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Commentary and Discussion From the Retail Community
Is retail ready to distribute the COVID- 19 vaccine?
With the FDA’s emergency approval late Friday of a vaccine co-developed by Pfizer, the nation is now counting on retail to help execute the nation’s most ambitious vaccination campaign in…
The North Face called out for ‘virtue signaling’
The North Face is being accused of being hypocritical for refusing a jacket order from a Texas-based oil and gas company because the brand’s business significantly relies on fossil fuels…
The scalpers who stole Christmas
Fad toys get hot and profiteers scoop in to buy and resell at astronomical markups online. This year, scalpers have brought a whole new level of technological sophistication to their…
Are stores going to turn into ghost towns?
According to survey findings, 56 percent of retailers expect that many consumers will not shop in-store at all over the holiday selling season. Yet an accompanying survey found 79 percent…
Stores move to the front and center fulfilling customers’ expectations
Over a year ago, Patricia Waldron asked in a RetailWire article if 2020 would be the year when retailers instituted supply chain improvements with an eye towards enhancing the customer…
How long will it be before robots replace humans in restaurants?
Visitors to mom-and-pop restaurant Mala HotPot won’t have to worry about their waiter having a mask or not; the Central Ohio restaurant’s new server is a robot. Do you see…
What will it take to get shoppers back into stores in 2021?
Traditional and multichannel retailers can prepare for the next shift in customer behavior by taking advantage of the post-holiday period to begin reestablishing the in-person shopping patterns lost in 2020. …
New York City is trying to kick stores to the curb
It is not uncommon to find a table stacked with discount books for sale outside of a bookstore in Manhattan. Now, New York City hopes to motivate other retailers to…
Will FedEx’s ShopRunner deal give retailers a better shot against Amazon?
FedEx last week announced that it had agreed to acquire ShopRunner, the Prime-like subscription service that offers two-day delivery from more than 100 retailers. What do you think is behind…
Are retargeted ads better at driving sales or annoying shoppers?
A new study finds that retargeting ads to consumers can drive sales for retailers or it can tick them off. How retailers deliver those ads is the key to whether…
Are humans biased against AI-driven recommendations?
Although research has shown bias can creep into algorithms, humans are also found to be biased when it comes to artificial intelligence. The negativity some humans feel may even be limiting…
UK retailers try to top themselves with 2020 Christmas spots
When you’re good, you need to get to great. That’s the case for the two spots from UK-based retailers featured in this installment of RetailWire’s Christmas Commercial Challenge. Do you…
Is IKEA making a dumb mistake ending its catalog?
The year 2020 is the last year that IKEA will publish its big catalog. The publication, first printed n 1951, is no longer seen as necessary as more and more…
Will the pandemic finally bring marketing and IT teams together?
COVID-19 has intensified the need for marketing and IT to work together while also creating new stress points for both departments that potentially sidetrack collaboration, according to a new report. …
Supplier, stuck with $85M hand sanitizer order, sues Kroger
An $85 million lawsuit has been filed against Kroger alleging that the grocer placed a huge order for hand sanitizer in the early months of the pandemic and then refused…
Can retailers avoid a late holiday delivery ‘apocalypse’?
With holiday shipping volumes typically 30 to 40 percent higher than at other times of the year, the pandemic-fueled acceleration of online purchases this season is already pushing distribution networks…
Barnes & Noble counts on store managers running its business better
At a recent virtual Annual Meeting of the Book Industry Study Group, Barnes & Noble’s CEO detailed his strategy to provide the chain’s store managers with more local autonomy over…
Is Walgreens’ first-party data a good match for advertisers?
Walgreens has rolled out its first advertising network, promising first-party data insights into more than 100 million members of the MyWalgreens loyalty program. What do you think of the potential…
Will Gen Z be the ‘most disruptive generation ever’ for retail and brand marketers?
A Bank of America report describes Gen Z as the “most disruptive generation ever,” due not only to their technological savviness but also for their focus on sustainability and activism…
Can retailers get Americans to trust in-store clinics?
Forty-seven percent of Americans surveyed are not confident in the level of medical care they would receive from a retail in-store clinic, according to a new study. What can retailers…
Meijer gives curbside pickup customers an early Christmas gift
More than 200 random customers visiting Meijer to pick up their groceries during the weekend before Thanksgiving got a big holiday surprise — the groceries were on the grocer. Are…
