Can’t Touch This: Contactless is Now a Must-Have for Grocers
One of the biggest ironies of ecommerce had been how willing people are to purchase cars or 60-inch TVs sight unseen, but still prefer to choose their own eggs and apples. Then… the pandemic came along ready to disrupt an industry that was ripe for change. Hello, online grocery. In 2019, Publicis Groupe had predicted […]
Urban Outfitters Expands Partnership with CB4 to All Stores to Empower Store Associates with AI
CB4 helps Urban Outfitters improve customer experience and increase sales through solving in-store product buyability issues. NEW YORK, Oct. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — After a successful pilot, Urban Outfitters is rolling out CB4 AI to all 200 North American stores across their chain. Urban’s store associates use CB4’s AI solution to uncover specific products with high local demand […]
Retail’s Reopening Numbers: The Truth Behind the Headlines
On June 16th, a Wall Street Journal headline announced, “U.S. Retail Sales Rose Record 18% in May.” The article, based on data from the Commerce Department, describes how retail sales—including purchases at stores, restaurants, and online—increased by 17.7% in May from the previous month. In it, Craig Johnson, president of retail consulting firm Customer Growth […]
3 Realizations on the E-Commerce Shopping Experience in COVID
The coronavirus outbreak isn’t my first foray into the e-commerce shopping experience. My Amazon account dates back to 2006. Online purchases have been a mainstay through most of my adult life. That said, I have always been a brick-and-mortar person. I worked as a store manager in NYC for over a decade, and now work […]
Covid Retail Restructurings: Just in Time or Too Little Too Late?
Birthday parties. Vacations. Your daily commute. Everything, including a trip to the store, changed completely in 2020. City and state governments, along with some of the biggest companies on the planet are all rethinking budgets and resource allocation. Many retailers are doing the same with highly public restructuring moves. Historically, restructuring (read: closing stores, cutting […]
Retailers Form 3 Unconventional Partnerships to Beat Coronavirus
In a recent op-ed for CNN, Marcelo Gleiser, 2019 Templeton Prize Laureate and Natural Philosopher at Dartmouth College declared that Covid-19 will change us as a species. Most of us are facing the first major global crisis in our lifetime. Likening the war against the virus to the world wars our parents and grandparents witnessed, […]
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger: Covid & Pharmacy Retail
Let’s talk silver linings. By now, we’re all familiar with both the serious devastation and annoying everyday inconveniences of life during a pandemic. In addition to dispensing life-saving medication, pharmacies are often the closest place to grab a bottle of water or toilet paper. As a result, health retailers occupy a unique position in retail. […]
Grocery Shopping in the Time of Corona: It’s Awful
Of all the uncertainties the novel coronavirus as brought upon us, one thing is absolute: shopping has changed. Specifically, grocery shopping. In a recent survey we ran, more than 50% of customers across the country said that they were afraid to shop in supermarkets. Give that a minute to really sink in. More than 50% […]
How Retailers Are Responding to COVID-19: A Timeline
Coronavirus has hit the world—and the retail industry—hard. Some retailers are grappling with empty stores. Others with empty shelves. Some are just trying to stay afloat. All strive to serve their customers, the workforce, and their communities. As a partner to many in the retail industry, we’re gathering and sharing stories of how retailers are […]
How Retail is Readying for a Post-Pandemic Rebound
While the so-called “retail apocalypse” turned out to be a big ol’ bust, recent times haven’t taken it easy on brick-and-mortar retail. Business consultants and retail strategists have long been calling retailers’ attention to the game-changing forces challenging the industry. Retailers have chosen when and where to adapt, for better or worse, doing their best […]
