?

Many have come to bemoan the Christmas creep phenomena as retailers put out ornaments and fake trees on store floors in October, but the truth is that a lot of consumers start shopping for the holidays even earlier — say July. How important are online sales made in July to the overall share of retailers’ holiday sales?

Titans of the consumer packaged goods industry may be in trouble as they continue to face significant competition from smaller counterparts. In fact, small CPGs are now leading the industry’s growth if not outright market share. Why do you think small CPG brands are doing so well in today’s shopping landscape?

Amazon.com’s rapid private label expansion is making many branded manufacturers uncomfortable. According to Scrapehero, Amazon’s private label offerings now encompasses 6,825 products across 100 distinct labels. Of these, nearly 70 percent are in the apparel category. Is Amazon overstepping its bounds in giving preferential positioning to its private brands?

Amazon Scout is a new visual search engine and, while it seems to employ a simple and intuitive method for culling preferred items, without a rework, the author believes it will be “a fail.” Do you think Amazon is on the right path to improved product discovery with Scout?

Justice is launching an entertainment division called Justice Studios to create graphic novels, video series, music, documentaries and more — content all in line with the brand’s stated values of girl empowerment. How might Justice weave its entertainment products into its brick-and-mortar stores to generate customer interest?

Good Housekeeping is partnering with Amazon.com on a holiday pop-up store at the Mall of America. The selections are curated by the Good Housekeeping Institute (GHI), the women’s magazine’s product testing unit. Is a store curated by testing experts any more or less appealing than one featuring customer reviewers?

In what appears to be a pilot, Gap Inc. has rolled out a new promotion that provides its Visa Signature cardholders with bonus points for shopping at Amazon or Target. Do you see more pros and cons in such as an offer?

Heading into the Christmas selling season, Target is feeling good about its prospects as the retailer has regained its “cheap chic” mojo while giving consumers a variety of reasons to believe it is “America’s easiest place to shop.” Which recent changes made at Target have helped the most in leveling the playing field with the likes of Amazon and Walmart?

Amazon.com announced this morning that it is raising its minimum wage to $15. 250,000 workers will benefit as a result, including 100,000 people being hired for the Christmas season. What do you think will be the impact of Amazon’s decision for its own competitive position and other retailers in the market?

Amazon.com is opening a new brick and mortar store concept today in New York’s SoHo neighborhood that sells items rated four stars or above by the company’s online reviewers, along with top sellers and new and trending items from the site. What do you think the 4-star concept will mean for Amazon and its rivals?